Viking Mergers & Acquisitions has been brokering business sales since 1996, founded in Charlotte, North Carolina by Brad Offerdahl and his son Jay Offerdahl after Brad sold his third business and recognized a gap in the market: no professional firm served the average privately held business owner who didn't have a board of directors or half a billion dollars in annual revenue.
Nearly three decades later, Viking has closed more than 950 transactions, operates offices across ten states plus Washington D.C., and holds a success rate three times the industry average according to the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA).
Key Takeaways
- Viking Mergers & Acquisitions sells 85% of the businesses it lists, compared to a national average of 22%.
- The firm handles deals ranging from $1 million to over $100 million in business value, serving both main street and lower middle-market owners.
- More than half of Viking's advisors are former business owners themselves, which shapes how they guide clients through the sale process.
Company Background and History
Brad Offerdahl's origin story matters here. He wasn't a banker or a broker who stumbled into M&A advisory work. He was a serial entrepreneur who had built and sold three businesses by 1995.
When he went through his third sale, he noticed that professional representation for privately held businesses was nearly nonexistent for owners who didn't have institutional backing.
He and Jay Offerdahl launched Viking the following year with a stated mission: securing entrepreneurs' futures through professional representation.
Jay eventually bought out his father in 2015 and has continued expanding the firm. Today Viking describes itself as the largest business sales and advisory group of its kind in the Southeast.
That claim is grounded in office count and transaction volume, with 13+ offices and a team of advisors spanning Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C.
What Viking Does
Viking operates as a full-service business brokerage and M&A advisory firm. The two primary service lines are straightforward:
- Selling a business: Viking manages the entire process from valuation through closing, typically running five to twelve months.
- Buying a business: Viking maintains an active inventory of businesses for sale and helps buyers identify, evaluate, and finance acquisitions.
A third, standalone offering is the complimentary business valuation. Viking offers confidential valuations at no cost to qualifying business owners, using three methods: a cash flow analysis approach, a comparable sales approach, and an industry standards approach.
For many business owners, this is their first real look at what their company is actually worth on the open market.
The Selling Process: Step by Step
Viking's selling process follows a defined sequence. For sellers, the timeline generally breaks down like this:
| Stage | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Introduction Meeting | Viking gathers financial information and explains the process |
| Valuation | Financials are recast and normalized; three valuation methods applied |
| Alignment Meeting | Viking walks the seller through valuation findings and marketing plan |
| Confidential Marketing | Business listed on Viking's platform; outreach to qualified buyers |
| Buyer Management | Inquiries screened; NDAs collected; buyer interviews conducted |
| Offer Stage | Viking reviews offers, explains positions, works toward agreement |
| Due Diligence | Data room created; documents collected and reviewed |
| Closing | Closing documents reviewed with attorney; final negotiations handled |
The confidentiality piece runs through the entire process. Viking markets businesses using blind listings and only shares identifying details with buyers who have signed an NDA and provided financial verification.
For business owners who are still operating their companies while trying to sell, this matters considerably: employees, customers, and competitors don't find out a business is for sale before a deal is done.
Performance Numbers
Viking publishes a set of metrics that separate it from most brokerage firms, which tend to be quiet about their numbers.
- 85% of listed businesses sell (national average: 22%, per IBBA data)
- 96% of listed businesses sell for at least 96% of the published asking price
- 3x the industry average success rate in closing transactions
- 950+ total deals closed since 1996
- $1M to $100M+ deal size range
The gap between Viking's 85% listing-to-close rate and the 22% national average is significant. Most business listings with general brokers simply don't sell, often because of overpricing, poor marketing, or buyer-seller mismatch.
Viking's emphasis on recasting financials at the valuation stage, combined with active buyer outreach rather than passive listing, appears to account for a large portion of that difference.
The Advisory Team
One of the more distinctive aspects of Viking's team is the composition of its advisors. More than half have personally owned and operated businesses before joining the firm.
This isn't a talking point unique to Viking, but the depth of operational experience among the partners is worth noting.
Several examples from the current team:
- Jay Offerdahl (President) co-founded Viking in 1996 after growing up watching his father build and sell businesses. He holds a Finance degree from Appalachian State and has served as president of the Charlotte chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization.
- Larry Lawson (President, Florida Division) has closed over 350 transactions and sourced more than $900 million in acquisition financing during his career.
- Coleman Payne (Houston) led over $100 billion in M&A transactions with Deloitte Consulting's M&A practice before joining Viking. He and his brother Jackson, who runs the Austin office, previously built and sold their family's oilfield services business.
- Robert Aliota (Charlotte) started a distribution business in his garage at age 29 and grew it over 22 years before selling it to a $4 billion Swedish company in 2017.
- Dan Wilson (Raleigh) built a managed IT services firm that won the Inc. 5000 designation five times before selling it and joining Viking.
- Ben Knight (Charleston) used Viking as a buyer in 2007 to acquire a FASTSIGNS franchise, grew it to three locations, then sold all three in 2017 before joining the advisory team.
Ben Knight is both a former Viking client and now an advisor, having experienced the process from both sides of the table.
Geographic Footprint
Viking's offices span the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. The current location list includes:
Florida: Tampa (HQ), Fort Lauderdale
Georgia: Atlanta
Maryland: Baltimore
North Carolina: Charlotte (HQ), Raleigh, Asheville
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia
South Carolina: Charleston, Greenville
Tennessee: Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga
Texas: Austin, Dallas, Houston
Virginia: Richmond Washington D.C.: DC Metro
Each office is led by a managing partner with local market knowledge.
This regional structure means Viking can provide industry context that varies considerably between, say, the manufacturing corridor in the Carolinas and the energy sector in Texas.
Industries Covered
Viking does not limit itself to any single sector. The firm has closed deals across a wide range of industries, including:
- Manufacturing and distribution
- HVAC, plumbing, and electrical contractors
- Healthcare and medical services
- Professional services
- Retail and consumer products
- Technology and IT services
- Food and beverage
- Marine and recreational businesses
- Environmental services
Viking publishes valuation multiples by industry on its website, giving prospective sellers a starting point for understanding how businesses in their sector are typically priced relative to cash flow.
For Buyers
Viking maintains an active listings database with new inventory added weekly. Buyers can browse listings across all regions and industries, filter by deal size, and reach out through the firm's buyer inquiry process.
Financing resources connect buyers with SBA lenders and other funding sources suited to acquisitions in the $1 million to $10 million range.
The firm screens buyers before introducing them to sellers, reviewing financial statements, conducting buyer interviews, and requiring signed NDAs.
For sellers, this pre-qualification step reduces time spent on buyers who cannot complete a deal.
Core Values and Culture
Viking's stated core values are integrity, empathy, entrepreneurial spirit, perseverance, and collaboration.
The empathy piece is the most grounded in the firm's structure: because so many advisors have owned businesses themselves, there's a built-in understanding of what it means to sell a company a founder spent decades building.
The emotional weight of that decision doesn't require explanation to an advisor who has been through it.
The mission statement is straightforward: "Securing entrepreneurs' futures through professional representation."
The vision is equally direct: to be the largest and most reputable business sales and advisory firm for closely held businesses in the United States.
Conclusion
Viking Mergers & Acquisitions occupies a specific and well-defined position in the lower middle-market M&A space, with a track record built over nearly 30 years and performance metrics that hold up against industry benchmarks.
For privately held business owners in the Southeast or Mid-Atlantic preparing for an exit, Viking's combination of regional reach, operational depth, and documented close rates makes it one of the more credible options available.