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Exit Planning Insights
Add-On Acquisitions are on the Rise
August 3, 2016 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Jim Leonhard
When developing an exit strategy for your company, we will consider whether Private Equity Groups (PEG’s) would want to acquire it as either a new platform company or as an add-on (also “bolt-on”) to one of their existing portfolio companies. Most small companies are too small or don’t have strong enough management teams to be attractive platform opportunities, however many are strong add-on candidates. According to PitchBook, which tracks the PEG M&A activity in the middle market, the number of add-ons as a percentage of …
A Tax Saving Strategy for C-Corp Sellers
May 31, 2016 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Jim Leonhard
When selling a C-Corporation, most sellers will want to sell stock while most buyers will want to buy the assets. Selling the stock minimizes the built-in gains (BIG) for sellers that carries a hefty double taxation first at the corporate level and second individually. Buyers wish to buy assets for a number of reasons including loss of future depreciable expenses and potential increased liability. One method to possibly reduce the impact of BIG for some …
Risk and its Effect on Enterprise Value
March 31, 2016 / in Business Valuation, Exit Planning / by Exit Strategies
Investors have choices in how to allocate their investment dollars across the risk and return spectrum. Whether it be bonds, public company equity, or private company equity, an astute investor will evaluate the risk of return and expect to be compensated according to this risk. Business valuation, whether for public or private companies, has three key variables: growth, profit margins, and risk. Growth and profit margins are more easily understood by most business owners and …
Business Valuation and M&A Services for Estates and Trusts
March 9, 2016 / in Business Valuation, Exit Planning / by Al Statz
This article takes a look at the various situations in which trusts and estates (those that hold private business interests) need business valuation or M&A brokerage services. Business Valuation Services Our firm, Exit Strategies Group, regularly provides fair market value appraisals (a.k.a. valuations) of closely-held corporations, FLPs and LLCs for estate planning, gifting, estate tax, charitable donations, buy-sell transactions and succession planning. We value fractional interests in operating companies and asset holding companies using appropriate …
Welcome News for Business Owners: Five-Year Built-in Gains Tax Recognition Period Permanently Extended
March 2, 2016 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Al Statz
The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act (PATH), enacted in December, makes selling a business easier for some. Since most sales of SME’s will be asset (versus stock) sales, double tax for C-corp owners and built-in gain tax (currently 35 percent federal) for owners of recently converted S-corps are very real impediments to selling a business. C-corporation owners face a “double tax”, where gains on a sale of assets are taxed at the corporate level …
Think Like a Buyer
February 24, 2016 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Roy Martinez
Entrepreneurs spend their entire career thinking like an owner. They don’t need to pay any attention to the value of their business. They may have a vague notion of its value based on anecdotal industry revenue or profit multiples that they heard bandied about at an industry conference they went to years ago in Orlando. But, at the end of the day, during the operating years, what is important to an entrepreneur is the bottom …
Build, Transfer, or Protect
February 4, 2016 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Exit Strategies
Research indicates that most business owners have 60-80% of their wealth tied up in their businesses. Yet in our experience few owners have a clear idea about the value of their business and few have done much thinking or strategizing about how to build, transfer, or protect years of hard-earned wealth. Let’s examine these options. Build means to invest for growth. This involves time and money. As you near retirement, it may be less prudent …
Good Exit Planning: First and Foremost, A Valuation of the Company
December 28, 2015 / in Business Strategy, Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Bob Altieri
With the baby boomer generation retirement rush beginning to take hold, many business owners lack sufficient information about the value of their business for retirement planning purposes and don’t foresee the deal killers that await them. A Deal Killer is a condition that, if undetected and unresolved before the sale of a business, will kill the transaction. The purpose of pre-sale planning is to maximize sale proceeds (as well as to achieve other non-financial goals), …
Where’s the Seller Tsunami?
October 27, 2015 / in Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Al Statz
The Wall Street Journal published an article this month titled “The Missing Boom in Small-Business Sales — An expected rush in sales of small firms by the baby boomer generation has yet to materialize.” The article points out that despite predictions that a flood of private businesses would be coming up for sale as baby boomers reach retirement age, many of these owners are holding on longer than expected. We’re seeing the same thing here at Exit Strategies. …
Event: Helping Business Owner Clients Achieve More Valuable Exits
September 16, 2015 / in Exit Planning, News, Sell a Business / by Al Statz
When: September 22, 2015 Where: San Rafael, California Host: CalCPA San Francisco-Marin Discussion Group As baby boomer owners and shareholders of privately-held businesses reach retirement age and get serious about exiting ownership, they face many new questions and challenges and turn to their professional advisors, often their CPA, for solutions. Based on his experience helping over 100 companies successfully sell or transfer ownership to partners, management or the next generation, Exit Strategies’ founder Al Statz will …