In my previous post, I listed key legal steps that businesses can take to prepare themselves for strategic acquisition. This time around, I thought it would be helpful to enlist a investment banking colleague with expertise in selling businesses for a more comprehensive discussion on preparing a business for exit.
Shawn Thomson heads up the West Coast M&A practice at BCMS Corporate, a global investment bank specializing in lower middle market companies. In this interview, Shawn and I discuss his list of the top 7 things business owners and executive teams can do today to prepare their business for sale.
Shawn's list addresses the more common seller-side snafus he encounters in the M&A process, including the following:
- Maintaining quality financials
- Installing second line management
- Establishing good working capital practices
- Clarifying exit strategy and seller goals
- Consider market factors and timing
- Clear up disputes and uncertainies
- Early tax and estate planning
In our 50 minute interview, I ask Shawn to dive into each of these in more detail with the goal of helping owners and executive teams put sound business practices in place today to maximize the likelihood and value of their future exit.
Click below to download or listen. We hope you find the interview helpful.