Jul 31, 20203 min

IT’S TIME – Selling Your Business With Confidence

Updated: Oct 14, 2021

Watch the third part of our webinar series: IT’S TIME – Selling Your Business With Confidence with Axel Christiansen. Axel is one of BC’s top M&A advisors – helping guide business owners through these interesting times.

In this presentation, Axel shared his experience working with business owners through a global pandemic and what you should be aware of during the sale of your business.

View the full webinar below:

Slides from this presentation are available upon request. Please contact mark@anchorpacificgroup.com.

Part 1: Maximizing your Business's Value

Part 2: Understanding Legal Structures & Governance

Part 4: Minimizing your Tax Bill

Key Points by Axel Christiansen

Market Trends:

Undeployed North American Private Equity capital (“dry powder”) has doubled in the past decade.

Sellers (competition) are coming – more boomers are beginning to sell – you don’t want to be the last one out.

What’s Next?

  • Buyer appetite is still strong

  • Value expectations reset

  • Deal structure impact

  • Defensive industries have an advantage

  • Boomers still need to retire

  • Shift towards buyers market

Exit Readiness:

Are you emotionally ready?

  • Separating from your life’s work will be difficult

  • Lack of emotional preparation ruins transactions

  • Need a clear picture of what you are moving towards

  • There are experts that can help

Getting the business ready for exit

  • Management

  • Operations

  • Corporate

  • Finance

Valuation:

Value is a function of historic cash flows and the risk around the stability of those cash flows in the future.

Multiple – the measure of the perceived risk of future cash flows.

The inverse of the multiple is proxy for purchaser’s expected return (higher risk – lower multiple)

Buyer Segments:

1. Strategic

  • Competitors, suppliers, customers

2. Financial

  • Private equity groups, family offices, search funds

3. Management Buyout (MBO)

  • Existing management team are the buyers

4. Initial Public Offering (IPO)

  • Sell shares to the general public

Selling Process:

1. Internal Diligence & Valuation

  • Confidentiality agreement

  • Determine the seller’s objectives

  • Collect financial and operational information

  • Develop a strategy

  • Prepare valuation

  • Assemble exit team

2. Marketing

  • Prepare teaser & Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM)

  • Develop purchaser roster

  • Setup data room

  • Distribution of teaser

  • Confidentiality agreements

  • Management presentations

3. Letters of Intent (LOIs) & Negotiations

  • Data room and staged information release

  • Respond to diligence questions

  • Selective site visits

  • Collect LOIs

  • Leverage for improved terms and recommend final LOI

4. Due Diligence & Structuring

  • Manage the due diligence process

  • Control volume and detail of information requests

  • Protect against deal term slippage from LOI

  • Push to maintain agreed timelines

5. Legal, Closing & Post-Closing

  • Negotiate purchase and sale agreement terms

  • Manage lawyers to ensure focus on key issues and timeline

  • Closing financial review and working capital adjustment

  • Ensure timely collection of any trailing consideration

Typical Challenges:

  • Vendor emotions

  • Vendor fatigue

  • Value

  • Normalizations

  • Consideration

  • Working capital

  • Market conditions / declining results

  • Reps, warranties & indemnities

It is not a deal until it has failed at least three times.

Guest

Axel Christiansen – Senior Vice President – Mergers & Acquisitions

Renaissance Mergers & Acquisitions

Axel brings over 20 years of mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance experience to Renaissance Mergers & Acquisitions. With a career focused on serving small to mid-sized BC companies across a wide range of industries, he’s routinely sought out by entrepreneurs who want to successfully transition their businesses. Born in Hong Kong, raised in the Philippines and a Vancouver resident for over four decades, Axel was a founding member of Vancity Capital – the mezzanine financing division of Vancity Savings Credit Union. He then moved into the role of Managing Director for BDC Capital’s mezzanine financing group covering BC and the Yukon. In both roles, he was actively engaged in structuring and negotiating merger and acquisition transactions.

Anchor Pacific Investment Management Corp. (“Anchor Pacific”)  is a Vancouver, BC-based portfolio management firm, which leverages process, technology, and infrastructure to democratize the process of managing endowment and pension style investment portfolios to deliver innovative, high-touch, and transparent investment programs across the full spectrum of asset owners and investment consumers.

To learn more about how Anchor Pacific can help you shelter, protect, and grow your money, contact us at 604-336-9080 or info@anchorpacificgroup.com