If you’re a business owner interested in selling your business, an M&A advisor can help you every step of the way. There are multiple phases to sell-side transactions that these professionals can help with. Here is what help you can expect at each stage.
Drafting and Outreach
The first stage of selling your business is drafting and outreach. This involves narrowing down the type of buyer you are looking for and performing market research to help you find potential buyers that meet your criteria. M&A advisors will help you write a descriptive memorandum that gives potential buyers all the information they need to evaluate their buying decision.
Your M&A advisor also handles reaching out to any potential buyers, including drafting a teaser email, negotiating confidentiality agreements, and sending over the descriptive memorandum. Through this process, the advisor will be able to narrow down the original list of prospects to a narrower list of serious buyers.
Bid Process
Once you have a list of all interested buyers, the negotiation process begins. This includes preparing due diligence, which is all the information the new owners of your business will need to know to take over operations. Your M&A advisor will also process final offers from interested buyers and help you sort through prospects until you settle on a buyer.
Contract Review and Due Diligence
After a bidder has been selected, the buyer receives a Purchase Agreement. This describes company assets, liabilities, deal terms, etc. There may be some negotiation between both parties before officially closing the transaction, which may include an employment agreement if you still plan to work for the company under new ownership. In this stage, the potential buyer now received the due diligence request drafted during the bid process.
Closing
The final phase of the sell-side process is closing. All disclosures, Purchase agreements, and closing requirements must be met. The closing plan should also include preparing for announcements, notifying clients, and getting necessary consents from the bank and landlord. Once these factors have been met and both parties sign the final documents, the transaction is complete.
For the full overview of how M&A Advisors assist with the sell-side process, read Clare Advisor’s blog below.
Read More About How an M&A Advisors Helps During the Sell-Side Process