Selling Your Business (CONT’D FROM PAGE 22)
Board Converting NEWS INTERNET DIRECTORY
ally important to preserve family legacies and founder leg- acies. That’s what made and makes independents great. It’s what enables independents to outperform integrateds. I spent 12 years at an integrated, never want to go back. I really believe in the spirit and competitive advantage of independence. The one point of stress is as an indepen- dent, as an owner, is being accountable to only yourself. It’s stressful when you now have upside pressure, even when it’s good pressure. I won’t diminish and undersell the fact that that is stressful. Marino: Dennis and Richard, was there anything that you wish you would have paid attention to or addressed a couple years prior to exit? Mehiel: There’s always something, at least in our expe- rience, that can become an irritant to a process. A trans- action is a fragile thing, and they can go sideways. When they start to not feel good, that can be the end of a deal. Also, keep in mind you don’t necessarily want to make big capital investments if you think you’re getting ready to sell, but if you are not doing preventive maintenance on machines, the buyer will identify that and they will wonder what else it is that they have to be concerned about. Brown: One thing to consider is real estate. We had seven locations, five of which had some common owner- ship with the business. And the business was involved in the ownership of two of the buildings. I would have sepa- rated that out earlier. That’s a discussion point with a lot of other owners is the relationship between the real estate and the business. Marino: Richard, once you get through the transition, how hard or easy is it to genuinely let go and let someone else run the thing that you had a hand in building? Brown: We were in a conference room at one point with the buyers, and to that point I’d been told that I was going to run a business unit with a P&L and would report to the CEO. I was basically going to run the same thing that I was already running. That is what I’d been told for months of this process. We end up in a conference room and at one point they put some slides up and now I’m running a commercial team. I have 20 people instead of 250 people. I don’t run the plants. It’s a big change from what we’ve talked about. I didn’t handle it very well in that moment. That experience made it a lot easier to be ready when the time came. I was leaving things to somebody that I trusted. It’s been generally easy to let go and leave it with somebody else and be happy moving forward. Marino: If you could sum up in a single sentence about the decision to sell, what would you say? Brown: If not now, when? Mehiel: If this is a company you founded and you’re going to do this one time, don’t do it alone. Medof: What helped and enabled you as a founder and an owner to build the great business that you have is prior- itizing customers, your team, and your family.
ARC INTERNATIONAL www.ARCInternational.com
ARC International is a world leader in the manufacturing of roller products for flexography. The latest nano-technology laser engraving in our NC and NV manufacturing facilities ensures superior quality and consistency in anilox rollers.
AES (ADVANCED EQUIPMENT SALES) www.aesales.net
AES is a leading full-service provider of integrated convey- ance systems specializing in scrap, trim, and dust. AES en- gineers custom scrap systems and works as a partner in process improvement to help businesses achieve greater profitability, productivity, and sustainability. Products include balers, shredders/hoggers, core shredders, filters, fans, and specialized dust control and collection systems. AES is the ex- clusive distributor for the AirShark Rotary Material Separator. For a wide variety of new and used equipment on to- day’s market, visit our website at www.acm-corp.com. BAUMER HHS CORPORATION www.baumerhhs.com hhs is a global leader in advanced gluing, camera verifica- tion and quality assurance systems for the packaging indus- try. Zero-defect quality and elevated production speeds are key parameters in the manufacturing of corrugated boxes. With hhs Xcam Box Monitoring and non-contact flap gluing of corrugated board, hhs offers every option for quality as- surance in the production of boxes with flexo folder gluers. AMERICAN CORRUGATED MACHINE www.acm-corp.com BLOWER APPLICATION COMPANY (BLOAPCO) www.BloApCo.com BloApCo has served the corrugated industry since 1933 with a variety of scrap handling solutions, including Hori- zontal Floor Shredders, Trim Cutters, and Material Handling Fans and Conveying Systems. BloApCo Shredders allow for continuous shredding and pneumatic removal of sheet waste stacks of all sizes, roll slab, cores, and carton scrap.
CORRUGATED MACHINERY SPECIALISTS www.cmsretrofits.com
Leading manufacturer and installer of quality retrofits, up- grades and replacement parts for S&S and Prime Flexo Folder Gluers. Specialists in reconditioning of S&S Flexo Folder Gluers, including ink, air and electrical systems.
CORRUGATOR BELT SERVICE LLC www.corrugator.com
Serving the corrugated box industry since 1991, Chicago- based Corrugator Belt Service LLC maintains corru- gator belts for peak board quality and performance.
24 October 5, 2026
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