this might be a first

[chslaundry]

my [redacted] distributor just placed an unsolicited offer for one of my mats. since i've never financed any of my equipment, he has no idea what the financials are.

the negotiations should be fun!

[silver56]

If the negotiations don't lead to a sale I would can his keester. This goes back to my "Distributors as Competitors" thread from a few months ago.

Did this come out of nowhere or have there been some informal discussions?

[chad]

That is interesting, maybe it's another way to find out how much you make? Make an offer just to see the books then back out and go with the plan they had all along?... to build a store near you. lol

[chslaundry]

Originally Posted by silver56

Did this come out of nowhere or have there been some informal discussions?

in the past year or so, we've had several unsolicited offers, but they all came through brokers, never directly from the potential buyer.

this distributor has been extremely successful (7+ stores) in his market, but doesn't have one in our greater metro area, primarily because our real estate and impact fee costs are ridiculously high. this purchase would grant him a foothold in our market.

[chslaundry]

Originally Posted by chad

That is interesting, maybe it's another way to find out how much you make? Make an offer just to see the books then back out and go with the plan they had all along?... to build a store near you. lol

the offer is not contingent on a review of the financials. he really wants into this market, as our greater metro area keeps growing, but a similar build-out in our vicinity would be 1.5M+ (mostly real property costs). while he could go the rental route, he's smart enough to realize that the sewer costs would inure to the landlord.