The Business Exit

Succession planning in the context of transitioning day-to-day control of a company to a non-family President while retaining ownership of the company. Regardless of the reason that the owner is retiring, it is important that the operational successor has the vision and capability to lead the company during the next phase of its life cycle.…

There comes a time in every business owner’s life when it is time to make the tough decision regarding succession. The owner may be ready for retirement or need to stop working for personal reasons. While the sale of the company is one option, in this article, we will focus on the owner retaining the…

When preparing for the sale of a business, there is something called the “two-step process” for private equity group partnerships — an approach in which the owner sells a minority interest in their company to a professional investor such as a private equity group (“PEG”). Often, an owner will partner with a private equity group…

For business owners that are seeking liquidity but are not quite ready to sell control of their company and retire, one option is to sell a minority interest in the company to a professional investor such as a private equity group (“PEG”). The sale of the entire company can then be pursued three to five…

As an owner looking to sell your business, there are several viable succession options that could become available. One is a Management Buyout (MBO), or sale of the company to the management team. Another common strategy is a sale to the next generation of family, typically the owner’s child (or children), grandchild or niece/nephew. There are a few key considerations…

Hooray! The owner signed a letter of intent to sell their company. Now the task of “soup to nuts” diligence begins – accounting quality of earnings, document accumulation, strategy and integration meetings, documentation. . . . The post LOI process is a second job. But, let’s not forget about the first job, running the golden goose! Many a deal has gone awry when the owner focused too much on the transaction and not enough…

It’s lonely at the top! Countless times business owners have said: “I have no one to talk to.” If the owner discusses their business with others, it is often ad hoc rather than regular, organized discussions. In addition, the owner may not feel comfortable having strategic discussions with their employees.  So, what is an owner to do? How about organizing an active board of advisors? The dilemma for the business owner with…

Consider this scenario: the owner has identified the best buyer for their company and they are in agreement with respect to business value. With that said, how will the business value (“consideration”) be paid to the owner? You may have heard the saying: “You name the price and I will name the terms.” In other words, the…

When selling your business, there are several types of buyer candidates that may be interested in purchasing your company. More specifically, privately-held companies may see interest from corporations (strategic buyers), management (management buyout), individuals (seeking to purchase/operate a company), and private equity groups (“PE Groups”). Let’s delve further into what it means for the owner to sell…

Many business owners only think about the value of their company on an incident basis, i.e., when they are weighing a major transaction such as a sale, considering estate planning, installing management incentives, or going through a corporate break up or divorce. However, this does not really take into consideration why most owners are in…