The Original Mixer with Frank Mottek—Matt Coletta

Echelon at the original Mixer with Frank Mottek from 790 KABC's Mottek On Money and Matt Coletta of M&A Business Advisors.

Frank interviews Matt Coletta, CEO of M&A Business Advisors. Frank Mottek conducts podcast interviews for Echelon Business Development at The Original Mixer at The Luxe Hotel in Los Angeles. Read here for information on Matt Coletta.

The Original Mixer is a business networking event that has been bringing together great business people in one place since 2018. Echelon Business Development has sponsored the event beginning in 2023. There are a lot of great people at The Original Mixer who can help you find new clients and make connections. Additionally, it lets you promote your business, work together with experts, become a leader in your field, and discover fresh ways to expand.

There is only one Voice of Business News in Southern California, and that's Frank Mottek. Listen to Frank on 790 KABC on your way home during the week. He has been following news for more than thirty years and focuses on business and money. Frank is the host of Mottek on Money, which airs every day at 5 p.m. and talks to the biggest names in news and business to give you the financial health and success tips you need. People in Southern California believe in Frank Mottek. You have to listen to Mottek on Money every day...High-return listening time that gets you better and more money!

Episode Transcript

Announcer (00:00):
From Los Angeles, this is the Echelon Radio

(00:03):
Network

Frank Mottek (00:04):
Tonight, I'm at The Original Mixer, I'm Frank

Matt Coletta (00:04):
Thank you, Frank, glad to be here. So a group of
Motek from 790 ABC. And it's anhonor to be with you tonight
here on the Echelon PodcastNetwork at the Echelon Business
Developments original mixer. Andright now, Echelon member, one
of the founders, as a matter offact, and Co-Founder and
us started Echelon, whichfocuses on business development.
Managing Partner in the M&Aworld here as well, Matt Coletta

(00:28):
is with me here at The OriginalMixer. Matt, great to meet you.
Thank you very much. Stepping upto the microphone here this
evening. And first of all, tellus about your involvement with
Echelon and this big event.

(00:52):
And we saw a need for anorganization to provide various
services—podcasts, YouTubevideos, blogs, and we do a lot
of work with LinkedIn, and soforth. So a lot of our energy
and focus is on helping ourmembers basically adapt and

(01:18):
learn how to market themselvestoday in the digital age.

Frank Mottek (01:21):
Right? Social networking, and there's no
substitute for a real socialnetworking site, which is what
we're seeing here at thisfantastic event. And, and you're
also involved in the M&A world,right? So tell us about that.

Matt Coletta (01:33):
I am. I am the co founder and managing partner of
M&A Business Advisors. We haveseven offices throughout
California and Nevada. Wespecialize in the sale of
privately owned businesses and awide range of industries,
manufacturing, distribution,service, construction, medical

(01:54):
practices, and others. And wehelp privately owned businesses
prepare their business for sale.
California is unique and howpeople do business here, it's a
very high tax state. So peopleget very creative. So we have to
essentially help people unwind alot of what they do, or what

(02:15):
they have done over the years,help them prepare their
business, put it into a positionwhere it's saleable and also
financial. And, and then we putpackaging together and then go
out into the marketplace andfind buyers and manage the whole
process of transferring theownership.

Frank Mottek (02:35):
Are you seeing more people unwinding these
days, I was m&a activity,looking at the moment.

Matt Coletta (02:41):
So we are finally seeing what is referred to as
the baby boomer effect. There'sbeen a lot of studies and
reports that talked about thebaby boomers selling their
business. A lot of those studieswere done based on people
retiring 60s 60 to 64. And whatwe're seeing is people are

(03:02):
retiring a little bit later6870. So they were off a little
bit and now we're starting tosee the peak of that. So
activity is high, a lot of babyboomers looking to sell. And
what's interesting is a lot ofpeople that are in their 40s and
50s using their savings 401 K,looking to purchase those

(03:23):
businesses.

Frank Mottek (03:25):
All right, what's the hottest area in m&a activity
at the moment?

