IBA (International Business Associates), commonly recognized in the business community as a market leader for knowledge & experience, maintains a blog featuring content from our professional team and industry colleagues as a library resource.   Information published in the venue is focused on selling and buying privately held companies and family businesses, plus topics relevant to successful entrepreneurship in the Pacific Northwest. The president of IBA, Gregory Kovsky, frequently provides content for the blog.  Mr. Kovsky has over 30 years of experience in mergers & acquisitions, business brokerage, and commercial real estate. He has personally completed over 300 transactions involving manufacturing, distribution, industrial, marine, education, retail, service, and technology companies.

IBA, the Pacific Northwest’s premier business brokerage firm since 1975, is available as an information resource to the media, business brokerage, mergers & acquisitions, and real estate communities on subjects relevant to the purchase & sale of privately held companies and family businesses.  Video and audio content from IBA is available on the video page of this website: Videos – IBA Business Brokers.  IBA is recognized as one of the best business brokerage firms in the nation in terms of successfully negotiating transactions that are “win-win” in an environment of full disclosure while employing “best practices” between the parties.

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Blog article submissions are welcome from the accounting, legal, banking, financial planning, and other industries affiliated with the sale or purchase of businesses and real estate.

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Sell a Business Articles

Due Diligence – Necessary, Valuable, and Beneficial to Both Sides

IBA has an approximately fifty-year reputation in the business brokerage industry for facilitating transactions in environments of full disclosure with transparency employing best practices.  This reputation is why attorneys, accountants, wealth advisors, and bankers find comfort when their clients select IBA for sell side representation or identify an IBA represented company for acquisition. A comprehensive…

Selling a Family Business: Strategies for Maintaining Harmony

IBA, as the premier business brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest, is firmly established as a respected professional service firm in the legal, accounting, banking, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, and financial planning communities.  Periodically, we will post guest blogs from professionals with knowledge to share for the good of owners of privately held companies…

Selling a Business with a Seasonal Spike in Revenues

Selling a Business with a Seasonal Spike in Revenues Most business models have seasonal variance resulting in stronger and weaker months in terms of sales and profitability.  Typically, the variance between the strongest month of the year and the weakest is not more than 20% greater or less than the average monthly revenue for a…

Buy a Business Articles

Mergers & Acquisitions in the Technology Sector

IBA was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1975 and expanded to the Seattle metropolitan area in 1991 based on regional demand for our business brokerage services. One year prior in 1974 to IBA’s formation under the leadership of G. William Ososke, Intel (https://youtu.be/yJrFLKUYx9E?si=bl1uO7ggXhLMYQTm) established operations in Oregon. Today, Intel’s largest corporate operation in terms of…

Selecting a Business to Buy

Sunday afternoon on St. Patrick’s Day 2024 the NCAA selection committees for the Men’s & Women’s College Basketball Tournaments announced the teams that will be playing for this year’s national championships. 32 teams guaranteed their selection by winning their conference championship tournaments.  36 teams were selected from the 320 teams that did not win their…

The Significance of Business Experience When Buying A Business

IBA, as the premier business brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest, is firmly established as a respected professional service firm in the legal, accounting, banking, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, and financial planning communities.  Periodically, we will post guest blogs from professionals with knowledge to share for the good of owners of privately held companies…

Entrepreneurship Articles

Immigrants Built America – Entrepreneurship Provided Them with a Pathway to Financial Prosperity

This Thursday from the Atlantic to the Pacific and Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico American citizens will be celebrating the 4th of July with flags proudly displayed in front of their homes, dressed in red, white, & blue, and gathering as communities to watch fireworks light up the sky to a soundtrack of…

SBA 7(a) and 504 Financing for Business Acquisitions and Owner-User Commercial Real Estate Purchases

IBA, as the premier business brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest, is firmly established as a respected professional service firm in the legal, accounting, banking, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, and financial planning communities.  Periodically, we will post guest blogs from professionals with knowledge to share for the good of owners of privately held companies…

Harnessing Your Network to Grow Your Family Business

IBA, as the premier business brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest, is firmly established as a respected professional service firm in the legal, accounting, banking, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, and financial planning communities.  Periodically, we will post guest blogs from professionals with knowledge to share for the good of owners of privately held companies…

Business Brokerage Articles

Q1 2024 IBA Activity Update

The calendar year 2024 started approximately seven weeks ago.  The year of the Wood Dragon started February 10, 2024, according to the Chinese Lunar calendar. The Year of the Dragon (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-is-the-year-of-the-dragon-considered-so-lucky-180983764/) according to Chinese astrology is about action, dynamism, and taking concrete steps to manifest the reality we want for our lives.  I am not…

Should a LOI Include a Breakup Fee in a M&A Transaction

As a mergers and acquisitions intermediary who has facilitated transactions in the technology sector for over twenty-five years, I have been watching the potential acquisition by Adobe of Figma with interest for over a year.  The potential $20 billion dollar deal recently fell apart due to regulatory issues in the United Kingdom and European Union. …

No One Ever Listened Themselves Out Of A Deal

My cousin, Linda Wolff, and a partner, Joyce Burk Brown, recently wrote a children’s book, The Magic in Listening (https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Listening-Adventures/dp/B09PMKNDN9). The targeted audience for the book is children, but like many works of children’s literature, the lessons conveyed are valuable for incorporation into life and business. I had a client that made all his employees…

Information Resources

Not All Sunsets Are Pretty: The Ugly Truth of How the TCJA Could Affect Your Legacy

IBA, as the premier business brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest, is firmly established as a respected professional service firm in the legal, accounting, banking, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, and financial planning communities.  Periodically, we will post guest blogs from professionals with knowledge to share for the good of owners of privately held companies…

How Long Do You Need to Retain Business Records?

IBA, as the premier business brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest, is firmly established as a respected professional service firm in the legal, accounting, banking, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, and financial planning communities.  Periodically, we will post guest blogs from professionals with knowledge to share for the good of owners of privately held companies…

Enterprise Risk Management Utilizing Small Captive Insurance Companies

IBA, as the premier business brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest, is firmly established as a respected professional service firm in the legal, accounting, banking, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, and financial planning communities.  Periodically, we will post guest blogs from professionals with knowledge to share for the good of owners of privately held companies…

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