"Kevin and Greg helped me work through a very complicated series of simultaneous acquisition opportunities. They lined up and negotiated the necessary equity and debt financings, and worked through all the issues to get the best deal closed in tough market conditions. They gave me great advice throughout the process and did whatever it took to help me get it done."
"Dunn's results in guiding the sale of our family business were outstanding in every dimension, from the sale price, the methodology of the sale process and his thoughtful guidance on what may happen post sale. Working with someone who, as they saying goes, has "seen the movie" created a real sense of comfort and instilled confidence that our family's business gem was in trusted hands."
Business Services
- Education & Training
- Engineering Services
- Facility Services
- IT & Professional Services
- Outsourcing
- Marketing & Information Services
Although transaction volume and general business climate for the Business Services industry slowed significantly during most of 2009, trends have improved consistently since late that year and remained robust through all of 2011. Sectors related to outsourced services and education services maintained some momentum through the period of economic softness, and the IT services sector have shown particular improvement recently.
Factors impacting the transaction activity in this industry include:
- The education and training market tends to remain solid in periods of high unemployment like we are experiencing, as many people choose to further develop their skills through additional schooling. Credit for student loans has tightened however, which has had a negative impact on this market.
- Difficult economic conditions have reduced spending in discretionary services sectors like consulting.
- Many service sectors have been negatively impacted by reduced or delayed expenditures for information technology, engineering services or construction projects.
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Outsourced service providers continue to see growth and are expected to strengthen new client relationships secured during the down-turn as conditions improve.
Transaction volume in the Business Services sector slipped steadily throughout 2008 to mid-2009, but smaller size transactions in the space showed a significant up-tick toward the end of the year and remained solid through 2011. The challenging operating performance faced by many businesses through the economic downturn has begun to stabilize, generating more activity from both buyers and sellers as deal volumes have maintained the pace over the past 8 quarters and into early 2012.
Generally, we expect activity in the sector to build on the momentum witnessed in recent quarters as the economic environment continues to improve. Businesses tend to look at outsourcing as a way to improve efficiency and lower cost, and as financial performance improves for companies there is generally a trend toward temporary employment services ahead of increases in full-time staff.