Jay Richards built Imagen Insights over seven years. Brands like Visa, Google, and Amazon paid for access to his community of 35,000 consumers who would give qualitative feedback quickly.
When the market tightened, Jay decided it was time to sell. He found a buyer, spent five months in conversation, received a letter of intent, and mentally moved on. Then issues surfaced in his financials and the deal fell apart.
A few weeks later, Disrupt came calling. Jay sold for six times EBITDA and became managing director of the acquiring company.
This week on Built to Sell Radio, Jay talks with John about the two deals and what you can learn from both.
You’ll learn:
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Why an LOI is not a deal
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How to handle a deal collapse without losing momentum
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Why shopping your company can backfire
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How to structure an earn-out you can live with
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How to fix an equity mistake before it blows up a deal
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What selling frees up mentally
Quote of the Week
I started this business with £3,000. So I was just like, listen, this is a win for me. This is a huge win.
Deals
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PayneCrest Electric, a company that handles large-scale electrical construction projects, including wiring up data centers, industrial facilities, and renewable energy sites, was acquired by Primoris Services Corporation (NYSE: PRIM), a major infrastructure and construction services company, for $422M.
PayneCrest is expected to generate ~$40M in EBITDA on ~$360M in revenue, implying a valuation of ~10.6x EBITDA.
