What are the main impacts you expect from CV-19 on search processes?

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April 11, 2020

by a searcher from The University of Chicago - Booth School of Business in Denver, CO, USA

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Reply by a searcher
from Northwestern University in Overland Park, KS, USA
Short-term... I've seen decreased deal flow. Operators are heads-down trying to figure out payroll. Long-term, this should spark a wave of succession conversations and opportunities.

From the searchers perspective... this is tough. The private markets tend to lag the public markets when realizing the aftermath of a material event. The down-stream impacts (ex. livelihood of a company's suppliers) won't fully be known for months. No amount of diligence will provide the comfort that could have been found prior to the downturn.

Additionally, building a relationship with the seller seems a bit more difficult. Are you coming in as an opportunistic predator looking for reasons to push down the valuation, or are you the knight in shining armor saving the business from possible failure? In the only few real conversations I've had since the downturn, the seller seems to have the predisposed perspective that I'm price hunting.

What are others seeing?
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Reply by a searcher
from University of Cambridge in London, UK
From an acquisition point of view, I would think it will depend on the sector. Companies' owners operating in sectors benefiting from the situation might want to sell on high now. Others losing from the situation might hold for now. It would be interesting to know an investor point of view.
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