Does anyone have experience buying a unionized business?

by a searcher from Lakehead University

1 year ago

How do lenders / SBA view such deals? Investors? If you purchased a unionized business, were there any significant obstacles during fundraising? Post-acquisition, what is like managing day-to-day operations?

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searcher from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville

I was part of a company for 16 years where we had both union and non-union operations. Many of your nationwide construction firms operate this way. It is complex but doable. I don't think I would recommend it for an acquisition. It is just another layer complicating operations after the transaction is complete. You will have plenty of other things to worry about.

1 year ago | like reply | 1 like

searcher from Harvard University - Harvard Business School

It's hard to ever leave a union completely without essentially shutting down operations for at least a period of time. You also can't have a non-union operation that competes with the union portion. This is double-breasting and illegal. Make sure you feel the union wages is not a future hindrance to future revenue. If the market is trending towards more non-union jobs / labor you may want a discount to a reasonable selling price or buy a non-union company in the same space. One other point on union labor. Bad apples are hard to fire and can really sour the rest of the workforce.

1 year ago | like reply | 2 likes

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