Family-owned Funeral Home with Real Estate

Location

Rhode Island

Business Broker

Stephanie Bloch

Situation

Two sisters owned a funeral home in Rhode Island that their father started many years ago. The funeral home included a crematorium and two living spaces, one large living area above the funeral home where one sister raised her family and a detached home on the acre and a half property.

The sisters were seeking to retire and their attorney recommended they work with BayState Business Brokers to sell the business. A second funeral director had been involved in the business since he was 13 years old and had become like a brother to the owners. He was active and known in the community and was committed to staying on as a key employee after the sale.

BayState Business Brokers’ Approach

Business Broker Stephanie Bloch met with the owners to discuss their goals for selling their family funeral home and crematorium business. The owners wanted to attract an owner who would maintain and grow the business and wanted assurance that the business would not be purchased to knock down the properties and rebuild.

Given the appeal of funeral home businesses, Stephanie recommended the business be taken to market without a listed price. This approach generated a lot of interest from a wide variety of prospective buyers ranging from private individual buyers to funeral home conglomerates and individual owners looking to expand their current presence in the funeral home business in Rhode Island.

The listing generated great interest from prospective buyers seeking tours of the facilities to see all aspects of the operation. Multiple offers were received and reviewed to identify the best fit for the sellers. The prospective buyer whose offer was accepted was a local Rhode Island man who operated a funeral home in Rhode Island. He and his business partners were looking to expand geographically, and this presented a great opportunity for them to achieve their goals. Having a second funeral home director is essential to operations given the demands of the business, so the prospective buyers were happy to know he was committed to staying on.

Results

The path to closing had several twists and turns which meant extending the timeline to close. While timing was elongated, the sellers were happy that the family business started by their father was going to continue as a funeral home and crematorium serving the greater community and that their dear employee who was like family to them would remain and be treated well by the new owners. The buyers achieved their goal of expanding their funeral home presence in Rhode Island, acquiring a profitable business in a community where it was well known and respected.