How This Entrepreneur Built and Sold a Canning Company in 3 Years | Business Exit Case Study with Breakwater M&A
“The biggest value to me was it’s really hard to value a private company, especially when it’s so small and boutique like mine was... Having access to those metrics are really great for a small business... And the other piece that really set it apart was the communication... it really felt like because I was running a small business and trying to sell it, that they were on my side to make sure that I wasn’t wasting my time.”
Client Overview
As Vancouver Island's exclusive mobile canning provider for breweries and kombucha providers, Valkyrian Canning presented a highly marketable business opportunity. The company's comprehensive mobile canning and supply services created strong repeatable revenue from the growing craft beverage sector, with minimal capital requirements and high barriers to entry. Their asset-light business model and established client relationships made them an attractive acquisition target.
Within a year, the business grew 198% generating over $500,000 in revenue. Unlike most businesses of this size, owner Zac Roff maintained minimal involvement in day-to-day operations—reducing the owner dependency risk for potential buyers. This made the company an ideal candidate for Breakwater’s seller advisory services.
Breakwater's Approach
Initial Assessment
Valkyrian presented a growth opportunity for buyers, given it’s relatively short operational history. As a result, Breakwater valued the business based on it’s trailing twelve month (TTM) earnings.
Strategy Development
Given its rapid growth trajectory, Valkyrian presented the perfect opportunity for an entrepreneurial buyer ready to continue scaling the business.
Using its buyer list, Breakwater crafted a targeted email to reach qualified buyers. This drove over 50 signed and submitted Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) within a few days of emailing the list.
Execution Process
Given the strong interest, we worked with Zac to shortlist candidates for buyer-seller meetings. Several buyers submitted competing Letters of Intent (LOIs), and one was accepted, moving the business into due diligence.
The process hit a snag when the buyer withdrew during due diligence, citing concerns about rising supplier costs. However, because we had kept other interested buyers engaged throughout the process, another buyer quickly submitted a competitive offer with an expedited closing timeline. This deal ended up closing within the standard 6-week due diligence period.
Value Creation
Pre-Sale Preparation
Developed a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) that showed the growth story of the business and opportunities to scale.
Process Optimization
Breakwater drafted a detailed LOI - cutting down on the time spent by the buyer and seller’s lawyers on the purchase agreement
Deal Structuring
Cash offer with a small 12-month promissory note paid in monthly instalments
Results and Impact
The buyer grew revenues another 89% after the sale closed
Business has increased EBITDA margins
New owner is not full-time and has grown the overall valuation of the business
Key Takeaways
This seller had extremely organized books and records - making the sale and diligence process smooth
Developing a competitive process led to multiple offers, creating a backup buyer in case the first buyer withdrew.
Building a strong relationship between buyer and seller is crucial for closing deals successfully—a critical step that many entrepreneurs overlook.
As a buyer, you can leverage existing growth momentum post-acquisition—making your purchase price appear much more attractive within 12 months.
This case study demonstrates Breakwater's ability to execute a successful sell-side M&A process, maximizing value for founders while ensuring a smooth transition and continued growth for the business.
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Transcript: Valkyrian Canning Case Study
(Conducted by Morgan Tate, Breakwater M&A)
Morgan Tate (00:01)
All right, Zach, thanks for being here. So this is Zach — he’s the founder of Valkyrian Canning, former owner of the company. We worked with Zach on a sell-side engagement to help him sell his business a few years ago.
Zach, maybe you could talk about your background and how you got started, since this was a business you founded from scratch, correct?
Zach (00:24)
Yeah, that’s right. I finished my MBA at the University of Victoria and wanted to get into small business ownership. I started looking around to see what sort of gaps existed in the market — I was open to either buying an established business or starting my own.
At the time, I was pretty passionate about craft beer (as lots of uni students are), and I noticed that the only mobile canning companies in BC were coming over from the mainland. That created a huge pain point for local breweries.
They had to pay these high travel fees, and if the ferries didn’t run, they lost their canning day and weren’t reimbursed. So, I started a mobile canning company based exclusively on Vancouver Island — focused on helping smaller breweries that couldn’t justify those mainland fees.
Morgan Tate (01:28)
And then in short order, you grew it. You started from zero and ran it for about three years, right? What prompted you to start thinking about selling?
Morgan Tate (02:14)
And with your goals for the transaction — what made you decide to work with an advisor instead of selling your business independently?
What were you hoping to get out of that engagement? Was it primarily about maximizing value, finding the right buyer, having a smoother transaction — or a mix of everything?
Morgan Tate (03:52)
And overall, do you think having that person in the middle — doing negotiations, helping make decisions, handling the buyer side — was a real value-add to the process?
Morgan Tate (04:49)
Now that you’ve gone through the sale process once, what would you do differently the second time around?
What advice would you give to someone selling their business for the first time — what are a few things you learned through the process?
Morgan Tate (05:50)
If you had to summarize how our firm helped you achieve your goals with the sale, what would you say was the biggest benefit of working with Breakwater?
Anything you’d recommend to other founders who are considering selling?
Morgan Tate (06:43)
It definitely helps when clients are as easy to work with as you were, Zach.
The purchaser has gone on to grow the business significantly since the sale, so it really worked out well for both sides.
Thanks again for your time, Zach — and looking forward to collaborating again in the future.