A pest industry icon, Laura Simpson has previously served as a director and president of both
the Louisiana Pest Management Association and the National Pest Management Association.
Laura is also president of LIPCA, an insurance company providing commercial casualty insurance
and related services to pest companies.

Her company, Dugas Pest Control, is a Quality Pro-certified firm that has served southern
Louisiana for more than 50 years. Laura took over in 1996 from her father, Doug MacPherson,
who purchased the business in 1973.

In 2018 Laura was awarded LPMA’s Paul Adams Award of Excellence. This award, given to just
13 people since its creation in 1983, is the highest honor the association can bestow upon a
member.

The decision to sell

Laura and her husband, Floyd, decided it was time for them to sell the business and retire to
their mountain home in Montana. They had some thoughts about the type of buyer they hoped
to see take over the business, to continue in their long-standing tradition of keeping both
customers and employees satisfied, especially since Laura’s son wanted to continue his career
in pest management with new opportunities presented by the buyer.

Laura realized that selling a pest control business is not the same as operating a pest control
business and making the decision to move forward is also an emotional choice that affects
family members and employees.

So, she reached out to her trusted accountant, Dan Gordon, managing director of PCO M&A
Specialists, a division of PCO Bookkeepers. Having known Dan for many years, Laura knew that
he and his M&A team had the expertise and synergies needed to develop a plan to find the
right buyer for Dugas Pest Control.

The sale

The PCO M&A Specialists team worked closely with Laura to develop a suitable plan, gather and
produce the information needed to market the company for sale, find the right buyer and
structure a deal that ultimately exceeded her expectations. While the deal was progressing, the
M&A team thoroughly communicated with Laura, so she knew what was going on and what the
next steps beyond would be. She was pleased with the results.

The experience

“It’s not every business owner who is fortunate enough to have built a great company, sell it for
maximum after-tax profit, and now be able to afford a retirement in the home of my dreams in
the mountains,” Laura says. “Selling a long-time, established family business is a huge and very
emotional decision. Dan and team helped us make the decision to sell and did a great job
getting us the best offer while making sure that we minimized the tax bite. I can’t say enough
about how they navigated the valuation and the tax and legal minefields in getting our deal
done!”