Plan to sell an OCS business? What buyers look for

HEADNOTE

Dawn Sanders, director of acquisitions at Filterfresh Coffee Service, cites the importance of earnings stream and other factors that affect an DCS company's sale value.

Automatic Merchandiser has carried

several articles over the years on how an operator determines a selling price for the business. The factors that determine the value of an OCS business, however, are different from that of a vending operation. Automatic Merchandiser recently interviewed Dawn Sanders, director of acquisitions for Filterfresh Coffee Service, Inc., a company that has made numerous acquisitions in recent years, on considerations in determining an OCS company's sale price. Filterfresh is the U.S. subsidiary of Van Houtte, Inc., a fully integrated coffee roaster and equipment manufacturer.

Sanders joined Filterfresh in January 2005 as director of acquisitions after serving as vice president at Branch Banking and Trust Co., where she was instrumental in underwriting, structuring and negotiating deals. Previously, she was vice president of mergers and acquisitions at Five Star Food Service, Inc., based in Dalton, Ga., senior vice president at Sun Trust Bank, and president of Whitfield County at Bank of America.