Decades ago, what we now regard as owner-managed businesses would be passed down from one generation of ownership to another within the same family. The businesses existed to provide income for their owners rather than capital. That model has developed significantly over the years such that true family businesses, with second and third generation owners and directors are very much in the minority.
Many more businesses are developed with the aspiration of generating a significant capital gain for the shareholders. Whether your business is owned within the family or by unconnected shareholders, there are a raft of personal and commercial issues that affect the route to an exit.
At Crest Depository Ltd, we are well-acquainted with these issues, having sold many companies across a wide spectrum of sectors. Whether you have already been approached, or are contemplating a sale in several years’ time, good advice is critical. Naturally, we think that experienced corporate finance advice should be at the core of your strategy.
We would be delighted to meet with you and discuss your situation but you may wish to look at the Meta guide on How to Sell Your Business before talking to us.
The opportunity to undertake a management buy-out comes to very few people and, even then, rarely comes more than once in a lifetime.
Running an MBO can be a colossal burden on the management team. In addition to performing their day jobs (which rarely get done during the day), they also have to negotiate the purchase of a business, and in all probability, raise the funding necessary for the acquisition. Such a burden can be taxing for even the strongest of management teams. The opportunities that result, though, are myriad and most teams find that the taste of equity ownership is very much to their liking.
Running an MBO is complex and, for most, difficult to achieve without specialist advice. We would argue that good experienced corporate finance advice is critical to a successful MBO.
We’d be delighted to talk to you about the process, the pitfalls and how to avoid them. In the first instance, we have compiled some of our thoughts and experience into the Crest Depository Ltd guide on How to Run an MBO.
At some stage in the life of a growing business, additional finance will most likely be required. Once the pockets of the founders and their friends and family have been exhausted, the shareholders look to wider funding markets to provide the capital required to give the business its potential. Those funding markets are very well developed and have defined expectations of what they seek from a company that they choose to invest in.
On the premise that making the right first impression is critical to the success of the fundraising, it would seem wise to engage with experienced corporate finance advisers to assist.
In addition to the identification of potential funders, there are the key aspects of the presentation of the opportunity and negotiating the best deal for the existing shareholders. Crest Depository Ltd is highly experienced in raising funds for growing businesses.
Some of our thoughts are set out in the Meta guide How to Raise Finance. Please feel free to download it as a precursor to a discussion with us.
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