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Five Do’s & Don’ts Of Selling A Family Landscape Business

Karen Siciliano offers insight on selling to Mariani Premier Group.

By Karen Siciliano
From the August 2024 Issue

 

Siciliano Landscape Company has been a family-owned business since my grandfather created it in 1935. Initially offering landscape maintenance services in Monmouth County, NJ, an admired reputation helped the company evolve into a licensed landscape architecture firm offering design, installation, and maintenance throughout the Garden State.

My father continued the family business as head of Siciliano Landscape. While I initially chose a different path, trading mortgage-backed securities on Wall Street. In 2002, after losing many friends during 9/11, I found it difficult to return to Manhattan. So, I reinvented myself, changed careers, and began working alongside my father. In 2010, I took over the helm of the family business.

Selling Family Business
(Photo: Siciliano Landscape)

Know Your Why, How & What

When deciding to sell your business, there are a lot more factors to consider than just finances. In almost every case, determining the “Why” is the real first step. Just like when you start a company, knowing your “Why” when selling will lead to a better outcome. For me, a third-generation business owner without children who wanted to run the business, mine was wanting to safeguard my employees, clients, and the culture I worked so hard to cultivate.

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The next questions I asked myself were “How?” and “What?” How will I go about finding the best suitor? How can I preserve the legacy our company has built? And what is the best strategy to realize my vision and best serve Siciliano’s employees and clients?

Knowing “Why, How and What” set me on a path to finding the perfect suitor for Siciliano Landscape Company. I realized the right strategy would make all the difference. I worked with my trusted advisors from SAX LLP – a top accounting and advisory firm – to identify potential buyers in the industry and get me in front of my preferred candidate, Mariani Premier Group (See sidebar).

Mariani Premier Group is creating the best high-end residential landscape company in the nation, and I wanted to be a part of it. After meeting with Frank Mariani, founder and executive chairman, I immediately knew it was a fit. We share many of the same values, including an emphasis on company culture and delivering a quality product. In May 2023, Siciliano Landscape became the 12th company to join Mariani Premier Group.

Partnering with them has allowed us to strengthen our buying power in the marketplace and invest in the technology needed to optimize our operations, making us a better company overall. Looking at this journey a year later, I am confident that we executed a winning strategy for all parties involved. Below are some of my takeaways from the experience.

Five Tips For Selling A Family Business

Here are my five most important tips to consider when selling your family business:

1. Do Assemble A Team: Surrounding yourself with trusted financial professionals is a most critical first step. Having a trusted financial professional on your team allows you to continue to work on your business during the due diligence process.

I consulted with my longtime accountant, Michael Curry, CPA, CCIFP, of SAX LLP. He made several informed recommendations. The biggest of which was to work with SAX Capital Advisors Managing Director Jerome Fusco to provide me with an evaluation of my company and lead the sales process.

When selecting the advisory team, chemistry is paramount. I had worked with Curry for years, so there was already tremendous trust built. From my first meeting with Fusco, I felt the same connection. He listened to what I wanted and provided the best path for sale.

Fusco asked the most significant question: “If you could sell to anyone, who would it be?” and then he delivered on my answer. He arranged a meeting with my top choice. Frank Mariani and Bryan Christiansen of Mariani Premier Group visited my home state of New Jersey and less than a year later, the sale was complete.

2. Don’t Lose Your Legacy: One key term of the sale was to maintain the name of the company. Siciliano Landscape Company is an admired brand synonymous with high quality landscaping in NJ. That legacy has value, both for my family and for the acquiring company. For those reasons, it was imperative to me that Siciliano Landscape retain its name.

3. Do Align Cultures: Employee happiness and operations overall, will benefit if company culture remains consistent after the sale. The best way to uphold the culture you – as a business owner – have spent years creating is to sell to a company with similar values. Mariani is focused on acquiring high-end residential landscape companies. They have created a “family of family-owned businesses.”

4. Don’t Forget Employees: Many family-owned businesses have special connections with long-term employees. When selling the company, it was important to make sure employees were retained and given opportunities for growth.

Mariani Premier Group

Mariani Premier Group is a fast-growing family of prominent landscape companies originally founded in 2020. The Premier Group has its origins in Mariani Landscape, a 60+ year old residential design-build company in Lake Bluff, IL, led by Green Industry pioneer Frank Mariani (profiled in the April 2024 issue of Turf).

In December 2020, Mariani Landscape partnered with a private equity investor, and by the Fall of 2022, they had acquired seven premium, family owned companies across the US. As of this writing, 20 companies have joined the first-of-its-kind group, which aims to transform the landscape industry.

“Companies joining the Mariani Premier Group continue to operate under the same brand, with decision-making remaining at the local level where possible. We provide national support and tools through our shared services platform to achieve even greater success,” comments Christine Bedi, Chief Legal Counsel for the Mariani Premier Group.

Selling Family Business
(Photo: Siciliano Landscape)

 

The network supports member companies in three important ways – innovative best practices, infrastructure support, and group purchasing power. Siciliano was acquired by Mariani in the same month the Premier Group was officially announced. In 2023, Siciliano was the 12th company to join the Group.

“Siciliano Landscape is one of the most respected and awarded residential landscapers in New Jersey,” commented Frank Mariani at the time. “They have built an incredible reputation over three generations, and their first-rate service and unsurpassed expertise in the industry has long been admired. I’m honored to be associated with the exceptional quality and values they’re known for, across New Jersey and beyond.”

“I’m still at the helm and all of my employees remain in place. We joined a group of a dozen of the best landscape companies in the country to share resources and innovation. It’s a huge honor to be selected and I’m really proud of my team. Mariani has invested in us and I’ve invested in Mariani. These are exciting times at Siciliano Landscape,” commented Karen Siciliano, Owner and President of Siciliano Landscape, at the time.

5. Do Understand Your Employment Agreement: In addition to establishing sales and profitability benchmarks, the employment agreement has kept me at the helm, while enjoying the ultimate peer group of like-minded companies and founders.

When done properly, selling a family-owned business presents a tremendous opportunity to maintain a legacy. Selecting the proper team of advisors is critical to developing a strategy and identifying key objectives and terms beyond the sale price to achieve short- and long-term success.

Selling Family Business Siciliano is the President of Siciliano Landscape Company, a third-generation family business founded in 1935. The company has an admired reputation in New Jersey for landscape design, installation, and maintenance. 

Do you have a comment? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, or send an e-mail to the Editor at jessica@groupc.com.

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