Anders + Summit Merger Story
Full Speed Ahead
After a few more months of discussions and managing expectations, we came to a mutual agreement. The entire process was so fast. Within six months, we went from not interested to a sealed deal. That’s a really short period of time for something of this size to happen.
Five Conditions For The Merger
The merger happened so fast; I remember feeling like I wasn’t sure what it meant or what the future of Summit would look like, but it was fine because I have total trust in Adam and Jody. I knew they wouldn’t have done the deal unless they thought it was good for their team.”
Once we decided to sign, it felt a little surreal. We were really excited about the opportunity to reinvent what we were doing on a larger scale. We are always looking for the opportunity to evolve, change, and get better; this merger allows exactly that. The additional resources it affords us opens so many doors for Summit. While we were on a heavy growth trajectory on our own, this merger excels that trajectory on a steeper incline. There was a little concern— probably from both sides—that the merger took place very quickly. (And during tax season, no less!) Employees didn’t have much time to process it. However, Anders wanted to make it clear that they thought Summit was an attractive
candidate for a lot of interested parties and that they were ready to move quickly. They said they weren’t going to drag their feet and potentially lose the deal, and they lived up to that promise. There were a lot of individuals who put in a lot of hard work in order for us to not only meet our aggressive timeline but beat it—while still managing to sail smoothly through tax season. We got the immediate, short-term stuff out of the way, and now we’re settling in for the long-term: working through operational areas, roles and responsibilities, branding and marketing with the combined resources of Anders and Summit for the OAS/VCFO division. We’re getting there.
m Taking care of the team
m Operating as an independent unit
Both sides were a little nervous about the speed of the merger, but Anders more so: We wanted Summit to unders- tand the seriousness of our interest and that we were ready to move as quickly as possible. We wanted ample time to get the deal done. And that’s exactly what we did.”
m Maintaining
a national brand
-TOM WADELTON (SUMMIT)
m Incentivizing the buyout
m A seat at the table
-MIKE STAFFORD (ANDERS)
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