The Boardroom Buzz: Grow, Sell, or Exit

The Boardroom Buzz kicks off a new segment, Step Into the Boardroom, with former CEO of Triple S Services, Tony Sfreddo. Prior to selling Triple S to Anticimex, Tony and his brother Phil built the business into a commercial powerhouse in the Washington, DC metro area generating $267,000 in revenue per technician per year. Servicing accounts such as the Pentagon, the CIA, and the US Supreme Court, Triple S reached number #68 on the PCT Top 100 list prior to the sale. In this hard-hitting interview, Paul Giannamore and Patrick Baldwin get schooled by Tony on route density, commercial sales, technician compensation, competition, management and what Tony would have done differently if he were to do it all over again.

Paul and Patrick discuss the importance of stay bonuses, and how one management team tried to extort $1 million from a seller at the closing of the sale of his pest control business. We also learn about what happened to the family of a seller who died of a heart attack the day before the sale of his business. Patrick and Paul also talk about the closing of Project Warrior with Certus last week and how activist hedge fund, Third Point, has acquired a 3.1 million share stake in ServiceMaster. Does this mean that ServiceMaster will be taken private or acquired?

Paul Giannamore and Patrick Baldwin respond to "What makes a firm more valuable?" question submitted from the AFTERMATH presentation. They also take a step back into how they first met eight years ago when Patrick called on Paul to do a valuation (appraisal) for his pest control business.

Paul Giannamore and Patrick Baldwin discuss where money will end up after the COVID-19 pandemic. How will essential service businesses look for investors in the long-run? Pest control is an essential business. Will investors shift their portfolios to 'de-risked' industries because of Covid-19? How will the pandemic affect future pest control acquisitions? Will this shift valuations on residential vs commercial segments? Will the DOW return to its pre-COVID-19 high?

Paul Giannamore and Patrick Baldwin chat about how pest control transactions are structured differently. What happens after the sale... after Paul's first pest control deal in 2003, what happened after the close? Patrick and Paul also talk about "taking a lump sum in a duffle bag and the proper way to 'make it rain' when you're at an underground Romanian rave".