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M&A Strategy for Maximizing Value Before a Transaction
M&A Strategy for Maximizing Value Before a Transaction
This summer, Divvy sold to Bill.com for $2.5 Billion. Success. But it wasn’t always pretty and happy on the way to the transaction. Blakely Cragun, the CFO of Divvy, shares, at the Intermountain CFO Summit, 5 mantras he built into the Divvy finance team ethos to guide them to maximize the value of the transaction.
Blakely, drawing on his lessons learned with a large company (Dell), a growth-stage tech company (Instructure), and a rapidly growing startup (Divvy), teaches us that the CFO is a people leader first.
His 5 Mantras are:
- Just start
- Seek to understand before you seek to be understood
- Empower and encourage (or demand even) that others have an opinion
- We succeed by helping others succeed
- “Not in these shoes”
Just Start
Blakely said, “any idiot can tell you why not to do something…don’t be a culture of ideas…be a culture of action”. A CFO drives a culture that has a bias toward action. They aren’t a team of nay-sayers.
Seek to Understand Before You Seek to be Understood
A CFO doesn’t have to recreate the wheel on driving value…they must listen to the market. And then the CFO helps interpret what the market is telling them and how it should drive improvement and goals in the organization.
We Succeed by Helping Others Succeed
Firstly, Blakely suggests that “it’s your job as CFO to help everyone succeed. Including investors, the board, and employees.” As trust is built in the organization over time with internal teams such as sales and marketing, they’ll work hard to succeed for the organization in meeting targets.
Not in These Shoes
This is an idea of leveraging pride in the culture and team. In any business there is a tough period of time, it is the CFOs job to let people know to step to the plate and work through the problem.
Dave Chase is a Director at Amplēo. He is currently taking a sabbatical to move with his family to Chicago for a service opportunity. This will take him away from Amplēo for three years. He intends to return to Amplēo at the end of this assignment in July 2025.
Before becoming a Partner at Amplēo in 2011, Dave spent 9 years in various financial strategy roles such as divisional CFO at Honeywell International Inc in their Phoenix and New York offices. In 2007, Dave became the CFO, and ultimately the Consumer Division Executive VP, for Cricut, a large private equity-owned company in consumer products manufacturing, distributing, and retailing. Dave has led or been instrumental in raising multiple rounds of equity and debt in excess of $500 million. After a successful career, Dave has used his broad experience in global finance and strategy to assist Amplēo clients. Dave is active in the entrepreneurial and small business mentoring community in Utah and is a frequent speaker on finance and entrepreneurship.
Fun Facts/Hobbies
- Wakeboarding
- Snowboarding
- Ski-mountaineering
- Hiking
- Passion for humanitarian work
Education/Certificates
- MBA from Brigham Young University
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