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Sell a Business Insights
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 …
5 Strategies to Preserve Core Values during a Business Sale
May 25, 2016 / in Business Strategy, Sell a Business / by Adam Wiskind
For many owners selling their business is not a simple financial transaction, it’s personal. Owners have poured blood, sweat and tears into building a business that is not only profitable but represents their values as individuals. Their businesses become not just their livelihood but their self-worth and connection to some of their most important relationships. The business values and culture are reflected in the everyday interactions with clients, vendors and employees. Often owners live in …
What are the benefits of a Confidential Information Memorandum?
May 6, 2016 / in Acquire a Business, Sell a Business / by Al Statz
One of the critical documents used in the business sale process is the Confidential Information Memorandum or “CIM.” Other names for this document are pitchbook, deal book, offering memorandum and confidential business review. A CIM tells the target company’s story and lays out important facts and figures for prospective buyers. This article answers common questions about CIM’s and explains how they improve sale process outcomes. Who receives the CIM and when? Buyers receive a CIM …
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), …
Why M&A Deals Fail
December 21, 2015 / in Sell a Business / by Jim Leonhard
Companies that make multiple acquisitions are much more likely to have successful merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions than companies that have made one or less acquisitions in the past five years, according to a recent Boston Consulting Group (BCG) article. In fact, over 50 percent of all M&A transactions result in negative shareholder returns. The main culprits appear to be related to post-merger integration, especially: Poor integration of the target organization Higher complexity than anticipated …
2016 Promises to be a Banner Year for Mergers and Acquisitions
December 14, 2015 / in Sell a Business / by Al Statz
Deciding how and when to retire is one of the toughest decisions in a business owner’s life. Selling to a strategic buyer, investment group or management team represents the culmination of years of hard work and investment. Going to market when the owner is personally prepared, and the business is ready, and market conditions are conducive offers the best opportunity to maximize results. M&A activity in 2015 has been strong and 2016 market conditions look …
Defending Your Price
November 15, 2015 / in Sell a Business / by Don Ross
A critical component in any business transaction, whether it be a simple sale of a used car or a complex transfer of ownership of a business, is usually PRICE. The art of “the deal” is dependent upon the two parties arriving at a price they can both live with. In both cases, each party must persuasively defend their price. Market valuations are often based upon a multiple of past and future earnings. Multiples usually fall …