Welcome to Ben's Blog! The Flat World, M&A, and the Global Supply Chain Today
Welcome!
To paraphrase Admiral Stockdale: why am I writing this blog, and why should you read it?
Historically, the M&A advisory business was a one-way process. Advisors sought out clients, and delivered their work. If you were a client, you would get a thick binder, go through a deal process, and have a transaction completed. If you were a warehousing company in Nashville, like Ozburn Logistics, you might merge with a warehousing company in another southeast marketplace.
Today, it's not so simple. We live in a decentralized and multi-dimensional world. It is more important than ever before for advisors to pay attention to the broader marketplace, and incorporate input from many different channels. The right buyer for a freight forwarding company in Minnesota might be another forwarder. Or it could be a warehousing business in Philadelphia. Or a private equity firm in New York. Or a global steamship company in Israel. This turned out to be the case for Interlog, a small freight forwarder which teamed up with Zim Logistics Network to become part of a global giant.
In short, the world has changed. Thomas Friedman had it right: we are living in a "flat world" economy.
Consequently, to be an effective advisor, today you have to see the entire field. In today's "flat world," a 360 degree field of vision is a prerequisite to successful deal-making. At BG Strategic Advisors (BGSA), we are constantly finding new buyers who are exploring the logistics and supply chain market. As the market continues to evolve, we see more and more "out-of-the-box" entrants seeking to gain access, ranging from overseas companies to manufacturing firms to private equity investors to others. Deals like PWC-GeoLogistics, Interlog-ZLN, Air-Road-Reliant Equity, CR England-Dynalink, and others are all examples of non-traditional combinations of buyers and sellers. Hence, to be effective at mergers and acquisitions, we need to constantly refresh our ideas as the transportation, warehousing, freight forwarding, logistics, and supply chain markets continue to evolve.
I started this blog in order to explore a broad range of topics, to share learnings that we are finding in the marketplace, and to solicit feedback from a broad mix of inputs. We will consider ideas such as
To paraphrase Admiral Stockdale: why am I writing this blog, and why should you read it?
Historically, the M&A advisory business was a one-way process. Advisors sought out clients, and delivered their work. If you were a client, you would get a thick binder, go through a deal process, and have a transaction completed. If you were a warehousing company in Nashville, like Ozburn Logistics, you might merge with a warehousing company in another southeast marketplace.
Today, it's not so simple. We live in a decentralized and multi-dimensional world. It is more important than ever before for advisors to pay attention to the broader marketplace, and incorporate input from many different channels. The right buyer for a freight forwarding company in Minnesota might be another forwarder. Or it could be a warehousing business in Philadelphia. Or a private equity firm in New York. Or a global steamship company in Israel. This turned out to be the case for Interlog, a small freight forwarder which teamed up with Zim Logistics Network to become part of a global giant.
In short, the world has changed. Thomas Friedman had it right: we are living in a "flat world" economy.
Consequently, to be an effective advisor, today you have to see the entire field. In today's "flat world," a 360 degree field of vision is a prerequisite to successful deal-making. At BG Strategic Advisors (BGSA), we are constantly finding new buyers who are exploring the logistics and supply chain market. As the market continues to evolve, we see more and more "out-of-the-box" entrants seeking to gain access, ranging from overseas companies to manufacturing firms to private equity investors to others. Deals like PWC-GeoLogistics, Interlog-ZLN, Air-Road-Reliant Equity, CR England-Dynalink, and others are all examples of non-traditional combinations of buyers and sellers. Hence, to be effective at mergers and acquisitions, we need to constantly refresh our ideas as the transportation, warehousing, freight forwarding, logistics, and supply chain markets continue to evolve.
I started this blog in order to explore a broad range of topics, to share learnings that we are finding in the marketplace, and to solicit feedback from a broad mix of inputs. We will consider ideas such as
- Consolidation of services: opportunity or challenge?
- The China Effect: what does it mean for your business?
- Valuations: how to evaluate companies in the current marketplace?
- And plenty of other issues
Please feel free to respond with your comments, questions and suggestions. I can be reached at ben@bgsa.com, and welcome your input. Thanks in advance. I look forward to the virtual dialogue!
Outstanding overview. Looking forward to reading more!
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Hi Ben,
In a world of increasing uncertainty and volatility, tracking the flow of goods from origin to destination is more challenging than ever before. After years of developing offshore manufacturing centers in Asia, as the costs of oil have increased, many American companies are rethinking where manufacturing should take place and the most cost-effective means of warehousing and transporting products to their customers.
Getting the right goods to the right place at the right time is no easy challenge. It involves the greatest efficiency and use of technology possible in supply chain management – from the creation, storage, and movement of goods all the way to point of sale. Now, more than ever, it requires an ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with suppliers, customers and partners -- wherever they are in the world.
A key component of profitability and perhaps business survival increasingly hinges on effective supply chain management and minimizing the impact of a breakdown anywhere in this chain. Executives and business managers now require real-time visibility of their assets across the supply chain, dashboards of key performance indicators and timely alerts so they can minimize the impact of negative events and maximize their sales revenues.
Sandy Vosk is President & CEO of Allied Tracking Systems, Inc. a business intelligence company that specializes in supply chain efficiency and collaborative solutions. For additional information, please go to allied-tracking.com">http://www.allied-tracking.com">allied-tracking.com
supplychainexperts.ning.com">http://www.supplychainexperts.ning.com">supplychainexperts.ning.com
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While I agree that we are living in a more flattened world, we have not leveled the event horizon. There are still large disconnects between areas and best practices. That would be a great exploration.
Kendall Gordan, SE
www.foxfiresoftware.com
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Thank you so much for this information, was pretty useful for me. Thanks again.
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Awesome information and tips. I look forward to hear more from you.
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Thank you so much for sharing these great thoughts and experiences, great information.
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Very good review. Thank you very much!!!!
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Great detailed information, I ll be visiting you more frequently, here is very interesting information. Nice site! Very professional and full of information.
Procurement Staffing
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Great! You're right about the world become more decentralized... I am looking forward to reading your posts. I'm sure your ideas and analyses will be very helpful for my business. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!
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