When he decided to sell Mosaic, engaging San Francisco investment banker DeVoe & Company, he set goals for the sale. One, obviously, was money. “I wanted a minimum amount and we exceeded that in all cases,” Boone says. Four formal bids for Mosaic came in, some from national firms. But, “we didn’t choose the one with the highest number,” he says.
That’s because his objectives in selling went beyond money—to continuity for clients and opportunities for employees. “We felt like these were more predictably going to be accomplished with the more local firm, Private Ocean.”
In the deal, Private Ocean gained Mosaic’s two offices in San Francisco and Walnut Creek, Calif. Fifteen of Mosaic’s 19 personnel stayed on after the transaction.
Boone continues to mentor at Private Ocean, but his primary function is retaining his Mosaic clients by helping them through the transition. “Clients are working with the same people and, at least for the time being, the same processes,” Boone says, noting that only a handful of his old firm’s clients have left the fold.
This doesn’t mean changes won’t come. But as Boone reminds his clients, Mosaic never stood still. “You would’ve experienced changes anyway.”
His next step might be consulting, leaning on his industry experience and connections.
A Tale of Two Mergers: Lakeview
The other deal Friedman struck last year was very different.
On the first day of 2018, Private Ocean acquired Seattle’s Lakeview Financial Group. Unlike Boone, Lakeview’s owners were less familiar to Friedman, yet they would be joining as working partners. That meant getting to know them would be a big part of the deal. It meant asking, “What does financial planning mean to you?” “What are your processes and procedures?” “How do you handle things like providing feedback or celebrating birthdays?”
No two cultures are identical, of course. But Friedman saw that Lakeview clearly shared with Private Ocean “a deep-seated caring for clients—really wanting to do a great job for them—and intellectual curiosity.”