Negotiations and Heads of Terms
Selling a Business August 10th, 2009An M & A Adviser can say things to your potential future boss that you probably could say but probably don’t want to !! Remember this !!
Earlier on we mentioned that ideally your M & A Adviser should be a good salesperson and a good negotiator. They are laying out the key dates of the process to prospective buyers and cajoling and encouraging them to keep to the process. The threat of competition is, subtly, ever present. Not rammed down people’s throats but always there.
Your Adviser has a sensitive and complex role. It takes practise to manage multiple buyers ( perhaps with intelligent buying teams – perhaps not ! ) and you.
You do not want to be going through a learning curve in negotiating and handling multiple buyers whilst trying to achieve the best outcome for the sale of your business. Although in general M.D.’s of companies are good salespeople and good negotiators that does not mean that they are good sellers of companies.
When the offers come in they will come in in a range of formats and a range of actual offers. An experienced M & A Adviser will help you analyse them and compare them. Again you will be amazed at the variations that come in. Potential buyers almost never value the opportunity in the same way and to the same value.
As discussions progress your M & A Adviser will seek a “ Heads of Terms Agreement “ from the potential buyer. This is a development on from the Indicative offer and a firm step towards the “ Sale and Purchase Agreement “.
——————————————–
This blog post is a part of a series of posts describing The Sales Process – you can access the other parts of the series from the links below:
- Making the decision
- Alternative Options to an exit by trade sale
- Getting ready to sell
- Timing
- Finding an M & A Adviser – The Beauty Parade !!
- Who/where are the buyers
- “The Teaser”
- Prioritising Interest
- The Sale Document – your greatest ever sales proposal
- Presentations
- Offers
- Negotiations and Heads of Terms
- Due Diligence
- Contracts
- Closing the deal
- Objective Parties
September 9th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
[…] Negotiations and Heads of Terms […]
September 9th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
[…] Negotiations and Heads of Terms […]
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Very nice site!
October 1st, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Really nice posts. I will be checking back here regularly.
October 4th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Thanks Kelli. Good to hear !!!! Regards, Chris 🙂
December 13th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Great story, I did not thought reading it was going to be so cool when I looked at the link.
December 14th, 2009 at 12:54 am
Thank you. Your comment is much appreciated. Regards, Chris
May 25th, 2011 at 7:08 pm
Hmm i think this is nice post. I hope this is just begin of your writing. If you want you can check my blog as well. Of course if you want.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/03/how-to-sell-your-company/
by
James Altucher is an investor, programmer, author, and entrepreneur. He is Managing Director of Formula Capital and has written 6 books on investing. His latest book he’s giving away free. He built and sold Reset, Inc in 1998 and Stockpickr.com in 2007, among others. You can follow him@jaltucher.