Culture first: How values and fit drive landscaping M&A success

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance your phone’s already ringing. Across the country, firms are ramping up another wave of outbound M&A calls, each one pitching why they are the perfect partner for you. I’ve heard from countless independent landscape owners who are inundated by private equity interest — and running out of space to stack pitch decks. As consolidation in our industry continues to heat up, fueled by private equity capital, it is more important than ever that potential sellers consider one thing beyond the dollar signs —cultural fit.

When most people hear “M&A” (mergers and acquisitions), their mind goes to deal-making: revenue, margins, EBITDA multiples, growth potential and of course — purchase price. And while those factors certainly matter, my experience in leading organizations through transactions across various industries has proven to show that those factors alone are not what determines whether a deal succeeds over the long term.

What really determines success — after the wires clear and the closing party is wrapped — is alignment on culture and values. The closing is just the beginning, while culture alignment is the table stakes for bringing the vision to life through empowering great people to accomplish great things under new ownership.

Culture shouldn’t be cast aside as just another corporate buzzword in the context of landscaping M&A and integration. It truly represents the day-to-day behaviors and belief systems that shape how a company treats its people, delivers service and makes decisions. That’s the real DNA and identity of any business. And when two companies come together without alignment on those fundamentals, even the best deal on paper can turn into a struggle that erases value, not creates it.

If you’re a business owner considering a transaction — either as a buyer or seller — my message is simple: Culture alignment is the foundation of success for any partnership and carries weight far beyond what any valuation model can underwrite or integration checklist can execute against.

Why this topic matters now

Our industry is undergoing rapid change. From labor shortages and inflation to rising tech adoption and global trade uncertainty, today’s landscape is shifting faster than ever with no clear line of sight to stability. And with private equity accelerating consolidation, founders must weigh more than just purchase price — they need to assess fit. For founders who have spent decades building their companies, this is a watershed moment in your business lifecycle that creates both opportunity and complexity, often muddied by focusing to much on purchase price and not enough time on fit.

Many of the sellers we meet in landscaping M&A have never been through a transaction before and will likely only go through this experience once in their lifetime. It’s easy to assume that getting the deal closed is the hard part, but in reality, it’s the easiest step handled by lawyers and diligence experts while the real work of unlocking value through the combination of organizations starts after the closing day. What determines whether that deal works is how well the two organizations integrate at a cultural and people level. At the end of the day, it is the frontline staff who are key to this industry’s success, regardless of who the ultimate owners are.

This applies equally to buyers. We’ve learned that acquiring a company with great financials but poor cultural alignment can create months of friction, confusion and stalled progress. On the other hand, when the cultural alignment is strong, even a complicated integration can feel like a shared mission instead of a treacherous experience.

The key is simple: Get the culture alignment right and take care of the people, and the return on that investment in time, values and empathy will create value well beyond any financial analysis predicted or forced operational engineering.

What we mean by “culture”

Let’s be clear: Culture isn’t just about observable visuals on office walls like mission statements or slogans — it’s about the deep-rooted values, beliefs, attitudes and feelings that are often curated over the course of many years. Culture is the foundation of how a business operates and the written or unwritten identity the business carries through the leadership team, office staff and front-line workers who show up each day. It shows up in the way people talk to each other, how crews are dispatched, how mistakes are handled and how leaders show up when the going gets tough. And take it from me — these things don’t automatically align just because you’ve written a check and merged company P&Ls.

Some examples:

• How are frontline workers treated and supported? Does the organization prioritize safety or just talk about it?

• How does the ownership talk about their workforce? Do they focus on themselves when speaking about the business or do they make the value of the front-line workers undeniably clear in your discussions?

• Is leadership hands on or hands off? Does the company practice open-book management or is the company performance closely guarded? How are tough decisions made? How are new opportunities seized?

A real-world example

Not long ago, we partnered with a multi-decade, independently owned business. It was clear early on that the financials were strong, but what stood out from the very beginning was how the owner spoke about the people that made up the organization.

He knew every crew leader by name, many who have been with him for decades. He walked the yards regularly and got outside of the office to help and show he wasn’t beyond the work that built his company. His pride wasn’t in his margins — it was in the families who had worked there for years and decided to bring friends and family along for the ride. And when he was considering a sale, EBITDA multiple was far lower on the priority list than ensuring his people would start their next chapters with a buyer who believe in the same things. He was looking for a partner who would preserve that legacy, not erase it.

That cultural alignment became the cornerstone of an incredibly successful partnership. Today, the original leadership is still involved, the team is thriving and the business is growing faster than ever — not because we imposed our way of doing things, but because we aligned on values from the beginning, invested in his people and stuck to our word that we would be good stewards of the next chapters of his legacy.

Ways to evaluate cultural fit

Whether you’re evaluating a potential partner or looking to acquire, here are some simple ways to assess culture during the landscaping M&A process:

1. Discuss core values early

What matters most to leadership? Is it growth? Legacy? Safety? Innovation? Stability? Market Leadership? The answers should complement, not contradict, your own approach.

2. Understand leadership style

Some owners delegate heavily. Others are deeply involved and closely guarded. Some are structured; others are intuitive. Ask how decisions are made, how performance is measured, how conflict is handled and how the company approaches growth. It’s important to understand the approach to leadership on both sides of the table to ensure that diverse operating models can become assets and not liabilities.

3. Look at employee retention and turnover

High turnover isn’t always a red flag — but understanding why people leave can be revealing. Companies with strong cultures often come with strong retention rates. Signs of a great culture often show up in team tenure and long-standing relationships across the organization.

4. Walk the yard — not just the office

Grab a pair of work boots and head out into the field for an afternoon. Spend time where the work happens. Observe how crews interact. Are workers engaged? How does the company prioritize safety? What condition is the equipment in? What do jobsites look like?

Advice to Sellers

If you’re considering selling your business, I encourage you to go beyond the offer price and ask:

• How does the acquiring company define their culture? How does the leadership live out those values? How are they different than other potential suitors?

• What are the current employee retention rates at the acquiring company? What benefits and employee programs are in place?

• What does this transaction mean for my employees?

• What changes can you expect from the organization and when? Are they operational and does it include any consolidation of operations?

• Will your organization be a platform or is it an add-on to existing operations within the same region?

• Will my brand and identity be maintained or replaced?

• What does success look like to them one year after the deal?

Advice to Buyers

For buyers, the pressure to scale quickly in a private equity environment can make it tempting to prioritize numbers over integration nuances. But trust me — culture misalignment costs more in the long run than a slightly higher multiple ever will.

Before you finalize a deal, ask yourself:

• Have I taken the proper amount of time to discuss the organization’s values? Do I understand what drives the employees of the organization to show up each day? Can we or will we provide that same level of experience for those employees under our leadership?

• Do our teams speak the same language when it comes to people, service and standards?

• Are we aligned on what roles they will play in the combined organization?

Closing thoughts

In a consolidating industry, there will be plenty of opportunities for deal making and partnerships. But not every landscaping M&A deal is a true partnership. The most successful deals are ones that are built on trust, mutual respect and a shared belief in what makes a business great.

So before all the spreadsheets and talk of multiples, take a step back and ask the harder question: Do we actually fit?