Colorado firms strike deals while time is right.

• Author: Caley, Nora
• Position: MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

IT'S BEEN A BUSY YEAR for mergers and acquisitions, and next year could be even busier, Warren Henson, president and senior managing director of investment banking firm Green Manning & Bunch Ltd., said he is seeing a positive trend. "There is more capital to buy companies than there are companies to buy," he said. "When there is more capital, the valuation levels are really good for really good businesses."

For the first three quarters of this year, 131 deals totaling $8.93 billion took place in Colorado, according to Pitchbook, a Seattle-based research firm for private equity and research capital.

Henson said high-quality companies that are growing, have a defensible niche, a good management team and strong operating margins can demand good purchase prices.

"I think it's a paradox," he said. "A lot of business owners are thinking, 'I will wait one to three years to go to market,' and that's their call, but now is a great time to go to market because of the supply and demand imbalance." Also, interest rates will eventually rise, he noted, making purchases pricier.

HERE ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS INVOLVING COLORADO COMPANIES:

Vail Resorts Inc (NYSE: MTN) acquired Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) from Powdr Corp. for $182.S million in cash.

The acquisition ended litigation and a lease battle involving Powdr Corp. The sale closed Sept. 11. Vail Resorts plans to connect Park City Mountain and Canyons Resort to create the largest single ski resort in the U.S. at 7,000 acres, just in time for the 2015-2016 winter season.

Camp Bow Wow, the Broomfield-based franchiser of day and overnight dog care centers, was acquired by the animal health-care company VCA Inc. (NASDAQ: WOOF).

Heidi Ganahl, CEO and founder of Camp Bow Wow, said headquarters for the 152-franchise company will remain in Broomfield, with the current 40 or so employees. She says the sale will help 13-year-old Camp Bow Wow accelerate growth. "VCA is the leader in the pet industry, so we are very excited about all of the opportunities," she said.

Mercury Payment Systems, a Durango-based payment technology and service company, was acquired by Vantiv Inc. (NYSE: VNTV), a Cincinnati-based provider of payment processing services and related technology solutions, for $1.65 billion.

Mercury was majority-owned by Silver Lake, an investor in technology companies. A Mercury Payment Systems spokesperson said the company expects to keep its 600 employees in Durango and its second office in Denver.

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