JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #134 - May/June 2020 - 20

BUSlNESS strategy

Acquisition schedule

- six to nine months keeps
the work fresh and attractive.
Your advisory and management teams must be aligned
on the timescale and agree to
a set of milestones.
Preparing for the process
This will be the biggest single
sale you have ever made, and
often with only one final
buyer in the frame. It must
be done professionally: Accurately address the buyer's
known needs, answer all
questions however awkward,
and overcome objections.
Prepare marketing collateral,
including management presentations and more. You will
also need to set up a secure
data room, a central repository of financial, operational
and marketing information,
updated regularly, for all due
diligence
communication.
Senior management time

20

must be maintained for planning, preparation, presentations, meetings, with the team
available during due diligence
to quickly and accurately
answer all the questions. You
must be keen and able to
engage your new investors,
supported by the team, with
high-quality marketing, sales,
operations and financial data.
Final key points for your
most important deal ever
Solid data and evidence give
the potential buyer's team
confidence that they are purchasing exactly what you are
presenting. Agree upfront on
the due-diligence timeframe,
process and critical elements.
Ensure that the day-to-day
due diligence is well-managed
while you and your advisors
and legal team focus on the
deal terms and conditions as
well as the negotiations.

	 jec composites magazine / N°134 May - June 2020

Trade buyers looking for strategic acquisitions or seeking
to enter new and unfamiliar
markets by buying your firm
may have complex, cumbersome decision-making processes that might not suit your
timescale or tie up your time.
Consequently, coordinating
these buyers in a drawn-out
process is challenging, so
aim for an efficient and quick
solution. An auction, with an
agreed date and duration for
bids, has the merit of giving
all parties confidence that a
fair price has been obtained.
If a single buyer emerges early
with an offer that you believe
is fair, meets your selling
criteria and can close on time,
then you could go with that
on an exclusive basis.
A transparent, short and limited time period for receiving,
evaluating, negotiating and

accepting/rejecting
offers
benefits everyone. Costs
are kept down, less serious
buyers are filtered out, and
opportunities for gaming the
process are reduced.
Finally, this process will be
emotional. You and your team
might be asked to stay on and
deliver to new earn-out targets or work with new management, possibly a previous
competitor. The journey
towards the successful sale
of your business is complex
and challenging. However,
a well-structured and disciplined planning backed up by
an experienced advisory is, in
FMG's experience, the most
effective strategy to achieving
the optimum sales outcome.
More information:
http://.futurematerialsgroup.com
http://www.futurematerialsgroup.com
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #134 - May/June 2020

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