What’s Your Exit Strategy?

Thinking about selling your business can feel overwhelming, especially when you begin to consider when you should sell, or what that sale would mean for your employees. The truth is, there are many reasons this might be the right time for you to sell.

Whether you want to leverage the equity in your business to transition into retirement or want to potentially avoid paying double the current capital gains tax on the sale, a well-planned exit strategy will protect the value of the business you built. Easy Ice can help provide guidance to these and other questions.

The Ice Machine Experts
Why Easy Ice?

Easy Ice is rapidly becoming the largest ice machine leasing company in the nation. We are expanding our national platform and would love for you and your team to be part of our organization.

Easy Ice has been in business for over 12 years, expanding our reach through acquisitions and organic growth. We currently operate in 46 states, with plans to grow our network even more over the next few years. We have great partners with access to capital markets, and we want to put that money to work. In many cases, Easy Ice will continue to employ family members and key employees in various key roles within the organization.

What’s Your Exit Strategy?
Why Sell Now?

This is a very personal question, and one that only the you can answer. There are several reasons that may trigger an exit but here are a few of the most common:

  • Avoid Potentially Doubling your Tax Consequences
  • Do you want to relieve the stress of managing a business every day?
  • Do you have different priorities than you did 10 or 20 years ago?
  • Do you want to travel now that the pandemic is subsiding?
  • Is there a large IT infrastructure project that needs to be done that may not pay off when/if you do decide to exit the business?
  • Do you have the desire to “take some chips off the table” but still have a viable option for your key employees to be involved in the same industry – but with a larger company?
Why Sell Later?

This is personal as well, but here are some of the most common reasons:

  • You may want to pass down years of hard work and dedication to family members.
  • You recently purchased new equipment and need some time to recuperate the investment.
  • You still want to grow the business.
  • Need additional time to improve the balance sheet and relieve debt.
  • The timing just isn’t right for several reasons.

We can also help you determine what improvements will have the greatest impact on the value of your company should you choose to sell in the future.

Why Sell Now?

This is a very personal question, and one that only the you can answer. There are several reasons that may trigger an exit but here are a few of the most common:

  • Are you concerned your family members may not choose to operate the business upon your retirement?
  • Do you have different priorities than you did 10 or 20 years ago?
  • Do you want to relieve the stress of managing a business every day?
  • Do you want to travel now that the pandemic is subsiding?
  • Is there a large IT infrastructure project that needs to be done that may not pay off when/if you do decide to exit the business?
  • Do you have the desire to “take some chips off the table” but still have a viable option for your key employees to be involved in the same industry – but with a larger company?
  • Tax burdens or consequences
Why Sell Later?

This is personal as well, but here are some of the most common reasons:

  • You may want to pass down years of hard work and dedication to family members.
  • You recently purchased new equipment and need some time to recuperate the investment.
  • You still want to grow the business.
  • Need additional time to improve the balance sheet and relieve debt.
  • The timing just isn’t right for several reasons.

We can also help you determine what improvements will have the greatest impact on the value of your company should you choose to sell in the future.

Valuation

This is the trickiest part of the acquisition. The value hinges on several scenarios like the number of units on lease, the proximity of the accounts, the age of the equipment, the condition of the equipment, is real estate or other heavy assets involved or not, the quality of the customer base, and more. There are industry standards and averages we can share but the reality is that it’s on a case-by-case method. We would love the opportunity to review your business at a very top level and offer a range.

We have created this handy tool to help you identify the most common criteria for estimating the value of your business.

Business Value Estimator

Total Monthly Lease Revenue

Machine Count (Estimate is fine)

Average Age of your machines in years?

Machines placed in last twelve months?

Average rent for machines placed in the last 12 months?

Percent increase in monthly lease rate implemented in 2021

Possible Values for a transaction (Estimate)

Reset

Want to sell for more?

Get a more accurate quote

How many machines do you have on location?*

What about my employees?

Easy Ice is not just buying bricks and mortar. We are investing in relationships, local knowledge, and most importantly the customer relationships you have built over the years. We want to continue your legacy for years and years and we need top talent to do so.

Can I continue to work?

Absolutely! We need top talent within our organization, and you have accumulated years of invaluable experience and insights in your local market. We also have other markets that may need specific talents that your organization could provide.

Can I continue to work? .

How do we keep this confidential
throughout the process?

We take confidentiality very seriously. Customers, employees, competition, and more can all be affected if word gets out too soon. It is in all of our best interests to keep this as quiet as possible until the transaction occurs.

What is the buy/sell process like and how long does it take?

The process normally takes at least 60 days to close as long as we receive the information in a timely manner. Here is a brief view at the process:

  • Introductions and brief conversation on your business.
  • Create and execute a confidentiality agreement (CA or NDA) that protects both parties and allows the sharing of information.
  • Capture Phase I due diligence items (P&Ls, tax returns, number of machines, types of machines, general geography, etc.).
  • Evaluate the opportunity and agree on a range of purchase price.
  • Easy Ice issues a Letter of Intent (LOI) to purchase your business.
  • Start Phase II due diligence which involves more than just the few items mentioned above, but we DO NOT start this until we agree on the basic deal terms.
  • Negotiate the Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) which includes all the assets utilized in the business (there may be some personal items that do not come with the sale). Stock Purchase Agreements (SPA) are possible but not common as they are much more complicated.
  • Negotiate any applicable leases if there is property involved that we do not purchase.
  • Schedule close date.
  • Start integration Day 1. We have a fulsome integration process (100-day plan) that involves all aspects of the business, so we minimize mistakes once the transaction is complete.

Interested in Learning More?

Please contact Darren Boruff
602-686-5491 | dboruff@easyice.com