Since 2004, Ruppert Landscape has made eight acquisitions, and while M&A is not a part of the company’s budget or strategic plan, the company is “opportunistic,” when the right fit comes along says Phil Key, president.
That happened in February of this year when the company acquired Classic Landscaping, including both facilities, all commercial landscape management contracts, vehicles and equipment, and hired more than 50 employees. The company also restructured some internal positions to help with continued growth.
But acquisitions have to fit well within the company’s strategic plan in order to even come under consideration. “You don’t want to force them,” Key says. “Sometimes it’s something that creates energy within a company and you get this desire for the deal and you get kind of sucked into it.”
For example, he had two proposals in one morning to acquire companies in Florida, but since Ruppert has no plans to expand into Florida, he passed. “If you can sit back and be patient, I think the chances of success with acquisition are way up because there’s no real pressure to get the next deal done,” he says.
The company also plans to keep growing organically, an average of 10-15 percent, for two reasons Key says. Reason No. 1 is to provide opportunity for employees and No. 2 is that it shows the company is healthy.
“The industry’s grown by 10 percent and if you’re not growing, to put it bluntly, your customers are deciding to go somewhere else,” he says. “To me, that would indicate that your business model is being challenged and you’ve got something you should tweak or fix. That’s not the case for everyone but it’s an indicator.”
