The purchase extends Go-Forth’s service area from Hillsborough in the east to Statesville and the Lake Norman area in the west. Go-Forth will maintain its headquarters in the Triad and operate a satellite branch in the Lake Norman area.

— Charlotte Business Journal

Minergy is a general contractor providing land development, landscape and irrigation construction and grounds maintenance.

Acute’s previous owner, Landon Estes, is now vice president of Minergy.

BUNNELL, Fla. – Austin Outdoor, a commercial landscape services firm, has acquired the landscape management division of Cornerstone Solutions Group.

The merger of Cornerstone’s operations with Austin Outdoor’s substantial Florida presence has created a diverse organization capable of serving commercial clients with statewide operations.

“The merger of Cornerstone with Austin Outdoor is a natural fit.  Between the values they share and reputation they both have for high quality, these two organizations complement each other perfectly,” said Edward Schatz, Jr., Austin’s founder and current president of the southeast region for Yellowstone Landscape Group, which acquired Austin in 2008. “The result for our clients will be even more resources and seamless service across Florida.”

Cornerstone Solutions Group steadily developed since 1984 under the value-based leadership of John Faulkner, who grew the landscape business in the Tampa, Sarasota, Orlando and Jacksonville markets. “This a great move for Cornerstone because it allows us to reach our goals of building a great, nationally-recognized company founded on principals of quality, integrity and culture,” Faulkner said. “For the past several years the economy has been increasingly dictating the options available to us. We feel that there are still tremendous opportunities in markets that we couldn’t fill quickly enough. With this merger, we’ll be poised to jump to the next level in the landscape industry.”

For Cornerstone, the focus has always been on building strong relationships with customers. “We have always felt that our clients are our partners,” Faulkner said.  “With this merger, they will instantly have access to the vast resources that a large regional company offers, bringing more value and depth to the services that we provide.”

Austin Outdoor maintains many premier commercial properties in the markets it serves. William Dellecker is Austin Outdoor’s president and has guided its operations since 2002. When asked about the merger with Cornerstone, he said, “Our focus has always been on what’s best for our clients and we’re constantly seeking opportunities to improve our service offerings. There are many companies in our industry, but Cornerstone is unique; they share the same core purpose and their long-standing relationships prove it.  I’m excited about working with John Faulkner and his team.”

Yellowstone Yellowstone Group is a portfolio company of GridIron Capital, LLC, based in New Canaan, Connecticut.

We Service America has over 40 years of janitorial and guard experience, with an emphasis in the commercial, industrial, home owner association and personal security markets.

According to Dave Dworsky, “The combination of our companies offers our clientele a broad family of services that for the most part will be facilitated with one phone call.”

San Francisco, CA – January 4, 2012 — BizBuySell.com, the Internet’s largest marketplace for buying or selling a small business, today released its Full-Year and Fourth Quarter 2011 Insight Report on business succession trends. The report, which aggregates business for sale transaction data provided by participating business brokers, shows that small business sales were up slightly in 2011. This continues a trend of gradual year-over-year growth that began at the beginning of 2009.

For 2011, the number of small businesses reported as sold to BizBuySell.com across the U.S. was 6,703, an increase of 3.3 percent over the 2010 total of 6,486.* This follows a similar 3.0 percent jump in closed transactions from 2009 to 2010 (see following graph for quarter-by-quarter sales).

2011 Q3 Closed Small Business Transactions

The slight rise in closed transactions was accompanied by an equivalent 3.3 percent increase in the median selling price, from $150,000 in 2010 to $155,000 in 2011. However, median revenue for sold businesses was up more (6.7 percent) indicating that improved business performance contributed to increased sales activity. This also shows that business owners are adjusting their pricing expectations and selling their businesses for less relative to revenue and cash flow to get deals done.

“While 2011 continued to be a tough year for the nation’s small business owners, we were pleased to see that business performance is improving and more people are buying small businesses,” Mike Handelsman, group general manager of BizBuySell.com and BizQuest.com said. “Helping this is the fact that business sellers are adjusting their value expectations, something that should continue to spur deals in 2012.”

Buyers Getting More for their Money

Transactions reported to BizBuySell.com showed that buyers are getting more for their money and that favorable market conditions continue to exist for buyers who have or can secure necessary funding. The average revenue multiple for small businesses sold in 2011 was .60, down 8.8 percent vs. 2010 and the average cash flow multiple was 2.36, down 8.2 percent (see following graph for average valuation multiples by quarter).

2011 Q3 Small Business Sale Price Multiples

Fourth Quarter of 2011 in Line with Annual Trends

The final quarter of 2011 showed similar results to the full year. Closed transactions were basically unchanged, from 1,699 in Q4 2010 to 1,696 in Q4 2011. This is encouraging, as the fourth quarter of 2010 saw increased selling activity due to the expected end of the reduced capital gains tax rates that were set to expire at the end of 2010 (note: late in Q4 2010, the reduced tax rates were extended until the end of 2012). In Q4 2011, businesses sold for a multiple of revenue of .60, down 8.6 percent vs. Q4 2010, while the multiple of cash flow was 2.39, down 2.3 percent. Meanwhile, the median asking price in Q4 2011 for small businesses sold dropped $5,000 year-over-year to $175,000 (see following graph for median asking and selling prices by quarter).

