Market Report Fall 2014

September 09, 2014 by brian

That was a quick summer and now that we’ve gotten past Labor Day it’s back to school, back to work and back to deals!

Maine Business Brokers has seen a substantial increase in business listings: our firm alone listed over a dozen businesses in the last 30 days with several more expected before the end of 3Q. Business owners seem comfortable that valuations have recovered from the economic downturn and bank financing is loosening. For business owners looking for a near term exit strategy this is a good time to sell: values are still increasing, interest rates are low and the economy continues to improve.

The elections are a hot topic in both Maine and New Hampshire but there is no expectation of major legislation impacting the business community.

Maine

• There has been an increase in out-of-state buyer interest in the last 6 months. The strong southern market, national media attention on greater Portland and the Maine “brand” are appealing to younger entrepreneurs.
• Distributors in the tourism supply chain are reporting strong earnings coming off the tourist season and are looking for acquisitions and roll-up opportunities.
• Institutional lending continues to improve and new entrants like Katahdin Trust are aggressively looking for deal flow.

New Hampshire

• Smaller “Main St” businesses are still experiencing slow sale activity, Mid Main St is improving while Mid-Market and M&A remains the strongest business brokerage market in NH.
• Seacoast New Hampshire is still benefitting from the “Boston Overflow” as small nimble tech and service companies seek lower rents and labor costs. Many of these fast growing firms are ripe for acquisition.