Whether you are contemplating a retirement sale, the sale of a non-core subsidiary or have other reasons for wishing to sell, our services will help you achieve best value.
The key to a successful business sale is to properly plan your exit rather than, for example, just assuming that you can wait until retirement and then think about selling.
A disposal can be a demanding process. It is therefore important that your advisers shoulder the burden of pressure caused by the transaction so that you can continue with running your business.
Our service
We provide a full corporate finance service to shareholders wishing to sell their companies.
Our service typically involves:
- Advising on the exit strategy to maximise your chances of receiving best value. We will advise you on areas such as the most appropriate exit route, valuation and timing of sale.
- We will prepare a professional Sale Information Memorandum for potential purchasers to provide them with an understanding of the business.
- We will carry out detailed research in order to draw up a list of potential purchasers, who we will then approach on your behalf.
- We will encourage offers, negotiate with potential acquirers, advise you on the selection of a preferred purchaser and agree the heads of terms.
- The preferred bidder will be invited to complete the deal within an exclusivity period. We will project manage the transaction throughout this period so that it is completed on a timely basis.
Our approach is based on detailed and thorough research, using subscription databases and other research tools to identify initially a long list of potential purchasers (both UK and international) which is then narrowed down to a short-list by researching every company on the initial long list.
The outcome of this research is a “cherry picked” short-list of those potential purchasers most likely to put forward a good offer. Our efforts and our client’s efforts are therefore concentrated on those potential purchasers that are most likely to make a good offer.
All those on the final short-list will have been pre-vetted before they are approached to make sure they are likely to have the resources to afford the acquisition. The list will usually include several companies who have carried out previous acquisitions. This is a very targeted approach.
The alternative approach, principally used by those selling very small businesses, of advertising the business and writing to numerous potential purchasers (the “scattergun” approach) is virtually never appropriate for multi-million pound turnover businesses. Vendors can only sell their business once, so it is important to do it the right way.
