What Does
Roll-Up Mean?
A roll-up (also known as a consolidation) is a term used to describe a company that is built primarily though the acquisition of smaller companies with common services or products. Usually, roll-ups are conducted by financial buyers in a specific market that is fragmented and can be consolidated. The market may be dominated by one player, with the balance of the competition made up of smaller private companies without sufficient scale and infrastructure to challenge the dominant player.
The financial buyer will identify the potential acquisition targets that offer products or services within the fragmented market and usually acquire them through a platform company. The roll-up then entails putting the various businesses together under a common brand, administrative infrastructure, reporting systems, and sales and marketing, so the combined business is presented to the customer base as a single entity. In a roll-up, value is created by building a much larger, scalable entity that will command a higher valuation multiple upon exit, and also by establishing a common platform of systems and processes that allows for easy integration of each acquisition.
Divestopedia Explains Roll-Up
Roll-ups can generate value, but they are extremely difficult to execute. The difficulty lies in the mix of different cultures and business practices inherent in each of the companies acquired, as well as the considerable change that these companies experience as they get integrated.
If the change is too immediate, the principals may get disenchanted quickly and leave, which causes a loss of value due to the usual dependence on these principals in the early stages. Similarly, if the integration change is too slow, then the combined company remains fragmented with a bunch of companies under one common umbrella, but with no cohesion or infrastructure to operate as a scalable, single entity.
Roll-ups are better suited for company owners who wish to stay on and create value together with other operational and financial partners, rather than those sellers who are simply looking to monetize their company equity through a quick cash exit.