2011 Q3 Small Business Sale Price vs. Asking Price

“We are seeing improved small business transaction activity driven, at least in part, by the fact that small business owners are lowering prices to attract buyers,” says Handelsman. “It’s slowly becoming a better time to be a seller, but it’s already a good time to be a buyer.”

Continued Gradual Growth Expected

Fundamentals point to a continued slow, but-steady, growth in the business-for-sale market in 2012 barring unforeseen global economic issues. Small business performance is improving and sellers who haven’t been able to sell for the past few years should start to reach performance levels that make a sale possible. Added to this is the fact that sellers are becoming increasingly realistic about valuations to more aggressively seek a sale. Finally, underlying all of this is the very favorable long-term conditions of latent supply (e.g., the large number of U.S. baby boomers reaching retirement age) and demand that will continue to fuel transaction growth, especially as credit restrictions ease.

“The Federal Government and Small Business Association are continuing to focus on helping ease bank lending restrictions and providing more capital to the small business market,” Handelsman said. “As more buyers and sellers begin to take advantage of these initiatives, we expect the gradual increase in business transactions to continue in 2012.”

“Wurzel Landscape is an established local organization with an excellent reputation and great people. We’re thrilled to welcome them into the Stay Green family,” said Chris Angelo. “We’ve been searching for the right company to complement our growing position in the region. This purchase will strengthen our core services and enable us to be even more competitive.”

Despite the challenging economy, Stay Green has remained an industry leader, consistently gaining ground in growth and profitability. Landscape Management Magazine named Stay Green one of the top 150 landscape contractors in the nation. Additionally, the company has won numerous awards, including seven major accolades from the California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA) in 2011, for achievements in public works and large residential, medium commercial, and large commercial maintenance. Stay Green also leads the industry in sustainability practices in landscape and water management and expert tree and plant-health care.

Chris Angelo added, “With this acquisition, Stay Green will gain an even greater foothold in the Southern California landscape services market and grow as a regional presence in the multi-billion dollar landscape industry. We’re excited for our company’s future and the new opportunities we’ll have to serve additional communities.”

About Stay Green Inc.
Serving all areas of Southern California from its headquarters in Santa Clarita, California, Stay Green Inc. has established a reputation for unsurpassed excellence in landscaping quality and service that spans four decades. Stay Green is recognized as an industry leader, providing environmentally friendly landscape maintenance, tree care, and plant-health care services that enhance the natural beauty and investment value of client properties. The award-winning company has achieved a 95 percent customer-retention rate. Founded in 1970, by Richard and Charlene Angelo, Stay Green remains family-operated and now employs more than 250 people in three divisions throughout the region.

Lawn Doctor is a leading franchisor of residential lawn care businesses.  The Company’s nationwide base of over 460 independently-owned franchise locations offers a wide variety of lawn, tree and shrub, and pest control programs.

Levine Leichtman Capital Partners is an independent investment firm that invests in middle market companies.  Levine manages approxiumately $5 billion of institutional capital on behalf of itself and its worldwide network of investors.

Southwest Enviroscapes, Inc. was founded in 1992 by Richard Spross and is one of Tucson’s leading providers of landscaping services for the commercial and public sectors, including such recently completed jobs as the new Uni-Source Tower and the I-10 corridor from Prince to 29th street. According to Santa Rita CEO Brian Ham, “This merger will help fulfill the vision of all three founders to serve the Tucson market as its preeminent provider of landscape services and provide a total landscape solution to any and all sectors of the Southern Arizona Market. Southwest Enviroscapes CEO Richard Spross expressed a similar sentiment. “For years we have been a market leader in commercial and public sector landscaping. With this merger we are able to offer a complete, quality landscape solution to customers across all markets.”

The merged companies will operate as Santa Rita Landscaping, Inc.

Preferred Landscape and Lighting employs 80 people and is well-recognized throughout Texas for its commercial landscape maintenance, lighting and holiday decorating services. The Millard Group provides janitorial, window cleaning, and architectural metal and stone maintenance services to commercial clients throughout the US.

“As we look to strategically expand our business, the growth platform afforded to us with Preferred is very exciting,” commented The Millard Group’s CEO, Larry Kugler. “We look forward to offering our current clients enhanced services in commercial building maintenance, and growing our business in the landscape, lighting and decoration arena.”

David Dunne, Preferred Landscape’s CEO offered additional thoughts, saying, “The opportunity to join forces with a nationally-recognized company like Millard leverages Preferred’s growth potential and enhances our ability to service our customers.”

Preferred Landscape and Lighting provides a variety of outdoor services to businesses in Texas and was founded in 1995. Preferred has been honored as a 2011 Fast Track Company by the San Antonio Business Journal as well as by Inc. Magazine’s 5000 fastest growing companies, and with the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Leadership award.

Founded in 1915, The Millard Group is a family-owned business with a long history of leadership in the building maintenance industry. The Millard Group offers a full spectrum of janitorial, window cleaning, and architectural metal and stone maintenance services to clients coast to coast. The organization’s customer base includes commercial and industrial real estate buildings, residential properties, educational and banking institutions, health care facilities, regional shopping centers and strip malls. Millard employs 4,000 people and serves over 1,000 clients in 30 states.