Client Situations & Challenges
Commentary About Typical Client Needs
Unexpected Offer to Sell My Company | Negotiated or Targeted Sale
Many business owners are confronted with an unexpected opportunity to sell their business… let’s call these “unsolicited offers”. Frequently, they haven’t really thought about a succession or exit plan nor have they prepared for a deal if they so desired. Sometimes these are called negotiated, one-off or targeted transactions.
Typical questions that we field in these discussions include –
- How much is my business really worth?
- Is the timing right to sell my company?
- If I want to respond, what information should I share?
- How do I control the competitive risks of engaging with them?
- How do I know that what they are offering is the best deal for me?
- Should I negotiate only with this potential buyer or should I try to bring other buyers to the table to create competition?
- Who on my team should the buyer be talking with?
…. and the list goes on.
An error is focusing exclusively on valuation, missing the forest for the trees. Evaluating an offer (unsolicited or otherwise) is about a combination of – – valuation AND deal structure AND timing!
High Rock Partners is experienced in evaluating and responding to unsolicited offers, using our proprietary technique to simulate a competitive process while discretely optimizing the transaction outcome for our clients. Read more about our approach in our blog post Responding To An Unexpected Offer To Sell Your Company.
Management Buyout
Navigating the purchase of the company that you’re working for can be a tricky process; you end-up with conflicting loyalties and some awkward conversations. We are experienced in guiding management through the steps, strategy and discussions to evaluate, finance and negotiate a management buyout (“MBO”).
Succession / Transition Planning
All businesses eventually change owners, whether planned or not. Succession planning incorporates the ambitions of the owners, the industry cycle, the business cycle, and the relative strength of your company. In most cases, it takes time and a lot of reflection to arrive at a succession or transition plan that aligns with your desired legacy, that’s tax efficient and that fits your long-term portfolio strategy. We bring a capital markets and corporate finance perspective to the conversation in conjunction with your personal financial and wealth planning team. Our blog post The Link Between Owner Ambitions and Private Company Value may jump-start or further your homework.
Preparing for the Sale of My Company
Our clients often seek to optimize their corporate performance and become transaction ready. A great way to gain insight and to catalyze the thought process is to complete our Value Levers Assessment, which is part of our overall method of Enterprise Value(EV) Engineering®. As patient advisors, we take a long-term perspective in helping our clients achieve their goals and ambitions. The good news is that the activities you undertake to prepare for a transaction are largely the same as those for improving company performance and value, even if you decide not to sell. Understanding the state of your business is good way get started.
Written by Kenneth H Marks and Buddy Howard of High Rock Partners
