Adrian Pinto, Mike Botkin·June 8, 2023

One Acquiring Minds Guest Buys Another | Adrian Pinto & Mike Botkin Interview

This episode features a joint interview with two repeat Acquiring Minds guests: Adrian Pinto, who had acquired Georgia landscaping company George Escapes roughly 18 months prior via SBA loan, and Mike Botkin, founder of Benchmark Landscaping in Florida, who has now acquired George Escapes and folded it into a newly formed holding company called One Outdoor Holdings. The deal is structured as a stock transaction with Adrian rolling a significant equity stake into One Outdoor (retaining a meaningful minority) while taking partial cash out, with the thesis being multiple expansion and a second bite of the apple as the platform grows. The episode is primarily a candid deep-dive into the financing pain Adrian experienced post-SBA close — unable to get a line of credit for 1-3 years after the asset sale created a new entity, forced to personally guarantee additional debt and even personally loan the business money to buy a truck — and how those capital constraints, rather than operational problems, throttled what was otherwise explosive growth. Mike's acquisition strategy has evolved from buying small owner-absent businesses in Orlando to a talent-first, people-centered roll-up model where platform CEOs stay on with equity stakes, with the flywheel being that happy acquired owners introduce the next acquisition target.

Deal facts

financing structure: Cash + equity roll (Adrian retains minority stake in One Outdoor Holdings; done as a stock transaction, not asset sale)
notes: Mike Botkin's Benchmark Landscaping (Florida platform, 6 acquisitions by this date) acquired Adrian Pinto's George Escapes (Georgia landscaping). One Outdoor Holdings created as parent holding company. Adrian rolled a significant equity stake into One Outdoor; One Outdoor holds majority (51%+). Adrian's original acquisition of George Escapes used SBA loan. Adrian reportedly nearly doubled revenue in ~18 months of ownership before this transaction.

Why this business

Adrian had already acquired George Escapes via SBA and nearly doubled its revenue; the transaction with Benchmark/One Outdoor was driven by the desire to relieve capital and financing constraints (lack of line of credit, equipment financing challenges post-SBA close) and to get a second bite of the apple through equity roll into a larger platform. Mike pursued George Escapes specifically because of his trust in and respect for Adrian built over a year-plus friendship, and because it allowed Benchmark to expand into Georgia with a proven operator.

What's working

Nearly doubled revenue in approximately 18 months as owner-operator of George Escapes
Strong commercial maintenance focus and aligned service mix between Adrian and Mike's platforms
Flywheel acquisition model: acquiring businesses with owners who stay on, who then introduce the next acquisition target
Hub-and-spoke geographic expansion strategy — Florida platform anchored by Benchmark, Georgia platform anchored by George Escapes under One Outdoor Holdings
Equity roll structure aligns incentives and gives Adrian upside through multiple expansion as the combined entity grows
Operational knowledge sharing between Florida and Georgia platforms accelerates learning

What's hard

Post-close SBA financing severely constrained growth: no line of credit available from lender at closing, and virtually impossible to obtain one for 1-3 years after close due to new entity's lack of credit history
Equipment financing (trucks, mowers) came with terrible interest rates because the entity was new post-asset-sale, forcing Adrian to personally buy a truck and loan money to the business
Spoke to roughly 30 banks including the business bank, willing to personally guarantee lines of credit, and still could not obtain one
Capital constraints created cognitive and motivational drag — Adrian spent significant brain power on financing logistics rather than growth activities, and sometimes had to decline productive equipment purchases
Negotiating valuation as a seller is hard when you believe in future growth but buyers won't pay for what hasn't happened yet
Stock transaction (vs. asset) introduced some closing complexity — new for Mike's team which had always done asset deals
First two acquisitions were described by Mike as the worst moments of his life in the early 30-90 days post-close

Notable quotes

The SBA is an incredibly important resource right I don't think that there's a lot of other ways that individuals can buy companies for you know 10 percent for you know Equity um so I mean in that sense like I think it's an amazing tool I think what I did not appreciate enough going into it is that it both enables these Acquisitions and then really hamstrings your growth ability um you know post close

Think about how much time and energy he spent on securing those kind of things for growth and for us if we can come in and take those things away from his plate and say don't worry about these we will stop gather this we will cover this we will assist you we will provide those resources you do what you do and you continue to grow the business

A good deal is when you can put the deal all the deal points up on a whiteboard and have the two principals sit there and say you know what I would take to your side if I was you and that person say yeah I would take your side as well if I was you and that's a good deal

I personally bought the truck in full and gave the business a shareholder loan for the truck because I was like the interest rates that we're getting offered are so terrible from dealerships we don't have access to equipment financing lines like this you know this is crazy