About this episode

Greg Kovsky discusses valuation integrity, buyer fit, and the impact of retirement-driven deal flow in the M&A market.

In today’s M&A market, the difference between a clean transaction and a painful one often comes down to pricing discipline, seller integrity, and how prepared the buyer is before the first call. In this episode of Before You Buy or Sell a Business, Jared Johnson sits down with Greg Kovsky, President and CEO of International Business Associates (IBA), the Pacific Northwest’s largest and oldest business brokerage firm. Greg has spent more than 30 years in the industry and has personally facilitated over 300 transactions. He shares what he’s seeing in the last 12–18 months, why buyer demand is the strongest he’s seen, and how retirement-driven transitions will continue to fuel deal volume for years. Greg also explains IBA’s paid-on-performance model, why they only take about one out of three potential listings, and the three reasons they will refuse to represent a seller. On the buyer side, he breaks down exactly how to stand out in competitive processes, why relevant experience matters for SBA-backed acquisitions, and why full financial transparency is non-negotiable. Finally, Greg gives a practical take on where AI helps and where it can mislead, especially when valuing…

People in this episode

Host: Jared Johnson

Guest: Greg Kovsky

Topics covered

• M&A market
• business brokerage
• valuation integrity
• buyer fit
• retirement-driven transitions
• deal flow

Keywords

• M&A
• business valuation
• buyer demand
• retirement transitions
• business brokerage
• financial transparency
• AI in valuation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: International Business Associates

Places: Pacific Northwest

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