By Paul Wright, founder and CEO of SignValue
Is it a good time to sell my billboard plant? What kind of price do you think we can get? How long will it take?
These are all good questions, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. Our clients are all bright, hardworking business owners who have often spent several years (if not decades) developing each and every sign in their plant. They usually ask a lot of questions before making the decision to sell. In the last 20 years, we have seen as many reasons to sell a billboard plant as there are sign owners. Every situation is unique and requires some reflection and honest soul searching. When we talk with sign owners about their reasons for selling, there are some common themes that we usually explore together.
Here are some of the reasons that our clients decide to sell their out-of-home assets with some comments.
- Enjoyment is Gone – I really liked developing new locations, but I hate the ongoing advertising sales. I’m burned out and ready for something new. I want to continue developing new locations, but I want to sell them when they are completed.
- Age and Health – I am ready to retire and want to explore my options. My wife has had some health issues and I need to focus my attention on her right now.
- Family Status – The kids are happy, well-adjusted (non-toxic) adults with their own small children and don’t want to take over the business.
- Market Shifts – I don’t like the changes coming to the industry. There’s too much competition, landowners are asking for too much of my revenue, Cities are starting to tax my billboards at high rates.
- Economy and Recessions – I’ve been around long enough to know that a recession is coming and I don’t want to just “survive” another one. I’d like to move quickly and strategically to avoid another downturn.
- Tax Implications – Capital gains taxes usually come as quite a shock. The taxes will be how much? We walk through options for 1031 exchanges and other tax shelters that help clients reduce that tax burden.
- Sale Price or Valuation – How much do you think we can get for the plant? I need a Broker Price Opinion to help me make some decisions.
- Attractive Alternatives – Many of our clients are multi-disciplined people who are always looking for attractive alternatives and want to get involved in other industries.
- Lucrative Offers – It is not unusual to have a client call and say that they have been approached about selling and they were surprised by the offer (either too low or much higher than they realized), but want to have someone review it, solicit more offers or walk through the deal with them.
- Set it Free – Many successful plant owners watch their plant outgrow them and decide to let it leave the nest to fly on its own. This can be done through Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), a sale to a third party, partner or employee.
“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” Nelson Mandela
Paul Wright is the founder and CEO of SignValue. SignValue advises OOH buyers and sellers nationwide. He (or Carson Frost) can be reached at (480) 657-8400 paul@signvalue.com or carson@signvalue.com
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