BizBuySell.com's 3Q 2010 Insight Report Includes C-Store Channel Business-For-Sale Data

SAN FRANCISCO -- In October, BizBuySell.com released its third quarter 2010 economic data suggesting that while the business-for-sale market has bottomed out, it is also experiencing a very slow recovery. In the convenience store channel, the trend to buying and selling c-stores is operating at "half the level to what it was before the recession," Mike Handelsman, group general manager for BizBuySell.com told Convenience Store News in a recent interview.

A lack of funding is a main concern for c-store owners who are looking to sell their business. "The big factors affecting the market is on the supply side, there are generally fewer [convenience stores] for sale," Handelsman told CSNews, also noting that businesses are focused on surviving, not exiting their business, and that buyers lack the capital and the confidence to sell their businesses. BizBuySell.com's Insights data suggests that the lack of available credit is forcing business owners to lower their selling price if they want to close a deal today.

"On the sell side if you're serious about wanting to sell your business now, you need to be prepared to have realistic expectations of what current market prices are," Handelsman said. "Secondly you should be willing to provide some level or amount of seller financing as part of the transaction. What that means is, say for instance, you're selling the business for $300,000 you would get $100,000 from the buyer, $100,000 from a loan from the bank and then you may need to loan $100,000 of your own money that the buyer would have to pay back over time."

The lack of available credit for small business acquisitions remains one of the most critical issues. Handelsman noted in order for things to get better within the c-store market lending needs to be more readily available for business purposes. "The Small Business Jobs Act passed by Congress and signed by President Obama is intended to provide up to $30 billion in increased lending by small banks, but whether the bill is effective remains to be seen," he said.

BizBuySell.com's Third Quarter 2010 Insight Report includes business-for-sale metrics for the total U.S. and for more than 70 major metropolitan areas. The current report comprised data from 1,117 closed transactions and more than 30,000 active listings. Metrics are also available by industry and business type.

In order to help business buyers and sellers understand what their c-stores are selling for and what their individual store might be worth in today's market, Handelsman noted BizBuySell.com has a business evaluation report that can be accessed on their Web site. For more information on the BizBuysell.com Third Quarter 2010 Insight Report visit http://www.bizbuysell.com/news/media_insight.html.

BizBuySell.com is an Internet business for sale marketplace, with a current inventory of more than 47,000 businesses for sale. The company has a large database of sale comparables for recently sold businesses and is one of the industry's leading franchise directories.

Below is BizBuysell.com's convenience store business-for-sale comparison data with third quarter results included.

Quarter
Vertical (Subtype)
N
Median Sale Price
Median Ask Price
Avg. Sale/Ask Ratio
Median Revenue
Avg. Multiple of Revenue
Median Cash Flow
Avg. Multiple of Cash Flow
Q310
Convenience Stores
35
260,000
299,000
0.84
745,000
0.55
96,000
4.29
Q210
Convenience Stores
53
250,000
320,000
0.87
720,000
0.55
100,000
3.39
Q110
Convenience Stores
68
285,000
297,000
0.96
564,000
0.51
100,000
4.18
Q409
Convenience Stores
36
207,500
247,500
0.89
525,749
0.78
99,500
4.26
Q309
Convenience Stores
44
237,500
283,000
0.87
775,000
0.75
100,000
3.17
Q209
Convenience Stores
26
170,000
175,000
1.05
600,000
0.48
81,197
3.21



Recently Closed Transactions Examples*

Region
State
County
Business Subtype
Ad Headline
Sale Price
Asking Price
Sale/Ask Ratio
Revenue
Revenue Multiple
Cash Flow
Cash Flow Multiple
Pacific
CA
Los Angeles
Convenience Stores
San Fernando Valley Independent Mini Market Converting To Am/PM
$3,900,000
$4,195,000
0.93
$6,850,000
0.57
$500,000
7.80


*Closed transactions are self-reported to BizBuySell by the representing brokers. Not all closed transactions are reported to BizBuySell and BizBuySell does not collect data from for-sale-by-owner transactions.

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