"If you're the CEO of a small or medium sized business, you're bombarded by opportunities. You're targeted constantly by Private Equity groups and by individual investor search funds. Don't respond to those opportunities yourself. Many of those opportunities are really junk ‒ just a lot of noise. Get an experienced advisor like Corum to filter the signal from the noise, someone who can bring you only the best opportunities." That’s advice from Brian Sweat, former CEO of Alterity, a technology company that focuses on supporting growing, small-to-midsized distributors, online retailers, and manufacturers. Their award-winning software product, Acctivate, centralizes inventory, purchasing, sales and order fulfillment, placing all the elements needed to manage operations at the core of the business.
Sweat was constantly bombarded with opportunities to sell Alterity. "My inbox was full of requests," he recalls. And for many years he simply was not interested in selling. But after working at Alterity for 24 years, and being at the helm of a maturing business, his outlook for the company over the next few years was unclear. Sweat felt that continuing to try growing the company on his own was risky and decided it was time, in his words, "To try to find a strategic deal or some opportunity where together we could do better than just alone ‒ not just for me, not just financially or for my lifestyle, but also better for my team, my employees." Turning to Corum as an M& A advisor, Sweat was able to get an optimal deal in 2023, selling Alterity to CAI Software, a provider of integrated software and technology solutions for industry-specific information systems.
The deal was also an excellent one for Alterity's employees, something that was an important objective in choosing the right buyer. Alterity had about 30 employees, and Sweat notes that when you run a small business like that there are not many opportunities for your employees. He says, "As CEO of a small software company, you have a responsibility to your shareholders if you have them, but also responsibility for your employees and your staff, making sure they have fulfilling careers." He adds, "Ultimately, the employees would have to leave the business unless we joined a larger company or had new opportunities." Choosing CAI as a buyer was a good strategic fit for Alterity, and a good opportunity for their employees. Sweat notes, "We lost nobody ‒nobody quit after the acquisition. So everybody is on board, and I think some people are really excited about their future growth in the new organization.”
Sweat initially encountered Corum long before he chose them as an M&A advisor. "I first learned about Corum over ten years ago," he remembers. We were in Dallas Texas and there was a session called Selling Up Selling Out at a seminar that someone had recommended to me. We were looking potentially to get initial investors. We attended the session and really learned not just about the process of looking for an acquirer and looking to sell your business, but we also met the Corum Group. Everybody we met on the team was really impressive and had gone through this before. So I felt like I was with peers. And the other people in the room, the other CEOs of these software companies, were just like me. So I felt less alone and I felt like maybe this is something I can look into. That was ten years ago, so we've had a long relationship. I wasn't quite ready to sell at that point. But when I eventually was ready Corum was there for me."
Corum's assistance during the M&A process was eye opening to Sweat. "I didn't realize how much work Corum would do on my behalf. Because of it, I was able to still focus on running my business. There's a lot of work for due diligence and a lot of Excel work for financial data to the buyer. But Corum really did most of the negotiating on my behalf. I'm a good salesman ‒ I could sell the company ‒ but I don't think I could sell it for the best price and get a great deal. And that's where really Corum came in. They vetted all the prospective buyers and brought me only the best opportunities. I do think that I underestimated all of that. So it was a very nice surprise and it was a great experience."
After the sale, Sweat stayed on with CAI as the Vice President & General Manager of Acctivate, a role in which he continues to enjoy the business, the customers, and the employees. He also enjoys a newfound reduction in stress, which he puts this way: "I'm not having to be the CEO, the CFO, the head of sales, and work with a tax accountant at the end of the year. I can take off the stuff that I don't want to do, and be able to find out where I can be most effective in the business and not have the responsibility for everything. So finding a buyer who will do some of that, maybe not all ‒ I'm still going to be doing some of those things ‒ it's a lot less stressful and it's fun. I'm just going to a stay around and do the fun parts."