Selling Your Business (CONT’D FROM PAGE 20)
Board Converting NEWS INTERNET DIRECTORY
sophisticated buyer, and generally speaking they’re all so- phisticated, is going to come in and want to understand everything you ever did and why you did it. And the more ready you are for that process the day before it starts the better it’s going to go. Medof: For us, diligence is 90 percent growth-oriented and 10 percent confirmatory. What we’re aiming to do is take a really good business and help supercharge it. We’re trying to take a bogey golfer and help that bogey golfer become a scratch golfer. We want to do it fast, and we want to hit the ground running. So, the vast majority of our diligence is not really diligence, it’s business planning. Marino: As you get to the close to the sale, founders have so much of their identity wrapped up into these busi- nesses. What sort of emotions come with that? Brown: A little bit of everything. Is the buyer going to live up to all the things they’ve said they would live up to? Am I going to enjoy being an employee in a company again as opposed to a principal? Personally, my overwhelming feeling the day that the deal was done was relief. Relief that the process was over and relief from the burdens of ownership. And frankly, re- lief from being the senior executive running the business every day. Then, I had excitement for what was coming. A day af- ter we sold, I basically handed off manufacturing respon- sibility to somebody else. The majority of the coworkers and sites that I managed were no longer my responsibility, I got to lead a commercial team just selling digital across the country. I had 350 new salespeople, and I was excited to take on that role. Mehiel: Most recently when we sold Dover, I was in the plant on day zero introducing the IP team to everybody. That day in a meeting, someone said to me, ‘Dennis, you look like you just lost your puppy.’ I was feeling the emotion of this change in the busi- ness. And these were not people that I had worked with for 20 years; the plant was only about five years old. But at some point, the only thing that really matters is the people. So, of course there’s emotion associated with that situa- tion changing. It should be an emotional process. It should matter to you, something beyond just the dollars. Marino: Billy, I know your partners, the owners, are still involved in the business actively. Have you sensed any shift at all on the emotional side for those folks? Medof: We work hard to preserve the family legacy and brand. David Strauss runs the business. He’s president of Key Container, and he sits in the same office he sat in six months ago. His team is all there, sitting in their same offic- es, doing the same thing. His son runs sales, fourth generation in the business. It is still very much their family business, and that’s really im- portant to us. Part of what we resolved when we set out on this journey was to do things differently, and for us it’s re-
ADVANTZWARE www.advantzware.com
Advantzware provides a comprehensive system to address the business management needs of the independent box business, as well as the ERP requirements of full scale pack-
aging plants and integrated companies. AIR CONVEYING CORPORATION www.accfilter.com
Air Conveying Corporation is a leader in the industry of Pneumatic Conveying Systems and has been in business since 1968. As an equipment manufacturer rather than sim- ply a sales organization, we have complete control over the quality of material and products which make up your pro- posed system. Our equipment is found in printing, folding carton and corrugated plants throughout the world. We've been designing, manufacturing and engineering pneumatic conveying systems since 1984. We partner with our customers to ensure they operate efficiently and guar- antee our systems meet or exceed their specifications. ASDI specializes in full pull-through systems trim separators, and NFPA compliant systems with full electronic controls. AMTECH SOFTWARE www.amtechsoftware.com AIR SYSTEMS DESIGN, INC. www.airsystemsdesign.com Amtech offers the industry’s most innovative and com- prehensive corrugated and packaging ERP, integrated scheduling software, and engineered automation technol- ogy. For over 30 years, Amtech has kept our customers competitive in an ever-changing economy with customer digital storefronts and workflows, business intelligence, automated scheduling for corrugators, converting and shipping, proactive roll stock and inventory management. APEX INTERNATIONAL www.apexinternational.com World’s largest Anilox and Glue & Metering roll manufac- turer, providing the widest selection of corrugated engrav- ings and complementary services. Anilox engraving options available from our North American manufacturing facility include elongated 75°, 60°, 45°, plus Apex’s patented GTT technology. Glue rolls are produced with Hardened Stain- less Steel and a max TIR of 10 µ for Single, Double Facers.
AOPACK LTD www.aopackmachine.com
Aopack is a leading manufacturer of automatic corrugated box making machines for short-run and on-demand pro- duction. 1,200+ machines operate in 60+ countries. The BM2800-Ultra integrates digital printing, slitting, slotting, creasing, and vibrating knife cutting, delivering efficient, flexible solutions for customized corrugated box orders.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
22 October 5, 2026
www.boardconvertingnews.com
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online