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Welcome to the podcast, fellow dealmakers and entrepreneurs! I'm Josh, the host of "The Deal Scout" podcast, where we dive into the intricate world of deals and acquisitions. Today, I'm thrilled to share with you the insights from a recent episode featuring the remarkable Leanne Carling. In just seven minutes, we uncovered a wealth of knowledge about global dealmaking that I'm eager to pass on to you.
From Dundee to Dubai: Lianne Carling's Journey in Property and Business
Leanne Carling's story is one of ambition and strategic growth. Starting in 2008, Leanne began her journey in property acquisition in Dundee, Scotland. Over a decade, she expanded her portfolio to include children centers, building services companies, healthcare, and dental practice roll-ups. Her approach to dealmaking is dynamic, always on the lookout for new opportunities while managing an impressive array of existing ventures.
Going Global: The Shift from Local to International Deals
The transition from local to international dealmaking is a leap that many entrepreneurs aspire to make. For Leanne and her husband, this meant moving their base from Scotland to Dubai. The strategic relocation was driven by the desire to operate from a global hub, making it easier to travel and source deals from a fresh perspective.
Learning the Ropes of International Business
When venturing into new territories, understanding the local environment is crucial. Leanne emphasizes the importance of adapting to different cultures and overcoming language barriers. Partnering with knowledgeable locals, whether they are lawyers, accountants, or business advisors, has been a key strategy in navigating these challenges.
The Hunt for Deals: Strategies and Criteria for Success
Leanne's favorite aspect of dealmaking is the hunt—the process of sourcing and identifying potential deals. She advises having a strict set of criteria to quickly assess opportunities. This includes knowing the sector, desired turnover, number of employees, and location. As deals are analyzed, criteria may tighten or widen, but having a clear starting point is essential.
Red Flags and Deal Breakers
When it comes to red flags, Leanne is cautious about businesses lacking proper management structures. A well-managed business that can continue to thrive post-acquisition is a top priority. Motivations for selling, such as retirement due to health issues, can also be a red flag if there's no clear management succession plan.
The Current Appetite: A Focus on Healthcare
Currently, Leanne's focus is on the healthcare sector, driven by the fact that people are living longer and spending more on health and aesthetics. The demand for home care services is particularly high, presenting numerous opportunities for savvy dealmakers.
Connect with Leanne Carling and The Carling Group
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leanne-carling/
https://www.thecarlinggroup.com/
Conclusion:
As we continue to explore the world of deals on The Deal Scout podcast, I hope these insights inspire you to broaden your horizons and pursue your own global ambitions.
Next Steps
Speaker 1 (00:00:03) - Good day, everybody. Welcome to the deal, Scout. Seven minutes on the clock talking about deals with Miss Lianne Carling. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:00:11) - Thank you. Thanks for having me, Josh.
Speaker 1 (00:00:12) - Yeah. All right, so I've interviewed your husband multiple times. You guys do a lot of deals. Talk to us about what you do.
Speaker 2 (00:00:20) - Okay? I started off buying properties a way back in 2008. Um, I've done that for about ten years and then diversified into various different things throughout the years of her children's soft play centers I've had in building services companies. I've been involved in healthcare, um, roll ups of dental practices, um, and just continually looking, uh, analyzing, sourcing, um, deals. Um, and just currently, um, buying more deals and management, managing what we have currently.
Speaker 1 (00:00:58) - Yeah. Now you guys are across the pond, right? Where, where did you start your world of dealmaking. And now it's evolved into a global action. Right. But where did you guys get your start?
Speaker 2 (00:01:10) - Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:01:10) - We first started in Dundee in Scotland. Um, and we I loved I loved it. I was born in Glasgow, but um, I lived in Dundee with my husband and that's where we bought our first property deal. And, and we have a huge portfolio there of residential, student and commercial properties. Um, we also have businesses in and Scotland and throughout the UK and also in Spain and Europe. And we currently live in Dubai and I'm here just now.
Speaker 1 (00:01:41) - Awesome. Now you guys, your footprint is going global right? Started in Scotland and I and I love your story. Now you guys are are looking in sourcing uh deals globally. What did you have to learn. Yeah in terms of sourcing deals, finding deals, analyzing deals across the pond or across the continent or across the world. What were some of the things that you had to learn as, you know, as a leader in the organization that was maybe different than just doing deals in Scotland?
Speaker 2 (00:02:09) - I think for me, obviously the environments the biggest thing.
Speaker 2 (00:02:12) - So we actually moved to to Dubai to make an environment vitamin better. You know, we, we, we felt like we were then we were a big fish in the small pond. So we had to get into a bigger pond. Um, and we wanted to be somewhere in the world that we could travel, um, north, south, east, west. It was easy to commute, and we could see the world from a different set of eyes, um, see different opportunities. Um, so that was the reason we moved to Dubai.
Speaker 3 (00:02:41) - Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:02:41) - So you move your family to Dubai for for business, and you're learning different cultures and how deals are done. Talk to us about the first like international deal that you did outside of Scotland, where you're in a new place, you didn't know people and you're doing your first deal, what did that look like and what did you have to learn? Maybe the hard way.
