Leah White is an experienced financial professional and a Managing Director with FOCUS Investment Banking. She specializes in e-commerce and technology transactions and enjoys helping entrepreneurs achieve a successful exit.
Most people love pets…and most pet owners love to spoil them. That in a nutshell explains what’s driving the booming pet business, and the associated surge in industry M&A.
The global pet industry has grown dramatically in recent years, despite the downturn in the world economy, driven by increased adoption rates, humanization trends among owners, and e-commerce penetration. The industry has proven to be largely recession-resistant while underlying trends support continued growth in the future, regardless of overall economic conditions.
Middle market business fundamentals remain strong, although some companies are starting to show caution. Revenue growth and hiring have been robust, although companies continue to face challenges in finding skilled workers. There remains a strong appetite for quality deals as valuations have declined slightly. Private equity firms still have about $1 trillion of “dry powder” and appear impatient to put some of that to work. M&A volume moderated slightly in the second half of 2022 and appears unlikely to duplicate 2021’s record pace, but is on track for another strong year.
It’s understandable that most if not all companies were not prepared for the Covid pandemic and resulting economic shutdown—after all, such an event had never happened before. But there’s no excuse for not being prepared for the next debacle—even if it never occurs.
There’s been a lot of turmoil going in the e-commerce space. Consumers are moving more of their spending back to physical stores, while online retailers are being particularly hard hit by supply chain delays and rising costs. Thrasio, the biggest aggregator, announced layoffs and replaced its CEO. The headlines look pretty grim. What does that mean for your company?
The pandemic-inspired boom in e-commerce has fallen back to earth as consumers move more of their shopping back to brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers battle supply chain problems and rising costs. What does this mean to e-commerce companies?
If you’re an online retailer—more specifically, one that sells through Amazon—you should be a little worried. Business may have peaked during the current economic cycle. But it may not be too late if you want to exit at a strong valuation.
Why are some e-commerce platforms and retailers making acquisitions in the metaverse and augmented reality as a way to make online shopping more like shopping in person?
