Empowering Mike and George as they plan for the future.

The background.

Established in 2005, the business formerly known as MG Partners is a Melbourne-based Accounting, Tax and Financial Planning firm established by Mike Haberfield and George Kapiniaris

After 18 years of running their own firm, MG Partners has built a strong client base and even expanded by incorporating an accounting business with an Associate, Les Silpert of Davenports Financial Solutions in 2018.

As Mike and George set out to have a succession plan, they started looking for a way to alleviate the workload and give them more opportunities for work-life balance.

This is where Kev Ryan came in. After a successful acquisition facilitated by Kev Ryan, MG Partners now operates as Carbon Elsternwick under Carbon Group .

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What drove the decision.

The journey towards the partnership with Carbon Group started from the realisation that as successful as MG Partners was, Mike and George needed to have a succession plan in place.

“Everything was running smoothly, so we hadn’t even thought of succession planning,” Mike said. “We liked what we were doing, and didn’t see ourselves packing up anytime soon.”

Because of this involved-style idea for a succession plan, Mike and George had three non-negotiable key points when it came to the acquisition process:

1. They were looking for a partner who could facilitate continuity, allowing them as well as their Associate, Les, to still work in the same business.
2. They wanted to make sure that the business would not lose the team culture or cost them any team members.
3. It was also important for them to know that the merger would result in the improvement of the operations for both them and their clients.

With these goals in mind, Mike and George did their research on acquisitions and started talking to different people.

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Working with Kev Ryan.

Mike and George first met Kev Ryan five years ago, when he assisted with the service arrangement between MG Partners and Davenports Financial Solutions.

“In 2018, we were looking to expand our business and Les was looking for a business connection to continue servicing his clients from, so that he didn’t have to start from scratch,” Mike said, “Through Kev’s introduction and facilitation, he met the needs of both parties and it’s worked very well for us all.”

Since this transaction, Kev Ryan kept in touch with the team to check in on their progress and even got to know Mike and George on a social basis. So, when they thought of the next step for their business, they already knew Kev Ryan could help.

“When it comes to talking about your future in life, you’d rather talk to someone you actually know – and I see Kev as a good mate of mine,” George said. “That’s how you know he definitely has your best interests at heart.”

After the initial discussion, Kev Ryan presented several options to Mike and George: from an acquisition that would allow them to relinquish control, downsize and plan an exit strategy in the next 3 years, to the other end of the spectrum which would allow them to run MG Partners as they did with the support of a larger company.

The latter was Carbon Group’s offering and ended up being the option that best aligned with Mike and George’s plans for the future.

“Kev helped us throughout the process.” George said, “It’s so easy to get lost in all the complexities during the negotiations but Kev would let us air our concerns and remind us to look at the bigger picture.”

What was the result?

The acquisition proved to be a win-win scenario for all.

Carbon Group now has their first Melbourne-based blended Accounting and Financial Planning Firm and MG Partners was allowed to continue their operations as usual, with Mike and George still involved in all business decisions.

After only a few months of the partnership with Carbon Group, MG Partners is already experiencing the benefits and George and Mike couldn’t be happier with the results.

“It’s a great cultural fit,” George said. “The team at Carbon Group has made us feel comfortable throughout the process. They’re passionate but also prepared to wait. As they have been through the acquisition process before, they know that transition can be challenging and so, they have been very understanding.”

The transition was smooth and within 3 months, MG Partners experienced the following benefits:

• reduced admin workload
• outsourcing processes within the Carbon Group
• new businesses through referrals from Carbon Group
• opportunities to work remotely

“Since Carbon Group came along through Kev, no decision-making has been taken away from us,” Mike said. “The way we pitch ourselves, the leadership, the way we handle our staff – this is all important to us and were all retained. We just have more freedom now and the opportunity for a clear succession plan – and that’s exactly what we wanted. Thanks, Kev.”

Story by Angela Melotti of Melotti Content Media