Exit Right

Overview

Achieving a golden goodbye by realising the maximum value for your business

A clear and canny explanation of all the steps required to maximise your profit on selling all or part of your business: deciding on the route and timing, how to choose advisers, grooming your business for sale, valuing the business, finding prospective purchasers, negotiating the sale, steering safely to completion and how to eliminate losses before selling.

Who will benefit from reading this book?

This book will benefit business owners, executives, accountants and lawyers likely to find themselves involved in selling a company. Equally, anyone involved in buying a private company will obtain a valuable insight into the way vendors and their advisers approach a sale.

Content

ONE How to consider the options

• An earn-out deal
  
• Management buy-outs and buy-ins
  
• The sale of a minority stake 1
• Merger
  
• Stock market flotation
  
• A transfer to the next family generation
  
• Executive summary
  

TWO How to choose the time to sell

• Timing risks
  
• Timing opportunities
  
• The overall time required
  
• Executive summary
  

THREE How to choose and use professional advisers

• Corporate finance advisers
  
• Business brokers
  
• Solicitors
  
• Tax advisors
  
• Executive summary

FOUR How to groom your company for sale

• Essential preliminaries
  
• Optional preliminaries
  
• What to sell
  
• Good housekeeping
  
• Separating out a subsidiary or division
  
• Enhancing shareholder value
  
• Executive summary
  

FIVE How to handle unsolicited approaches

• Approach by an intermediary
  
• Direct approach by a prospective purchaser
  
• Before making an approach to prospective purchasers
  
• Executive summary
  

SIX How to value a business for sale

• The fundamentals of valuing a business
  
• Valuation criteria and factors
  
• Executive summary
  

SEVEN How to find and handle prospective purchasers

• Find first, contact later
  
• Giving an asking price
  
• Handling purchaser visits
  
• Executive summary

EIGHT How to negotiate a deal

• The deal format
  
• Negotiating the deal
  
• Timetable to legal completion
  
• Overseas residency
  
• Executive summary
  

NINE How to handle legal completion

• Timetable to completion
  
• Executive summary
  

TEN How to eliminate losses before selling

• The first day
  
• The first week
  
• The first month
  
• The second month
  
• Months three to six
  
• Executive summary

Author

Barrie Pearson

Barrie Pearson founded one of the very first venture capital firms, Livingstone Guarantee plc, which he subsequently sold [exiting very right]. He is the author of several best-selling business books.