How many movies have you watched where someone learns the thing that he or she has been searching for the entire movie was right in front of him or her the entire time? Sound pretty familiar, right?
Well, sometimes, real life imitates the movies.
Raj Chhabria at FCS BPO in Piscataway, N.J., had been looking for a company to acquire. The company wanted to expand its presence in the healthcare collections space, so Chhabria was hunting for an acquisition. Chhabria had come to own FCS in the first place because he acquired it five years ago.
One day, Chhabria was on the phone with Fred Landrum, who was the president of American Healthcare Outsourcing Alternatives (AHOA). During the course of the phone call, Landrum said something that expressed his desire to get out of the business, Chhabria said. Chhabria said he was looking to acquire a company.
Roll the end credits.
“I remember I was getting into a rental car at an airport when we were talking,” said Chhabria during an interview with AccountsRecovery last week. “He said he was looking to get out and I said I was looking to get in.”
Once they realized they were a match made in heaven, the due diligence process was easy, said Chhabria, , who added that he is still looking to acquire more healthcare-focused agencies. Chhabria acknowledged that the longer sales cycle makes it harder for collection agencies to grow organically.
In the case of the AHOA acquisition, Chhabria said that the company will continue to operate in Georgia while FCS BPO will continue to be run out of New Jersey. Landrum will stay on to oversee the AHOA side of the business, Chhabria added. Along with expanding the company’s healthcare portfolio, the acquisition also provided FCS BPO with an entry point into the first-party collections space.
For AHOA’s clients and employees, “nothing changes,” Chhabria said. “Their place of work is same. The job is the same. We inherited all the employees and brought them into our system. There are no compromised benefits.”
Even though this acquisition almost literally fell right into his lap, Chhabria said that companies that are looking to buy or be sold must be active to get their names out there.
“You need to be active in the trade associations, that is the most important part,” Chhabria said. “And you have to express a requirement to business brokers, like Michael Lamm. Talk to them and be in touch. You never know when an opportunity will come by.”
Finding an acquisition, though, is the easy part. Once completed Chhabria said, that’s when the hard work really begins.
Buying is easy,” Chhabria said “Integrating is difficult. Compliance is key. Making sure that the clients are well informed and communicated with once the deal is done. And, for god sake, keep the management team on board.”
