Maintaining (and increasing) gross profit margins
It's hard to underscore enough the importance of maintaining consistency with your Gross Profit Margins (GPMs) over a period of years. In every deal...
Are you discounting too much at the top?
If you take your company to market, there are clearly delineated phases to your engagement with a serious suitor. After you have whittled down...
Can your company be repriced after the letter of intent?
Here's a dreadful prospect that you want to avoid. Let’s say that you put your company on the market, and—for ease of math—you are...
Should you consider an asset sale or stock sale?
One common question that comes up as a deal moves toward a closing is whether the sale should be an asset sale or a...
The (irksome) due diligence process
The excitement of receiving a letter of intent (LOI) for your business is something everyone selling their business looks forward to. The LOI maps...
Earnings quality: It’s the buyer’s right to know
Everyone wants to sell their business at peak earnings. Who wouldn’t? Since most businesses are purchased as a multiple of earnings, you as a...
Top five concerns of sellers and buyers
The LBM Strategies Conference M&A panelists responded to your top concerns.
The recent LBM Strategies Conference in Dallas offered a dynamite mergers and acquisition panel...
Acquirers want leadership continuity and succession planning
Anything less will devalue your company.
Think of your business as if it were a large tactical ship. Now, imagine a potential acquirer of that...
How Investment Bankers Get Paid for Brokering the Sale of Your Business
Investment bankers that broker the sale of your company have a fairly standard schedule for retainers and success fees. But there are idiosyncrasies and...
How Best to Prepare to Go to Market
I used to work for the marketing department of a large building products manufacturer, and the executive in charge had a saying that has...