Describe your business?
Korellis Systems Control (KSC), was founded by my father in 1985 as a family-owned HVAC mechanical contractor. My wife and I purchased the business in 2005. KCS provides varied commercial HVAC services in the Greater Chicagoland area. Our focus is mainly on apartment buildings, churches, education and industrial businesses. We typically have five union employees. In 2023, we were acquired by Morrison Construction, a large contractor, to better serve their clients’ HVAC needs.
Why did you decide to sell?
I realized I needed an exit strategy. My children are in college and had no interest in taking over. I was open minded to either:
- Selling and retiring or
- Selling and staying on to build a bigger business
What was the sale process like?
Interesting that my father tried to sell the business without a broker (circa 2005) and was very frustrated. Drawing from that experience, I hired Sun Acquisitions after we agreed on the market price of the business. Sun screened the buyers and brought the most serious buyers to my attention. We received multiple offers and negotiated the best one. Due diligence was faster than promised, since our buyer did not require financing.
Did it meet your expectations?
From my father’s experience, I realized this was likely to take some time and effort. Sun screened over 100 buyers and we had buyer/seller calls and meetings with a handful of select buyers. There was no way I could have found that many buyers on my own. In the end, Sun found the best buyer possible for our business and I could not have been any happier.
What has life been like post sale?
I’m still fully engaged, but now have a much bigger resource pool to draw from when needed. I also enjoy running a division of a larger company. To put it simply, I sleep much better at night.
