SEG Client Stories: Dana Zeff, CEO and Founder of LeaseLabs and Steven Ozbun, President and Managing Partner Utilize M&A Consulting

Introduction

{Dana Zeff:} Hi, I’m Dana Zeff and I was the CEO and Founder of LeaseLabs. 

{Stephen Osmond:} I’m Stephen Osmond, President and Managing Partner at LeaseLabs. LeaseLabs provides branding websites and really a full-stack marketing strategy for the multifamily housing industry. So everything from SEO to social geotargeting, we really offered the best in class, the latest, and greatest technology platform in the industry. So LeaseLabs was acquired in 2018 by RealPage.

The Plan to Sell

{Stephen Osmond:} So LeaseLabs was acquired in 2018 by RealPage.

{Dana Zeff:} We weren’t really planning to be in the market, to sell our company. We were in it for the long haul. We were a good, solid company. We liked what we did and what we were making. We had finally turned a profit as we were growing extremely fast, growing over 40% a year, and we didn’t feel like we were ready to do the scaling level without new resources. So I called up Allen, and we had met with him five years beforehand, and when he told us the value and the possibilities, we decided that was the time to enter the market.

M&A Consulting for Better Results

{Dana Zeff:} In comparison to the other groups I felt that SEG knew how to close. Ultimately they were connected in the multifamily industry, extremely connected. They seemed to know what they were talking about and had had some past success. Just the tenacity that I felt about the team – that they were going to go get it, that they were not going to settle for average – is what I felt.

Finding Friends in SEG

{Stephen Osmond:} SEG was just the best culture fit. Their culture is very fresh and innovative, and they definitely had an approach that was relaxed but at the same time passionate, and they really understood what we did. So having SEG as an advisor is really the only way I think we could have gotten through this. Having to still run the operation, the business, and do everything we did day-to-day. There’s no way I could imagine doing this without an advisor like SEG.

{Dana Zeff:} I mean, I felt like they were a friend. We were able to connect with them, and we had plenty of dinners together and plenty of meetings and crunched a lot of numbers, and they were always supporting us in everything we did. And I think that their experience, having done this multiple times, was really helpful in making us stronger at what we achieved.

Maximize the value of your transaction with our expert M&A consulting services. Contact us to schedule a consultation and learn how we can help you achieve your business goals.

Selling for $110 Million

{Stephen Osmond:} When we met with the SEG, I mean we had a number in mind that we believed our company was worth, and SEG believed as well. So we all had a number in mind that we believed that we could walk away happily from owning this company and the growth ahead, and it was nice to see a company come in and also believe we were all aligned in the value of the organization and you know and so selling for $110 million, you know it was a win, win for everybody.

{Dana Zeff:} The moment the deal closed, I felt just excited and thrilled but also a sense of. Loss it was, it was an incredible exhilaration that we achieved so much and at the same time kind of like, whoa, our incredible baby is going to somebody else to be in charge. But I felt like we made the right decisions, and I remember high-fiving you across the room even.