Seller's 10 Steps in the M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions) Process - 10 steps to sell
Steps in the M&A Process
1. Pre-Process - (00:30)
Make your business more sellable – creating recurring revenue streams, reduce customer concentration, take yourself out of the center of the business, and start on high-hope initiatives
2. Assemble Your M&A Team - (02:18)
Attorneys
Broker vs. investment banker
CPA
Internal (under the hood)
3. Preparing to Sell - (05:12)
Sales materials – NDA, Teaser, Seller Presentation, Seller’s Disclosure Statement
4. Marketing - Indirect and Direct - (09:35)
Listings vs. sales process
5. Screening and NDAs - (12:44)
When talking to prospects initially we’ll generally provide basic information about the business. Sometimes this is in the form of a one-page “teaser.”
6. Due Diligence - (13:58)
7. LOIs (Letters of Intent) - (18:35)
Most deals use them
Prepared by buyer
IoT
8. Selection and Structure - (21:21)
Determine if a buyer who expresses a desire to buy your company is capable of getting the deal closed
9. Negotiating, Preparing, and Signing Final Documents - (23:45)
Starts at the end of Second Level DD - begin to negotiate the purchase agreement and other ancillary documents (e.g., bill of sale, seller loan if you agreed to carry some financing for the buyer, etc.).
10. Closing - (26:33)
Prepare to be underwhelmed
There are other steps in the M&A process – management presentations, auctions have their own stages and inflection points intended to systematically move buyers through a bidding process, and meetings with professional advisors. We may coordinate meetings between you and the acquirer, talk to your accountants and other professional advisors about different transaction structures, or perform a formal valuation of your business. And, not every M&A transaction follows this set path at all. Mergers and acquisitions are a high-intensity and often emotional process. To get you where we want to go, we’ll remain fluid.
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Have questions? Book a call, and talk to Brett today:
https://clarity.fm/brettcenkus
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You can reach Brett through:
https://clarity.fm/brettcenkus
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettcenkus
https://twitter.com/BCenkus
https://www.cenkuslaw.com
https://braatenwoods.com
https://merger-resources.com
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Brett A. Cenkus has 20+ years of experience in business law, finance, and entrepreneurship. Through Cenkus Law, PC, he provides advice and services for mergers & acquisitions (M&A), securities offerings, founders’ agreements, and other general business law issues.
Through Braaten Woods, LLC, Brett helps business owners in the lower middle market ($2MM - $25MM) position themselves for sale, find buyers, negotiate, and close M&A deals.
Brett also maintains merger-resources.com, a site packed with free articles, videos, checklists, deal diagrams, template contracts, and other tools to help pass M&A knowledge to others.
Brett regularly consults with entrepreneurs and invests his own capital as an angel investor.
From 2010-2013, Brett served as Chief Legal Counsel of a publicly-traded international oilfield services company. From 2001 to 2006, he and a partner founded and built Paragon Residential Mortgage. Bridge Investments acquired Paragon in 2006.
Brett holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania.
Brett lives in Austin with his wife, Cathryn, and two children. He enjoys reading, squash, classic movies, great food and wine, and the New England Patriots.
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