We are pleased to announce the sale of JSP Fabrications, Inc. of Charlestown, NH, from Joe and Patricia Pickul to Randy McNeil of Claremont, NH.

JSP Fabrications has the capacity to form up to ¼ inch metals and will strategically join with McNeil Sheet Metal, LLC. The companies will occupy and expand the current JSP Fabrications Plant located on Hammond Road in Charlestown.

Richard Butterfield, Broker Associate of our office represented the sellers and worked with the buyer to bring this transaction to a successful conclusion. Bob Edwards of Ocean National Bank of Keene, NH provided the financing package.

We are particularly pleased with this sale as it represents bringing together two organizations for a synergistic relationship, and they will continue to provide fabrication capabilities to a wide range of industries.

In cooperation with Ray Davis Realty of Colebrook we are pleased to announce the sale of Lewis Oil Co., of Colebrook, NH, to TransEdge Energy, LLC, with principal offices in Purcellville, VA, and an association with Blade Energy Partners of Frisco, Texas.
The Lewis family, represented by Palmer and Ruth Lewis, has been providing fuel oil, propane and gasoline products and services to the north country in the Colebrook & Pittsburg area and south to Groveton and Lancaster for many years. In 2006, they expanded those products and services to the eastern part of the Great North Woods with the acquisition of Errol Oil Co. Palmer and Ruth are now looking forward to a well-earned retirement after working with TransEdge Energy to accomplish a smooth transition for customers and vendors.

TransEdge Energy, represented by Steve Mesthos and John Forrest, plan to maintain the same quality of service as Lewis Oil, and expand on the products and services to a larger geographic area.

Stan Evans of our office and Ray Davis of Ray Davis Real Estate, Colebrook, NH, represented the sellers, and worked with the buyers to bring this transaction to a successful conclusion. Henry Stebbins, Esq., of Stebbins, Lazos, and Van Der Beken, Manchester, NH, handled the closing. This is one of a series of successful collaborations we have had with Ray Davis and his organization.

After the initial negotiation of the major terms of the deal there was a significant amount of additional negotiation with a variety of Texas corporate legal advisors of the buyers in order to properly structure the sale to meet their objectives without damaging the interests of the Seller.

The initial listing of the business was in March 2006, with a first contact by the buyers in November, 2006, a “showing” visit in January 2007, and a final closing on July 9, 2007. As these types of sales go this was a relatively quick sale. Reaching out thru the internet to a worldwide audience brought in these buyers, and is where the bulk of our customers come from these days.

A CBI is a Certified Business Intermediary. This designation is a professional credential earned by Business Brokers who are members of the International Business Brokers Association. They have to pass a rigorous course of 60 credit hours of classes, attend IBBA Conferences for professional development, demonstrate experience, and pass a difficult exam, and pledge to uphold the Association Code of Ethic’s to earn the designation. It is also not a “lifetime” award. It has to be re-earned thru course work and other professional activities every three years.

When choosing a Business Brokerage look for one that has leaders who hold the CBI designation. They can provide the leadership, organization and training for their organizations to provide you with the best service.

Simple answer - Because we are worth it! All our fees are negotiable, but we have a range that is acceptable to us. It is considerably higher than real estate commissions in most cases.

Selling businesses is complex. It requires attention to a lot of details. Selling businesses takes a long time and that leads to a lot of advertising and overhead. (Times range from 6 months to several years, with many measured in years.)

Sellers want things done confidentially, so we have to sell the businesses without identifying them or giving customers enough information initially to be able to really identify the opportunity. Often a buyer may be located almost next door, but confidentiality keeps them from learning of the opportunity.

Qualifying customers, handling showings, getting offers from the customers, and dealing with lawyers, accountants and bankers is often a real challenge. We often have to resell an opportunity several times in the course of getting from offer to closing, as buyers get cold feet, or discover things sellers hadn’t disclosed, or after the buyers get turned down for financing and have to be convinced to try again.

And after all our work a significant percentage of businesses never sell, often because sellers don’t tell us everything that is going on in the business, or because of market forces being against us.

In the final analysis, if you are a seller we earn our commission, by acting as the intermediary and handling the negotiation of offers, but also because of all the time and effort we save you from having to do advertising, screening and qualifying customers, negotiations, financing arrangements, sales details with the buyers, and dealing with the buyers lawyers concerns.

Frankly, for small deals even our minimum commission is not enough, but we do them to keep the cash flowing, and we don’t negotiate our minimum commission.

Customers seem to try to relate buying a business with buying a house. There are a lot of differences!

Our listings are mostly all CONFIDENTIAL. We work for SELLERS, and they don’t generally want it known they are for sale.  So you have to complete a Confidentiality Agreement to get information about our listings.

Additionally, we do not want to expose listings to customers who are not qualified financially to purchase them. Financing business purchases can be complex, and some require very high percentage down payments. So you will need to share financial information with us to get us to work with you.

We do not have “listing books” that you can just browse thru. Our Associates will discuss your circumstances with you and share information with you about listings that you may be qualified to purchase.

We want to work with you, but you also have to work with us.