Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
“Tomorrow we’re having our big boat party to celebrate getting rid of our investors,” said Brian Van Nevel, reached just before Labor Day.
He’s co-CEO, with Steve Lowenthal, of Spectrum Commercial Services, an asset-based lender in Bloomington. The company makes “commercial loans to non-bankable businesses,” is how he describes it.
Since August of 2003 they’ve been making monthly payments to their equity investors, as a premium for consulting services and part of a buyout agreement. Formerly, they were each to own 15 percent of the company eventually. Now, each owns 50 percent.
“The big milestone was to finalize the payment of the former investors. We wanted to make it the organization we dreamed of. We wanted to be free to do deals with any company,” Van Nevel says.
He won’t say the amount of the payments, but says the company’s net income for the year will increase 50 percent because they are ended. The company has 17 employees, and outside sales offices in Denver and Detroit.
Spectrum was once part of Schwan Food Co. in Marshall, and was sold to U.S. Bancorp in 2000. U.S. Bank already had an asset-based lending division, so Van Nevel and Lowenthal started looking to buy it.
“I went out and made 300 to 400 phone calls to find equity partners,” Van Nevel says, eventually getting $6 million in equity led by former Century Bank executives.
Then they looked for a senior lender, and found Wells Fargo Foothills for a $30 million line of credit in late 2000.
When Century Bank’s owners sold to M&I Bank, “we pushed them to allow us to buy them out of their equity investment,” Van Nevel says.
Van Nevel says their plans are to cultivate the next generation of management at the firm, and start spending less than 24/7 at the company.
Brian Van Nevel, Spectrum Commercial Services: 952.876.8225; br************@****************al.com; www.spectrumcommercial.com
