Peoples Services President and CEO Douglas Sibila believes in karma — well, a market-based version at least. The principle of cause and effect is a factor in the transportation and warehousing industry’s M&A market. There, word spreads quickly about a company’s fitness in dealmaking, but also, and maybe more importantly, how the acquiring company treats workers and/or the legacy of a brand built sometimes over generations.
The 104-year old company, the subject of this month’s cover story, has, through a mix of necessity and opportunity, fueled tremendous growth through acquisitions. Sibila, the third generation in his family to lead Peoples, talked with me about how he learned the dealmaking process and how he’s shaped it now that he’s in control.
What emerged as a theme underlying his approach and reasoning is the idea of reputation. It’s through connections in an industry network that half of the acquisition opportunities cross his desk. He says those calls from association members and brokers are made because there is a sense that Peoples is a reasonable company to deal with.
“We keep in touch with those people and that’s why we’ve been around for 100 years,” Sibila tells me. “I believe in karma in the sense that if you do what’s right, things have a way of falling into place. Because we’ve handled those transactions well, not only are the sellers satisfied with how we approach things, so are the brokers.”
The company’s good karma has enabled it to protect itself by diversifying the industries it serves, broaden its geographic footprint, strengthen its management team and quadruple its revenue from where it was in 2009.
With an eye to its future, Peoples relies on its past and the interest it has accrued on its reputational currency to keep the deal-door open to a steady flow of offers. Sibila says he’s fortunate to be relatively young at a time that many are aging out of the industry. For those who have no successors and are ready to sell, Sibila expects his company’s history of good deeds will be reincarnated as profitable opportunities.
Adam is interested in the people and businesses making a difference in Akron/Canton.
