In Conversation with Mike McCarron Part 5: Delivering the News

Delivering the News

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – On October 16th, Mike McCarron, the well-known former owner of MSM Transportation will team up with M&A guru Doug Nix for the much anticipated session “Mergers & Acquisitions in Transportation: How big are the opportunities?” at our Surface Transportation Summit.

The session, moderated by publisher and editorial director Lou Smyrlis, will provide insights for both potential buyers and sellers.

About a year ago, in a move that caught the industry by surprise, McCarron, at the age of 52 and in the midst of considerable business success, sold MSM Transportation to Wheels Group for $18.6 million. Executive editor James Menzies caught up with him shortly after for an exclusive story that revealed the reason for the sale, the significance behind its timing, and what he learned along the way. To prepare you for the M&A session at our Surface Transportation Summit, we are re-running the 7-part interview.

To find out more and register for the Surface Transportation Summit click here: www.surfacetransportationsummit.com.

In the meantime, enjoy Part 5.

Part 5: Communicating the deal

TN: When the deal was completed, how did you communicate it?

McCarron: We had a lot of direction from Wheels on that. Because Wheels is a public company, we had to be very careful about how we announced it. Basically, at the same time, after markets closed in Toronto and in the US, we had staff meetings and a press release was issued by Wheels.

TN: I imagine this was a real shock for your employees. How do you soften the blow?

McCarron: You don’t. It’s difficult. People are smart and they realize that jobs might get rationalized and things get condensed. So, rightly so, people are very nervous anytime a business is sold. We did everything we could to protect everyone’s job, but the reality is that Wheels Group has to do what’s best for their business and their shareholders.

We can’t control that. What I said to our employees is that the most important thing is that if a company is looking to rationalize positions, they’re going to take the best employee, the person who works the hardest and the person who’s producing. They’re going to pick the best, so the key is to work hard like you have been, contribute, do your job and it’ll work out no matter where you go. It’s difficult, but I say this to people all the time: Unless your name is on the front of the building, you have no say.

– In Part 6, we talk about making the transition from company owner to employee.

Part 1: Why he sold his business
Part 2: Finding the right fit
Part 3: Negotiating the deal
Part 4: The biggest surprise & keeping it quiet