Every year, we make predictions for the lawn and landscape industry and mergers & acquisitions. Here is our end of year report on how we did with our predictions for 2014:
Overall industry conditions – We predicted double-digit industry growth and while the final numbers aren’t in, it appears that is exactly what happened., with the only negative being the slow start some businesses got in 2014 due to the weather.
We predicted high levels of merger & acquisition activity at all levels and that was exactly what happened. In some ways, the activity was even greater than we expected. Merger & acquisition activity proceeded through the year at very high levels. The most significant transaction of the year was the merger of The ValleyCrest Companies with The Brickman Group just six months after Brickman was acquired by KKR&Co. Activity was strong in most industry sectors, with the notable exception of lawncare which was down primarily due to the absence of TruGreen Lawncare as a buyer during its first year of independence after being spun off by ServiceMaster.
We prediucted franchising would be strong and it was. Franchising remained strong in the industry, with at least four industry players in thge Franchise 500, including Weed Man (#91), Lawn Doctor (#147), US Lawns (#155) and The Grounds Guys (#216).
Political issues – We predicted that cost and availability of labor would continue to be the number one issue facing business owners and it was. Although there was a delay in the employer mandate and a transition period for medium sized employers, Obamacare remains a very significan