Discussion with Bundy Group Director Drew Thomas: A Career Spanning Family Business, Private Equity, and M&A Advisory

In this episode of Bundy Group Insights, Clint Bundy sits down with Bundy Group Director Drew Thomas, a seasoned professional with extensive M&A experience in the healthcare, technology, and business service sectors. Drew shares his unique career journey—from his start in the family-owned foodservice equipment and supplies business, which he later sold to a strategic buyer, to a leadership role with a healthcare-focused private equity group, and eventually to advising in mergers and acquisitions. Listeners get a glimpse into Drew’s entrepreneurial spirit, fostered by early hands-on experience and later refined through his work with private equity-backed organizations and service organizations in healthcare, dermatology, aesthetics and technology. Together, Clint and Drew explore the value of industry expertise, a competitive sale process, strategic relationships, and the importance of due diligence in successful acquisitions.

Drew delves into value-maximizing strategies, sharing lessons from his own M&A experiences and his role as a private equity buyer for physician practices and healthcare groups. His insights highlight the importance of preparation and timing in practice sales, as well as the critical need for a competitive process when selling a business. He also explains how his career convinced him of the value an investment banker provides to business owners and why his background uniquely positions him to serve sellers in an advisory capacity.

Key Takeaways:

• Drew Thomas shares his impressive career journey, spanning from growing and selling his family’s restaurant equipment business to founding a healthcare technology company and serving in a leadership role with a private equity group.
  
  
• His early exposure to business operations and strategic decision making shaped his entrepreneurial approach and deepened his understanding of business owner client needs.
  
  
• Drew emphasizes the importance of understanding the buyer options in a sale process and preparing for due diligence before buyer conversations even begin.
  
  
• Private equity interest in aesthetics practices, including med spas and cosmetic dermatology, has grown significantly, which is increasing the value of practices in those sectors.
  
  
• Drew advises business owners to explore multiple buyer options to optimize outcomes in practice sales and to carefully assess unsolicited offers, understanding the long-term risks they may pose—a perspective he gained from his own post-transaction experience in his family business.
  
  
• Drawing from personal experience, Drew emphasizes that business owners seeking to maximize their business's value can greatly benefit from having an investment banking advisor involved in the sale process.
  
  
• Drew’s experience as both a buyer and advisor offers valuable insights into the M&A process from multiple perspectives for the benefit of the BG Insights’ audience.

Learn more about the Bundy Group by visiting https://bundygroup.com.