Adam Webster

Adam guides buyers through what diligence actually found, and what it means for the price.

He runs buy-side and sell-side diligence for two kinds of buyers. Searchers and small business owners using SBA financing to acquire companies under $1 million in EBITDA, where the diligence has to be thorough and the budget is real. And independent sponsors, family offices, private credit, and middle market private equity funds sizing up a platform or an add-on. The scope changes with the size and complexity of the deal. The standard of work does not.

Experience

Before Numera he spent over fifteen years at PwC, most recently as a Director in Transaction Services, working on acquisitions and divestitures for private equity firms, private companies, and public companies, including cross-border transactions. Earlier in his PwC career he worked in the Assurance practice, and before that in the Lean Six Sigma group at Lockheed Martin. He is a CPA in the state of Florida.

Numera Advisory completes more than 100 quality of earnings engagements a year, and Adam leads the practice.

Quality of earnings and diligence mechanics

The mechanics are where it gets decided. EBITDA adjustments and the trends behind them, surfaced through the quality of earnings. Net working capital targets negotiated against recent trends or a shift in the working capital profile of the business. Debt and debt-like items identified and quantified. Purchase price true-up mechanisms after close.

Continuity after the deal

Diligence is usually the first conversation with a buyer, not the last. Clients who close come back for bookkeeping, controller support, and fractional CFO work, and the team already knows the business from the inside.