01 / The challenge
Turn an acquisition ambition into selection criteria.
Tradition Air’s growth plans included acquisitions. To guide that search, the company needed a clear definition of the kind of business it could own and operate successfully.
Size and financial performance were part of that decision. So were the quality of the service operation, the depth of the team, the systems already in place and the seller’s role after a purchase. Those considerations needed to be written down before evaluating individual opportunities.
02 / The work
Bring financial and operating fit into one document.
Define what fits the growth plan.
MVA organized the buy box around strategy, financial expectations, revenue quality, operations, owner transition, geography and risk. The document gave each area a defined role in the evaluation.
Examine the business behind the financials.
The criteria considered service mix, customer concentration, technician capacity, management responsibilities and operating systems. These factors connected an acquisition’s appeal to the work required to run it.
Plan for the transition before an offer.
The buy box addressed continuity when an owner leaves, the availability of a successor and the work of integrating systems and people. It distinguished different operating situations so they could be considered in the evaluation.
03 / The deliverable
A common reference for evaluating opportunities.
The delivered buy box translated the growth direction into written criteria. It provided a reference for comparing opportunities, identifying questions and recognizing the operating responsibilities that would come with an acquisition.
That preparation gives the search a defined starting point. An opportunity can be assessed against the company’s strategy, the quality of the business and its ability to manage the transition.
This story covers the acquisition planning deliverable. It makes no claim that an acquisition has closed or that illustrative investment returns have been achieved.