Speaker 2 (00:03:01) - All those lots of things like cultures, one language, there's a language barrier.
Speaker 2 (00:03:06) - So what we do is we always partner with good partners that know the location. Northern vitamin, the know the culture. Um, so we are a huge partner of business. Um, and that goes, um, with acquisitions that we're buying and, um, the people we've worked alongside with, whether it be or lawyers or accountants, you know, so all are, um, advisors.
Speaker 1 (00:03:30) - Yeah. And your favorite part of the deal is hunting, going on the hunt and sourcing deals. Give us some advice on how do you go about finding deals because you're now traveling the world looking for good deals. How do you find a how do you find a deal, and how do you know if it's a good deal?
Speaker 2 (00:03:45) - Right? For me, we have. Well, I always work in a strict criteria. So know your sector, know what you're looking for. So what do you want? The what what is your criteria. What's the turnover you're looking for? The amount of employees, the location.
Speaker 2 (00:04:01) - Um, so really know what you're looking for so that we're not a funnel of deals or opportunities come into you that you can quickly say that may work for us, but that doesn't. Um, so it's all about getting the funnel of opportunities and knowing what you're looking for. And that might change along the way because you're analyzing and you're looking at more deals and you make you think, well, that might work. And there's there's maybe 4 or 5 of the criteria there, and there's maybe just a couple of red flags. So then you would analyze that and then do a bit more diligence on that. Um, and then as you learn and grow you, you would widen or tighten your criteria.
Speaker 3 (00:04:39) - Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:04:40) - What are some of the criteria that you look for? You guys are doing acquisitions. Uh, you know, globally, what are some of the criteria you look for and give us maybe 1 or 2 red flags that make you run away?
Speaker 2 (00:04:51) - Um, red flag. We the kit that we're looking for will run will managed businesses.
Speaker 2 (00:04:56) - And who will manage them after acquisition? Um, because I think Graham speaks about this on your podcast. When you buy an acquisition and your time's precious, so you don't want to be sucked into the management of it. So who will run that? That company when you take over as the management, um, and place, or do you need to source or get someone to run it? Um, before you take over?
Speaker 3 (00:05:22) - Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:05:22) - So a red flag for you would be maybe a company that it's not big enough. They don't have systems and processes. You look for something, why would they sell to you?
Speaker 2 (00:05:32) - And there might be motivated for for different reasons. So if they're sailing, um, the red flag might be that there's someone may be l the owners l and they're looking to retire through l health. Is there anyone that you can bring up through the ranks to help with that management? And at least, you know, um, bridge the gap before you can get someone in there full time.
Speaker 2 (00:05:54) - Or do they or have they been held back in the, in the guidance to come through with you and grow? Um, so. The motivation would be or the red flag. For me, there would be who who would be in the management.
Speaker 3 (00:06:10) - Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:06:10) - Copy that. So for criteria that you're looking for in deals that you're looking for and we have a little bit of time left. Name one sector that you're really hungry. Like currently you know that you're really sourcing a lot of deals and opportunities for and where can people go? You could end up where can people go to find out more about you? The sector. Where can people find you?
Speaker 2 (00:06:28) - Okay, I'm really hungry in the healthcare sector and people are living longer. They're spending more money on their health. They want to, they want to live well, etc. you know, they want to spend money on aesthetics. You know, there's people spending money and, and crazy stuff. So but the home care people are looking for home care because they're living longer.
Speaker 2 (00:06:48) - Um, but where you can find out more about us is the curling group called UK or curling on LinkedIn. Cool.
Speaker 1 (00:06:57) - And we'll put all that information in the show notes below. And we did that all in under seven minutes. I hope you are enjoying these seven minute deal chats on the deal Scout.
Mergers and Acquisitions Director & Co-Founder
With an unrivalled track record for sourcing acquisitions and creative deal-making, Leanne Carling has grown group business, Carling Property Group into the largest privately-owned landlord in Scotland. She brings vast experience in consolidating fragmented sectors to her role as Mergers & Acquisitions Director of investment company United Capital. Leanne’s work ethic, energy for the next opportunity, and unique female voice in the fragmented markets space, make her an absolute expert in deal making, negotiating, and investments.
Over the last two decades, Leanne has been a driving force in more than 1,000 real estate portfolio acquisition transactions, with a value of circa £200 million. The rapid growth of Carling Property Group is testament to Leanne’s talent for sourcing potential acquisitions that no-one else has identified, and buying at the right price to maximize eventual sale value. As Mergers & Acquisitions Director Leanne identifies, manages, and negotiates M&A activity to its completion. Leanne’s ability to source opportunities and construct deals that work for both buyer and seller is second to none, and is in large part responsible for delivering United Capital’s strategic goals. Leanne has delivered large-scale buy-and-build strategies across multiple sectors and her meticulous approach to deal sourcing and pipeline/ opportunity management has been instrumental to the success of the group.
