January 16, 2024 Published in the Business Record PM Daily 1/16/24 By: Tom Cavanagh, Vice President - BCC Advisers Confidence is back, but that doesn’t equal optimism or growth expectations. As an M&A adviser, I play in a world where as long as the rules are known, buyers and sellers can generally agree on valuations and structures to come to an agreement on a transaction. At this time last year, there was a lot of uncertainty about the direction of the economy and how severe any downturn might be. The result was a substantial decrease in M&A volume, particularly in the first half of ..read more

October 20, 2023 The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) effectively doubled the unified federal gift and estate tax exemption — and inflation has boosted it even further. For individuals who make gifts in 2023 or die in 2023, the unified exemption is $12.92 million (effectively $25.84 million for married couples). This is an increase of $860,000 per person from 2022! Unfortunately, the expanded unified exemption is scheduled to revert to pre-TCJA levels after 2025, unless Congress extends it. It’s uncertain what will happen with the tax code in the future. But private business owners should consider ..read more

February 16, 2023 By Lindy Ireland, Vice President and Shareholder The topic of bank value is a favorite discussion among bankers. If you are like most bankers, you have a sense of the multiples of book value at which banks have recently traded in your area and around the state. Information about recent sales often spreads like wildfire throughout the banking community with the most extreme examples (and rumors!) getting the most airplay. In the bank valuation practice at BCC Advisers a question I am frequently asked in conversation with bankers is, “What are you seeing in bank multiples?” I’m ..read more

January 26, 2023 In the day-to-day running of a business, it’s often hard to find time to prioritize some of those big-picture questions like “what is my business actually worth?”. But knowing the value of your business can be the catalyst to your next big step, like an upcoming retirement, offering an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, structuring a buyout among partners, or even selling your business outright. It can also reveal practices within your business that reduce value and make it harder to grow. BCC shareholder Matt Fett, CFA, ASA had the opportunity to visit with Bryan Dewhurst and Phi ..read more

October 14, 2022 By Kyle Larson, CFA - Vice President Published in Business Record Iowa  The availability of quality workers remains a top challenge facing business owners today. Given the difficulty businesses have keeping their best talent, adding new talent to grow, or simply satisfying current demand, we are seeing more companies pursuing acquisitions for the labor pool and talent. This spans all industries and can be an excellent solution. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. The labor shortage continues due to several factors, inclu ..read more

October 3, 2022 Employee Ownership Month started in 1982 as “Employee Ownership Week,” as designated by the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). In its second year of existence, this small organization with a staff of three wanted to encourage companies to celebrate being employee-owned and, hopefully, use the opportunity to get attention from local press, congressional representatives, and local leaders. It seemed too much of a stretch for their young staff to try to get a congressional designation, so they just said, “This is Employee Ownership Week!" With only a few hundred membe ..read more

July 8, 2022 By Jennifer Julander, ASA - Vice President As a business owner nearing retirement, you are faced with the monumental task of planning an exit strategy. The ideal strategy is one that fits both your business and personal objectives. If your goal is to optimize monetary proceeds, selling to another business or on the open market may provide the most profitable outcome. If ensuring your legacy and the business you built carries on, family succession or selling to employees may be the best option. Whichever exit strategy you choose, planning well in advance is essential to giving you ..read more

June 7, 2022 Rarely a day goes by without a headline about a major data breach or ransomware attack. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber risks will likely continue to grow as businesses increasingly rely on remote workers and cloud-based technologies. So, it’s critical for business valuation professionals to assess such risk when valuing businesses. Although hackers often target large businesses because “that’s where the money is,” the threat of cyberattacks is an issue for businesses of all sizes. In fact, smaller businesses are increasingly targeted because they tend to have less robust cybers ..read more

May 10, 2022 The business world has changed dramatically over the last two years. While some changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to be only temporary, others are expected to last indefinitely. When buying a business, it’s imperative to evaluate its expected future performance, rather than focus on its historical results. While the future can’t be predicted with complete accuracy, analysis of historical trends and other information that is known or knowable about the company at the present time may be helpful in projecting future cash flows. Strategic due diligence can help ..read more

April 5, 2022 Decedent wielded considerable controlThe decedent owned majority interests in five limited liability companies (LLCs) that held ground leases and certain other interests in various California properties. The LLC interests were held in a family trust. Although the decedent had given fractional interests in most of the LLCs to family members, the trust retained majority interests, ranging from 72.5% to 100%, in each of the companies. As trustee, the decedent served as the managing member of each LLC. Accordingly, she held considerable power over them, including the power to unilate ..read more