Sid Afari – Co-President / Kamran Bina – Co-President, Brandon Femme – Wholesale Distributor

June 2, 2017

Please let this letter act as a letter of recommendation for Matt Coletta. We are the owners of a manufacturing and wholesale distribution business that distributes wholesale beauty products to a wide range of customers including CVS, Walgreens, TJ Max, Burlington Coat Factory, Drug Emporium and other chain retailers across the country. After being in business for over 30 years, we decided it was time to retire and sell our business.

I did some google searches for Business Brokers and came across Matt Coletta’s information. I contacted Matt in early 2016 to discuss the sale of our business. I explained to Matt our situation and what we did. Matt was very knowledgeable about wholesale businesses and I immediately felt comfortable with him. Matt explained his processes and what was involved in selling a business in today’s marketplace. This was all very informative and gave me a better understanding of what to expect.

We met Matt at our facility and gave him everything he requested. Matt was extremely patient with us since this was a big decision for us. Matt then created a financial analysis that incorporated our financial picture over the last 4 years. He came up with a value given all aspects of the business and what we were including. He had some great suggestions on how to handle our high levels of inventory we had on hand. After agreeing on the list price, my partners and I decided to move forward with Matt and we signed a representation agreement.

Matt prepared a detailed package on our business and he spoke to many potential buyers. Unfortunately, our business ended up being difficult to sell due to the high level of inventory we had on hand and the fact that our gross revenue was down from our peak of $5M. Matt was never discouraged over the 15 months we had the business on the market. He kept vetting buyers and the ones that looked like a good fit, Matt set up meetings and we all met to discuss it further. Ironically, around the 13th month or so, we all of the sudden had several interested parties. Matt managed them well and we ended up selling to someone that contacted Matt and happened to be one of our long-time vendors. It was a little tricky dealing with him but we were glad that Matt was there to manage the entire process and protect our interest. Fortunately, it all worked out and we have successfully closed escrow!

There was a lot to deal with on this transaction, 4 partners, year after year declining revenue, hundreds of thousands of dollars in inventory, having to move our facility, dealing with multiple prospective buyers and the challenges of selling to a long-time vendor of ours. Matt was extremely professional and we were very impressed with how he managed it all. We are very thankful that Matt was persistent and never gave up. My partners and I can now retire in peace. With that said, we would highly recommend Matt Coletta to anyone looking to sell or buy a business.