“Work with someone who has a lot of experience with acquisitions. What’s so great about working with PCO Bookkeepers and PCO M&A Specialists is they know all your books already, so they can advise you better than a third-party M&A guy who just comes in at the end.”

Lubbock, Texas-based D’s Pest Control was founded as a parttime venture by Brian Duncan’s father Robert, out of their family home more than 30 years ago. Brian was the first full-time employee of the company after he graduated from Texas Tech in 1990. He eventually took over the firm from his dad, and it has grown into a 22-employee company, including Brian and his wife, Donna, who joined the business in 1995.

The decision to sell

The Duncans had been tossing around the idea of selling their business for the past five years or so, Brian says. Selling became an increasingly attractive proposition as they realized their children weren’t interested in taking over the company, their business has grown in value and they were ready to reduce the stress associated with owning a business. Their first step was to make a five-year plan to sell the company, beginning with hiring PCO Bookkeepers as their accounting firm to ensure their financials were in order. This past spring, even though they were only in year three of their five-year plan, the Duncans asked PCO Bookkeepers’ Dan Gordon if it would be the right time to sell.

“He said ‘most certainly,’” Brian says. “We started visiting what kind of dollar figure it would be, and the number he gave us was pleasantly surprising, so we decided to start the process.” Like many pest management professionals, Brian was aware that he’d only go through the selling process once, and he wanted to get it right. Enter PCO M&A Specialists, a division of PCO Bookkeepers.

The sale

The process included compiling several years of financial and operational information and assembling a Confidential Business Memorandum. “Dan made it very easy,” Brian says. PCO M&A Specialists took D’s Pest Control to market in July and within short order had several offers. The sale to Rentokil closed on Nov. 1. The Duncans opted for Rentokil’s offer over others because it felt “compatible to our family-style of small business, even though they’re a huge company,” Brian says. Brian and Donna will continue running the business with all of their employees, and D’s Pest Control will keep its branding for the foreseeable future. “Pretty much everything stays the same, but we’re benefiting as far as more benefits, HR and support,” Brian says. “My job responsibilities have decreased, and I’m sleeping better at night.”

The experience

Assistance with the due diligence process – which can be a grueling several days of meetings – is just one perk of working with PCO M&A Specialists. “Dan and Doug Corrigan were there and assisted us, which was really great,” Brian says. “They answered all of the financial and operational questions while preparing the extensive data vault required in due diligence.”As a selfproclaimed “mom-and-pop shop,” Brian acknowledges he was in unfamiliar territory when it came to selling his business.

“There were a lot of things we didn’t know,” Brian says. “The way Dan and PCO M&A Specialists guided us through the process made it very easy.”