Behind the Scenes: How Brokers Facilitate the Acquisition Process
Contacting a business broker is a routine part of acquisitions. Most businesses that put themselves up for sale enlist a broker, and
PATHS FRAMEWORK
The Analysis Phase
What Makes a Business Worth Buying?
Analysis isn’t just an action; it’s a skill. It’s the difference between looking at an accounts sheet and actually seeing how the numbers behave.
Analyzing a Business Before an Acquisition: How to Tell Ripe from Rotten
How do you find the perfect target – and how do you know that it’s perfect?
You’ll learn how to analyze a business’s track record, growth potential, and structure. You’ll understand how to make every step count as you approach an acquisition target.
Finding a Target Business
Identifying a suitable target isn’t easy. It helps if you know where to look. There’s a wealth of options beyond the classifieds and search tools. You need to leverage every tool at your disposal to find that perfectly ripe apple.
Working with Brokers
A good broker is an invaluable ally in helping you find and connect with suitable acquisition targets. As with any partnership, it pays to know what you’re entering into before you begin. You’ll learn everything you need to know about building a good relationship with a broker, how brokers operate, and how they can help with your approach and acquisition.
Performing Due Diligence – and Going Beyond What’s Due
Why is your target business up for sale? What justifies its asking price? What could it be doing better? The smartest buyers go way beyond due diligence. They connect the dots to understand the bigger picture. This is a make-or-break analysis for your acquisition – you need to know how to do it properly.
Approaching a Business
First impressions matter. You need to know what a seller expects from an interested party, or your careful preparations will fall flat. Master the all-important art of initiating first contact with our comprehensive resources below.
Preparing for an Acquisition
You’ll need to prepare a term sheet before you make contact. While some buyers skip straight to the formal LOI (Letter of Intent), a term sheet is extremely advantageous for establishing the principles of the acquisition. Just because it’s less formal, it doesn’t mean it’s less important. Your proposal lives and dies by how seriously you take your responsibilities. You’ll need to know how to assemble a comprehensive term sheet and then how to put forward a detailed, compelling LOI.
Navigating the Market: Effective Techniques for Finding Acquisition Targets
Once you have a good idea of the type of business you’re looking for, you’re good to go, right? Not quite. You
A Primer on Preliminary Due Diligence in Mergers and Acquisitions
Conducting due diligence properly is the difference between a successful acquisition and a waste of time and resources Not every potential target
The First Formal Step: Understanding the Importance of a Letter of Intent in Business Acquisition
Once you’ve completed your preliminary due diligence, you’re ready (hopefully) to make a formal approach. This is usually done by sending a
Target Acquired
Once you’ve successfully made contact, it’s time to get down to hard numbers and frank discussions.
Are you ready to enter the transaction phase? Things are warming up nicely.
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PATHS Framework
- Preparatory Phase
- Analysis Phase
- Transaction Phase
- Harmonization Phase
- Strategy Exit Phase
