technologyreseller.co.uk 39 INTERVIEW Continued... Adam Zoldan offers insights into the corporate finance world and explains what business owners must do to achieve a successful exit Technology Reseller (TR): Adam, to start with please could you say a little about Knight Corporate Finance and who you serve. Adam Zoldan (AZ): We are advisors, focusing very much on the technology sector. Our services fall into four main pillars: we advise on strategy, mainly with a view to a transaction at some point in the future; we help companies with funding and potentially investment; very rarely we will advise on acquisitions – generally, we're working for the seller or the party looking to raise money; and, lastly, what we're best known for is our ability to achieve very successful exits – for over 180 clients so far. TR: Last year was Knight’s 15th anniversary. How has your area of corporate finance changed in that time? AZ: It's really interesting actually. We started in 2008, mid-financial crisis, about the same time Lehman went bust. Obviously, the perfect time to start our business! Both Paul Billingham and I, who co-founded Knight, had a good background in comms and we knew there was real potential for a lot of transaction activity, but at the time there was no one providing good industry knowledge-based advice particularly to entrepreneurs and business owners. That was the premise. When we started, people weren't really that aware of the potential for transactions and the value of their businesses. And the market was much younger, so recurring revenue businesses were confined to things like minutes and line rental and broadband. What we've seen over the last 15 years are two things: one, the market has evolved and some of those small, pretty basic companies have moved into the MSP/IT sector and into the cloud, so companies have become very much more complex and sophisticated; and two, there’s now much greater understanding of business worth and the fact that growing and investing in your business creates genuine value that can be realised. So, the major change from when we started is that today businesses are focused on value and value realisation, maybe not from the outset, but certainly from the point when they realise they've got something there. TR: Are your clients aware of what's involved when they come to you? AZ: Some are. For context, we're only small, but across the ICT spectrum, there's one deal every single working day and that's in a year when the market was down 30%. Everyone’s very aware of deal activity and they're very aware that there's value in their business, but they don't necessarily know what's involved. We might meet customers years in advance of a transaction because we like to sit down and make sure that they do know what's involved. It's a complex, timeconsuming, resource-intensive process. It doesn't sound great, but we love it. It's very important for people to understand that. Our advice to everybody that we meet is generally to start at the end, work out where you want to get to and then build a plan together. Well prepared businesses, where they've invested in their company in the right way, are the companies that realise the best value for their business. TR: You mention that there's a transaction every day of the year. Is interest in M&A still high? AZ: There is always a lot of interest in M&A. This sector, especially the recurring revenue side, is particularly attractive. It's seen as relatively safe because there's consistent money coming in every week or every month. We thought deals might die on their feet during Covid, but that actually resulted in money being funnelled away from other sectors towards ours. And that has remained the case. The market isn’t easy right now. Interest rates are having a huge effect, both on acquirers’ ability to raise money and on our clients’ customers’ ability to spend on technology. But the fact is confidence in the sector remains high and that drives deals. TR: In 2021 you were acquired by K3 Capital. What impact has that had on your operations and the services you offer? AZ: It’s interesting. It's had no impact on us at all (we are still locked in). M&A activity in the technology sector remains buoyant. Even last year, when the market was down 30%, there was still the equivalent of one transaction every working day. In this Q&A Adam Zoldan, Co-founder and Director of Knight Corporate Finance, explains why ICT businesses are still in demand and are likely to remain so despite the challenging business climate. He shares his top tips for realising the best value for your business, highlights common mistakes to avoid and explodes a few myths about the corporate finance world. Apparently, it's not all Champagne and long lunches. Zoldan’s insights are based on indepth knowledge of the ICT sector and a 360-degree view of corporate finance. Since helping to set up Knight Corporate Finance in 2008, he has experienced life on both sides of the fence. As a strategic advisor, he has achieved successful exits for more than 180 clients; and as a business owner/shareholder he has twice endured the emotional ups and downs of selling a business in which he is invested. This gives him a unique perspective on what advisors and their clients must do to achieve successful outcomes. As he says: “It's a complex, timeconsuming, resource-intensive process. It doesn't sound great, but we love it.” Q&A Adam Zoldan
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