Selling a Pest Control Company to Waynes and Anticimex M&A | Steve Mote’s POTOMAC Experience

My name is Steve Mote. I’m from Birmingham, Alabama. I own a pest control company called American Pest Control and I am so happy to introduce you to my wife Michelle and we are so thrilled to close and sell the pest control company to Anticimex.

I remember going through high school and especially college and many people — our counselors would sit down and said Steve, what do you want to be? I was not the child that said I want to be a doctor, I want to be a lawyer. I’m a numbers guy. I’m not an accountant — I thought I wanted to be an accountant but when I found out that accountants have to spend 18 hours a day behind a desk I can’t do that. I want to understand financials and do, but I got to get out and see people and run my mouth.

I went through college in business only because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do, but you know given that I started one of my businesses in college I knew that’s what I wanted to do. That was quite successful in my business and said why do I want an MBA when I’m already who I am.

The American Pest Control was started by my grandfather. I knew that he died and that my uncle worked there so he took the business over, but I moved away — you know, high school and college in Mobile — so really was not part of the business until I came back to Birmingham. I had my own business. My uncle ended up getting older and selling the business to my partner, so it all kind of moved around back to us. So we were very thankful that we were able to buy it, get it back in the family, and then we managed it and acquired a bunch of people and made it successful.

I met a guy that tried to come by several times — phone call, dropped by the office — and I finally met him. Sean told me his story about trying to roll up some pest control. He wanted to use me as a platform company and I was not a platform company because I’m 70 years old — I’m trying to get out, not get in. When Sean said, “Steve, if you want to use Potomac, we respect them more than any other company, so if you want to, it’s going to take some time, but if you want to go that route — if you’re not going to take this offer then I recommend Potomac because we respect them” — and I said, “Sean, that’s all I need to hear.”

I tried to cut this deal without Potomac and I would have cut that deal if I thought that was the most I could get out of the company, but everybody convinced me that if I would step back, cut a deal with Potomac, I could maximize — and it did. It was six hundred thousand dollars extra money that we got just because we cut a deal.

Paul brings tremendous experience and tremendous potential for you to maximize the value of the pest control company. So he has been a very impressive person and company, including the “Mexican” to make it all happen. I’m just happy to see that he realized he is in the fourth quarter and he needs to enjoy his life and what he’s built. I’m glad that he’s getting rid of some of the stress of business and enjoying life.

I’m very fortunate and thankful for who I am and what I built in the life that I live. I’m very thankful. We’re very lucky.