Sectorsconsumers & retail

We had a well-defined, small universe for Creative Outdoor Advertising (COA) looking at acquisition opportunities in the street furniture marketing space. We were focused on running the day-to-day operations and engaged Spearhead to scale our M&A outreach and relationship-building efforts. We were very happy with their ability to connect with these targets and within 240 days we had our first deal closed and have a few others in our sights. The entire team has been incredible to work with and essentially became an extension of COA.

Great job to the entire team!

The Firepower M&A Advisory team was a pleasure to work with. They made sure we had a thorough understanding of the sale process right from the start. The team compiled an extensive worldwide list of prospective acquirers, and after considerable work, found us a strategic buyer that fit with our objectives. This was no easy feat, given the firm parameters we’d set out defining the right buyer: one who would embrace the culture of our company, be aligned with our existing values, support our current management team, leverage our relationships with our vendor partners, and allow us to retire.

At all times, we were well supported by Alan and his team, which made the process much easier than anticipated. I am happy to recommend Firepower to anyone who is looking to sell their business.

BATL was born out of a personal passion, started as a backyard business. After some early steady growth and a successful Toronto commercial location, I was approached by FirePower CEO, Ilan Jacobson, with a proposal to partner so we could build something truly special. Once we joined forces, it quickly became clear that having Ilan as a partner, along with the support of the FirePower team, would give BATL a real advantage. In addition to capital, Firepower provided the strategic expertise and support we needed to take BATL to the next level. Since day one, Ilan Jacobson has been a stalwart supporter as we scaled the business across North America. We’re proud of the success we’ve achieved for BATL so far – it’s fueled by people that share the passion to make something great every day. Ilan Jacobson and the FirePower team have been part of that…a driving force to help us reach new heights. And we’re just getting started!

As this was the first time we went outside our founders’ circle of family and friends to raise non-dilutive capital, I wanted to make sure I knew all my options. FirePower proposed to do a survey of likely lenders, on a no-name basis; their survey would give me concrete feedback on the likelihood of our raise, while LOT retained the flexibility of anonymity. After positive responses from lenders, the Board decided to formally task FirePower with raising the necessary capital. FirePower proved to be very creative and relentless in their pursuit of the right deal for LOT.

We engaged FirePower after an unsuccessful process with another firm. They cast their net worldwide for strategic and financial buyers, 102 in total. We had 8 offers to consider, the one we preferred from Kolmar. FirePower then helped us overcome the challenges of closing an M&A deal across the Pacific, setting both parties up for success post-closing. We sincerely thank the team for their hard work.

We wanted to secure an institutional lender that was not only supporting our acquisition, but also was keen to grow with us as we execute our aggressive expansion plans for PitaPit. FirePower’s M&A Advisory team brought that to the table and as a result, we are confident and well positioned to move ahead…