We operate in an honest and ethical manner when supporting clients undertaking acquisitions and divestments. We are keen to be part of any post acquisition strategy oversight process to ensure the benefits we have defined are realised properly so to ensure value is created as planned.
We offer a service that aims to support the end-to-end process of undertaking an acquisition. We can be your partner along the journey and provide valuable commentary on companies as they are put forward as options for further review. Assessing your position as a buyer is also key, often sellers want you to retain key staff who they have employed for a long time therefore base decisions not just on financial outcomes. We believe having a good message for a buyer is crucial as often the business they are selling has been built up from scratch with a lot of time, effort and love put into it.
Building a negotiating position during the sale process is important, it ensures the seller knows there is give and take and that you are serious, and so they do not go and choose another buyer. We can help navigate the points to raise and the ones to accept as there are always things being learnt along the way in the sale process and these should be carefully dealt with to keep the deal moving to everyone’s benefit. When a seller is cognizant of this and when inevitable adjustments or requests are made then it is more likely these are also accepted.
We undertake balance sheet examinations and goodwill valuations and assess the risk associated with taking on the goodwill liability, which for many has ended up being the element that has caused hugely negative outcomes for the buyer over the long term. Inflated goodwill valuations in acquisitions are a big risk as it crystallises the intangible value of a business at a point in time which if adversely affected can be vaporised overnight. We support your price negotiation and goodwill write-off planning post acquisition. Often with a smaller business acquisition where the business is not listed it is advisable to consider writing off the goodwill over 3-5 years depending on the revenue horizon. This also helps when identifying possible purchase candidates.
Our end to end support for sellers can take on various forms. We have supported divestments for owner operated businesses and multi director limited companies. Depending on your situation we will tailor a plan to suit your needs and expected outcomes. As our engagement will be finite, we aim to put together a schedule of work and the expected costs for our sale support.
We can provide fixed cost support for smaller businesses as we are aware it is a cost against your final pay-out. Selling is often a major part of business owners retirement planning so we want to be mindful of our cost. Talk to us about your situation as we offer a range of ways of helping, we can support the marketing of the business for sale and minimise associated fees for finding a buyer. We can also approach competitors to your business confidentially and discuss potential interest. We have access to large databases of businesses and undertake our own marketing processes to attract a buyer. We can negotiate the handover period and support during that timeline ensuring no mishaps along the way.
When we work on larger engagements, we will provide a base plan that is costed with a reasonable amount of time for negotiation and then we will monitor this as time progresses. Costs are variable once time is used up and additional per hour charges may be incurred.
We can be confident our time can be managed as we will do our due diligence at the outset and then if any differences arise, we will have our detail ready for reply as any financial obscurities will have been highlighted by our team during our due diligence process. We have a very keen eye for balance sheets, asset, and liability recognition. Our preparation will lead to a quicker sale, with less write downs and a smoother negotiation as we will review your business as if we were acting as the buyer and highlight points accordingly. This will deal with any oddities before they are raised by the buyer’s negotiators.