Matt Coletta (03:30):
Well, there's a lot of private equity money out
there. So we work with a lot ofthose groups. They like to focus
on manufacturing and servicebusinesses. And so any company
that has made it through theGreat Recession, and has made it
through COVID, and has proof ofconcept, those businesses are in

(03:51):
high demand. Alright,

Frank Mottek (03:52):
we're seeing pressure in commercial real
estate these days. What do yousee happening in that world.

Matt Coletta (03:58):
So we represent the commercial properties that
are related to the businessesthat we sell. For example, I
recently sold a company thatmanufactures foam packaging
products. And that owner alsoowned the 40,000 square foot,
commercial property industrialbuilding. So those those

(04:20):
transactions that we handle aretypically related to to the
business itself. And commercialproperty is on is on fire in
California, especially if it'sindustrial, lots of demand. And
so those properties tend togenerate a lot of interest and
sometimes we will actually sellthe business just because we're

(04:42):
selling the business

Frank Mottek (04:43):
but looks like we have a lot of distress. So
office buildings or seats oroffice buildings out there at
the moment.

Matt Coletta (04:49):
There are distressed office buildings out
there we're starting to seethings turn. So depending on the
market, anything along the oneon one corridor is is starting
to rebound and And so most ofour most of our clients are
maintaining their office space.
And they're starting to bringback staff and and their
employees back. So that demandwill start to do better as as we

(05:12):
move along.

Frank Mottek (05:15):
Alright, and what's your gut feeling on the
economy this year?

Matt Coletta (05:19):
This year is going to be an interesting year.
There's a lot of money outthere, but it's very cautious.
The people that control thatmoney are very careful. Everyone
is pretty much predicting arecession this year. Obviously,
interest rate cost of money issuper high right now. So we're,
we're seeing deals, we're seeingtransactions, but it involves

(05:43):
being creative on making thebuyer, whoever it may be a
private individual or privateequity group and industries, you
know, synergy buyer. They've gotto feel comfortable with the
terms of the transaction to helpmitigate any risks that they may
feel

Frank Mottek (05:58):
those based on the energy in this room, it seems
the animal spirits aredefinitely back and very high at
the moment. Looks like a perfecttime for deal making.

Matt Coletta (06:08):
Yeah, this is a great crowd here. We've got over
250 people that registered andit's a rainy night here. We're
supposed to have a big storm andit's great. These people,
apparently a blizzard right inLA. But great to see this crowd
here. And this is veryimpressive.

Frank Mottek (06:28):
That's great. And, and certainly, you're active
locally. With all the movers andshakers in the m&a world. I'm
sure you've been involved insome of the big m&a awards,
events and AC GLA, right andright down the line. Yeah,

Matt Coletta (06:42):
involved with ACG one on one, and occasionally,
LA. And then of course Echelonand involved in other
organizations as well. So we'redefinitely seeing people coming
back and getting more involved,which is a great sign.

Frank Mottek (06:59):
That's great for people in the m&a world, a lot
of connections being made hereand so on.

Matt Coletta (07:03):
Absolutely. We got it, bankers, private equity
groups here. A lot of serviceproviders, so great to see a lot
of old friends.

Frank Mottek (07:11):
That's great. And for those who are maybe first
timers here, what else do weneed to know about echelon?

Matt Coletta (07:16):
So Echelon is a great organization. And we have
a lot of value, a lot of theassets that we have with
Echelonbizdev.com with ourYouTube page. We also own
toptrustedadvisors.com. And soif you go to our website, you'll
see at the very top all theassets that we have. And we have

(07:39):
a lot to offer for a prettynominal annual fee. And we hope
that everyone checks us out andconsiders joining.

Frank Mottek (07:48):
Fantastic, Matt.
Well, we'll let you get back tothe to the mixing and the mega
schmoozing here tonight. What anight. Absolutely fantastic.
maculata. Thank you very muchfor taking the time to speak
with us.

Matt Coletta (07:58):
Thank you, Frank, great to see you.

Frank Mottek (07:59):
Likewise. Thank you very much

Announcer (08:06):
Presented by Echelon Business Development, more than
just networking, way more.