BUYERS PROCESS
SUCCESS STORIES
Manager buying a funeral home
Andy Powell began working at Whitehurst Funeral Home located in Crestview, Florida, in 1992. The funeral home was operated by Service Corporation International after having being sold in 1989. When SCI announced that they would consider selling the funeral home, Andy Powell called NewBridge Group for assistance. The funeral home had several bidders, but NewBridge through its relationship with SCI was able to pull Whitehurst Funeral Home into a group purchase that it was negotiating on some other transactions, thereby ensuring that Mr. Powell would be the chosen purchaser.
After helping Andy explore financing options, NewBridge negotiated an agreement with a financial partner that provided approximately 95% of the funds necessary for closing. NewBridge organized the closing and then allocated the individual locations back out to the individual purchasers. Andy went from being an employee one day to be 100% owner the next day. Andy's wife, Heather, joined the business as office manager and the two of them haven't slowed down since. Since his purchase the business has increased its revenue by 55%. Andy said that he loves the "opportunity to do things as he sees fit without worrying about what a corporate owner might think". "The freedom to make my own decisions, and the opportunity to make it on my own is what gets me excited about coming to work every morning", Andy added.
Boutwell added about Powell, "Andy's a great example of what can happen when a location manager is able to become owner and starts running a funeral home with a personal touch."
Regional Buyer
The NewBridge Group has worked with several regional buyers over the past few years. One of our proudest associations has been with Greg and Debbie Rollings, founders of Rollings Funeral Service. Greg became a licensed funeral director at the age of 19 in the state of Oregon and in 1983 he was named Young Funeral Director of the Year in Oregon. He moved to San Diego and was a partner in a firm that was one of the first 50 funeral homes to join the Loewen Group. Rollings rose quickly inside of Loewen and was ultimately a Vice President of the company. He stayed with Loewen until he was recruited by Toma-Cressey Equity Partners to be President of a new funeral home consolidator that was founded in 1999. Rollings stayed with Meridian until late 2001, when he realized that the financial world and funeral industry are a very challenging match and that he would prefer to go back to family ownership.
In early 2002, Greg and Debbie decided to take the good parts of the corporate funeral world and merge them with the many, many things that family funeral homes were doing correctly. "Basically the corporate funeral companies are very good at organization, training, reporting, budgeting, planning and dealing with suppliers. Family funeral homes are typically better at everything else – and those other things are what the families see and make them want to come back and use you again", Rollings told us. NewBridge worked with Greg and Debbie for several months to develop a strategy to grow a funeral home company that he and his wife could own and operate themselves.
Over the past 5 years, NewBridge has assisted Rollings in his acquisition of more than 20 funeral homes and cemeteries. He's purchased locations from owners that wanted to retire and he's purchased former corporate locations taking them back to the family service model. Rollings combined companies now serve more than 3,000 families annually and most of the locations are growing. There are many things that set Greg and Debbie apart from their peers in this industry. "I can't say its been just one thing", said Boutwell, "Their business plan is extremely sound, their relationship with financiers is very healthy, and they both are very passionate about doing the right thing for their employees and the families they serve". "I've heard many people say that families come first, but Greg and Debbie live it. And their location employees do, too, or they don't stay on the job very long."
Rollings added, "Our relationship with NewBridge has been great. They've helped us find business owners that wanted to retire, they've helped with budgets and financing, and they make sure the transactions are a win/win for everyone. If former owners and employees aren't happy after I buy a business, then the environment isn't going to be right to serve families and grow the business. NewBridge makes sure that everyone has input in the process and that all everyone is happy moving forward."
