LaFave's dream was to grow his company, and to fuel that growth he turned to outside resources, selling to and joining the PGA team. Terry Scott is principal at Global Capital Markets Inc., an investment group that assists with mergers and acquisitions in the staffing industry. He has seen both sides of the selling issue, because he started his own staffing company in 1985, sold it in 1996, then went into the consultant business. Other people want to retire, or they may have health issues and don't have children or partners who will buy out the business. Others simply receive the proverbial offer they can't refuse.
Owners keep putting their profits back into the operation.
It's only natural that they want to get their reward. Scott points out that another reason to sell to a larger firm is the increased liability seen today in all industries. When you're dealing with humans, generally anything that can go wrong will go wrong. SI Report listed 306 mergers and acquisitions in 1996. The tally for 1997 was 356.