After nearly 50 years of building The Home Center into a leading provider of flooring, lighting, and installation services to residential homebuilders in central North Carolina, the second-generation owners faced a decision familiar to many successful family businesses:
Was now the right time to sell, and how could they know they were making the right decision?
De NES Partners began by helping the family answer that question before asking them to commit to a sale process. We evaluated the company, analyzed the potential buyer universe, and helped the owners understand what they could reasonably expect from the M&A market.
That upfront work gave the family the confidence to proceed.
From there, De NES positioned The Home Center around the qualities that made it valuable to a strategic acquirer, including its established homebuilder relationships, entrenched local market position, comprehensive service capabilities, and experienced organization. We then managed the process from initial buyer outreach through negotiations, diligence and closing.
For the owners, one of the greatest challenges was simply the intensity of selling a business while continuing to run it. De NES assumed much of that burden, anticipating what would be required at each stage, preparing management for the next step, and coordinating the many workstreams necessary to keep the transaction on schedule.
The process ultimately resulted in the sale of The Home Center to Artisan Design Group, a leading nationwide provider of design, distribution and installation services to homebuilders and property managers and a strong strategic fit for the company.
President Johnny Deal described De NES’s role this way: “Based on their years of experience, they were always looking two steps ahead and preparing us for the next phase.”
And perhaps more importantly for any owner contemplating a sale: “The De NES team gave us the breathing room to continue running the day-to-day business while they worked diligently behind the scenes to keep the process moving and on schedule.”
For The Home Center family, the transaction converted decades of hard work into a successful liquidity event while positioning the company for its next stage of growth. For De NES Partners, it was another example of what we believe an owner should expect from an M&A advisor: thoughtful advice before the decision to sell, experienced guidance throughout the process, and senior-level involvement all the way through closing.