GOING Ventures - Buy & Build
  • COMPANY
    OVERVIEW
    • COMPANY OVERVIEW

      GOING Ventures is a private investment management company formed to invest in on-going companies and then to take an active hand in managing them.

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  • Our
    Approach
    • Our Approach

      GOING Ventures team offer a proven platform for our new partner organizations. Unlike hiring consulting and investment professionals for Strategy and Corporate Finance work, partnering with GOING Ventures team has the following advantages:

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  • Why
    Choose Us?
    • Why Choose Us?

      Highly Experienced Investment and Business Growth Professionals. Our leadership team has a long and successful history of assisting companies to restructure, reposition, and generate superior returns for investors.

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  • Deal Process & system
    • Deal Process & System

      We have developed an extremely comprehensive and formal deal-sourcing program. GOING Ventures’ reputation as value-added and a successful buy and build investment company has made us an attractive partner for a wide range of owners, business brokers and other intermediaries.

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  • Transaction Parameters
    • Transaction Parameters

      GOING Ventures generally targets equity investments in lower-middle market companies with enterprise values of $10 million to $100 million that exhibit the potential for continued growth through value-added investing.

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OUR APPROACH

Proven Strategy
GOING Ventures team offer a proven platform for our new partner organizations. Unlike hiring consulting and investment professionals for Strategy and Corporate Finance work, partnering with GOING Ventures team has the following advantages:

  • Focus. The members of our team have spent the majority of their careers in the investment banking and financial advisory services related work and have spent the last decade and a half, building deep and strong relationships with deal sources (i.e., attorneys and accountants) as well as service providers and other intermediaries across the globe.
    • Infrastructure. We have developed comprehensive investment systems and processes that are tailored to the unique aspects of the lower-middle market. These include, but are not limited to: (i) a highly efficient deal screening system, (ii) a full research library, (iii) a flexible deal log tracking system, (iv) an exhaustive database of active deal contacts and (v) a proven and extremely effective due diligence process and project management system.
  • Personnel. We have a global network of experienced team to execute and oversee the Transatlantic strategy and operation/activities. These professionals will significantly enhance our ability to quickly implement our strategic plan.
  • Intercontinental Locations. GOING Ventures currently operates two interconnected office locations in Africa and North America to effectively execute its Transatlantic strategy: close to its target markets and its financiers.

The Lower-Middle Market

The Transatlantic lower-middle market offers a broad and diverse universe of attractive private equity investment candidates. Despite the large number of companies in the lower-middle market, We believe that the relative amount of buyout fund capital targeting this segment is significantly less than the amount of capital allocated to larger companies. This abundance of companies, combined with our focus on proprietary transactions and the favourable attributes of lower-middle market businesses, results in the opportunity to make attractive investments with the potential for superior returns.

Key aspects of the focus on the Transatlantic lower-middle market include:


Large Number of Appealing Acquisition Candidates. In 2008, according to Dun & Bradstreet, there were over 100,000 companies with revenues between $10 million and $100 million. Within this segment, a sizable number of companies were founded by World War II veterans or baby boomers, many of who are currently considering estate planning and liquidity options. Since more than five times as many companies exist in this segment than in all of the larger company segments combined, this sector represents a sizable pool of attractive investment opportunities.

Less Efficient Intermediation. Compared to the investment bank-driven auction process that is predominant in larger transactions, the lower-middle market acquisition process is often less efficient because it is mainly facilitated by brokers, accountants and attorneys. This is a primary reason why purchase price multiples are typically lower in this market segment. Moreover, sellers of companies in the lower-middle market are often driven to sell by non-economic factors, such as age, health or family matters, rather than by market timing. In many instances, valuations are further improved by the seller’s willingness to accept more flexible terms, such as seller financing, earnouts and other contingent payout structures.

Attractive Acquisition Candidates. A lower-middle market focus offers GOING Ventures the ability to target fairly priced, “high-potential” acquisition candidates. Many of these companies are held by absentee owners who are overly conservative or no longer committed to growing their businesses. Our past experiences have proven that once “under-managed” companies are supported with proper capitalization, operating assistance and appropriate management incentives, they can quickly rise to new levels of performance. Ideal investment candidates are companies that have a vision to grow their business but lack the capital and strategic guidance to realize their full potential.

Multiple Exit Opportunities. The exit market for successfully developed mid-sized companies is well established and active. Increased valuation and higher exit returns occur when companies with strong growth trends gain increased access to public markets and when larger strategic and financial buyers are willing to pay a premium for these companies because of their demonstrated performance and more developed infrastructure. Rather than attempt to build growth internally, larger strategic and financial investors often prefer to buy businesses with the qualities of an established business, which increases acquisition multiples for companies that are able to make the transition from the lower-middle market to the middle market.

Ability to Achieve High Returns. Over the past 15 years, small buyouts have generated the highest cumulative fund returns of any other type of private equity strategy. We believe that the “blending” of these returns with those of the growth activities in sub-Saharan African market will result in enhancing the overall returns of GOING Ventures’ portfolio.

Investment Focus

Transaction Types

The types of transactions in which GOING Ventures would focus on as part of our strategic plan include:

  • Management Buyouts. GOING Ventures seeks to invest with management teams in the acquisition of privately held companies, corporate divisions and smaller public companies. Once acquired, these businesses are able to pursue standalone growth strategies under the direction of managers who have increased operating autonomy and meaningful equity ownership.
  • Recapitalizations. GOING Ventures seeks to provide the owners of family-owned or closely-held businesses with liquidity while allowing them to retain significant ownership and day-to-day operational control. We believe that co-investing with incumbent owners and/or management teams mitigates due diligence risks inherent in complete change of control transactions.
  • Growth Equity Investments. GOING Ventures targets strategic equity investments in companies seeking to finance rapid growth. Equity capital is provided to expand operations, accelerate growth or make strategic acquisitions.