Why do you need to call an M&A advisor when you get approached by a buyer?
There is a rule of thumb in my industry that I absolutely believe in. Your deal never, never, never gets worse with competition and I would submit, it never gets worse with good advisory. You would never want just one buyer for your house and believe for a minute that you were getting the highest value for your home. The same holds true for your business.
Think about it, just letting the buyer know you have an M&A advisor lets them know you have the potential for competition. If the buyer doesn’t deal fairly, you will have an advocate telling you this is not market and you can do better. Remember, the buyer will have their team. They will always be dealing from a position of knowledge and strength.
You have no idea how often we get told by buyers, we don’t like auctioned transactions. Why do you think they say that? They don’t like them because they usually have to pay more.
Here are just three of many reasons to get active advisory advice.
1. The clock is running: Another saying in my industry is “Time kills all deals”. Make sure the buyer has a sense of urgency. To many things can go wrong in a transaction that takes too much time. One common problem is your response to information requests may be taking too long, after all you have never done this before, and it makes you look like you don’t know what you are doing. Lack of preparation can may you look weaker as an owner. With too much time market conditions could change. If the business is starting to decline or the industry is capping or beginning a downturn all can affect the company valuation.
2. Advocacy: Having someone on your side in the promoting, negotiating and deal structure that understands what is current market, is very valuable. Coordinating the different offers and their variances can mean the difference between success and valuable dollars left on the table. The deal process, documentation, due diligence, legal issues, accounting issues, banking issues etc. can be very time consuming and grinding. This is at a time when you need to be focused on your business and performing to expectations. Many deal valuations go south due to the owner taking their eyes off the ball. What do you think happens to your valuation when the sales start to slip? I have never seen an owner told, we will pay you more because your business is not being managed correctly. Having an advisor who can act as your advocate and offload many of those issues, can be a very strong negotiating tool.
3. Expertise: Remember negotiations from a position of knowledge have a greater chance of success. The sale of a privately held company is a sophisticated process requiring knowledge, expertise and strong negotiation skills. Few business owners possess these traits at a level sufficient to complete a transaction.
In closing, while there are many good reasons for seeking an M&A advisor in a transaction, getting additional expertise, advocacy and creating a sense of urgency will improve your chances of success.