Pineapple Payments Co-founder and President, Jon Halpern, was recently interviewed by Smart Business. The article highlights Pineapple’s history of rapid growth and features Halpern’s approach to evaluating opportunistic acquisition prospects, negotiating deals, and finding the right cultural fit.

Halpern led Pineapple Payments through nine strategic acquisitions over a span of a little more than two years. Today, with payment processing, proprietary technology and omni-channel payment acceptance solutions serving 25,000 merchants of all types, Pineapple Payments continues to expand through organic growth and partnerships.

Read Jon Halpern’s full feature in Smart Business Magazine or check out some takeaways below.

Cultural fit

That’s because when you do a lot of acquisitions in a short period, he says you have to not only integrate the different systems and processes that you inherit, you also must meld the various cultures that come with that.

One key to a successful acquisition and integration is a strong cultural fit, but you have to accept that you cannot figure that out completely in the due diligence period. The management teams need to be well aligned in how they think about things — how they operate and the way they work with their partners and employees.

Hot-button issues

Every transaction has the standard 10 to 15 terms that need to be negotiated, but each person has something that’s vitally important to him or her, Halpern says. Some people don’t have an issue with valuation, but they have an issue with how their employees are treated going forward. Or, they might have an issue with what they’re willing to hold in escrow.

In addition, founders see their company as their baby, so emotions can run high. Halpern says that potential acquirers need to detach themselves from that, even as they build a relationship with the entrepreneur or business owner.

Look beyond what’s on paper

“Just because a deal looks good or bad on paper doesn’t mean that’s going to be an actuality,” Halpern says. “A deal could look really good on paper financially, but the people that are running the business you’re going to clash with, or you’re going to have a terrible time with — they have different values and culture.”

The flip side is that the business could look bad on paper today, but you believe in the individual who’s running the company, he says. The right deal with the right incentives and support could be worth it.

It’s all about finding a balance between the people running the business and the culture tied to it.

Article by: Smart Business

To read the full article and more from Smart Business, please visit: https://www.sbnonline.com/article/jon-halpern-guides-pineapple-payments-through-a-series-of-acquisitions/?all=1