M & A Rainmaker

This is a great little blog on

http://onstartups.com/

have a read !!

If you are selling a high tech business in Birmingham then the M&A Rainmaker blogsite has some useful information about the process to use

I sold the national Cisco Internet and Networking company Voyager Networks in 1999 and more recently the global Cisco Unified Communications company 5i Limited in 2009 and worked with Ernst & Young in 1999 and Nortons Corporate Finance in 2009.

Both times we used a similar process to sell the companies. It made absolutely no difference that one sale was at the height of the dotcom boom whilst the other was at the bottom of the global recession.

The process is outlined here

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/selling-your-business-2/

along with other useful, related sections.

see
http://www.megabuyte.com/newsletter/&id=1901

The M&A Rainmaker has been made aware that Government backed funding and loans  are available to small and medium sized businesses in the Birmingham and West Midlands area.

Discussions with experienced and long established Birmingham based consultancy Genesis Consulting have revealed a particular interest in supporting High Technology ( ICT and Advanced Manufacturing ) companies.

Typical companies might be small ICT start-up teams or ICT companies with a product and intellectual property who need assistance in developing and selling thier products and services.

Other examples might be established Engineering companies of around £1 Million turnover who are seeking to take thier business to the next level.

For further information and an informal discussion contact us here at M&A Rainmaker or give Arun Luther a call at Genesis on 0121 681 6880 and mention M&A Rainmaker.

M&A Rainmaker can provide business strategy, sales and marketing support to complement these loans and grants.

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The original and still the most important purpose of the M&A Rainmaker blog was to impart the lessons that I learned in selling businesses, particularly High Tech businesses.

The process is discussed here

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/selling-your-business-2/

in some detail.

I use the sale of 2 of my businesses Voyager Networks and 5i as particular examples in the selling your business process. One of the reasons for this is that one, Voyager Networks, was sold at the height of the High Tech, Dot Com Boom in 1999/2000 and the other, 5i, was sold in the depth’s of the global economic recession in 2008/9. Yet they both sold and sold well.

A very similar process was used in both cases although there were differences other than the economic backdrop.

When we started Voyager we had no clear strategy for it being a lifestyle business or an exit route business. It only became an exit route business after my meeting with Investec and after innumerable approaches to buy us. This was something like 1996, 3 years into the life of the business.

5i, on the other hand, was started with the clear intention of exiting ( sale or float ) 3-5 years later.

In fact both businesses sold around 7 years after thier start and in conversations with other people who have sold High Tech businesses this seems to be a typical lifetime for a business before it is sold.

In both cases we conducted a ” Beauty Parade ” to find the right M&A ( Mergers and Acquisitions ) partner. In the first case settling on Ernst & Young and in the second Norton Corporate Finance. ( Actually it was probably thier Rainmakers and thier teams that we settled on aswell as the companies ).

I remember that in the case of Voyager we discussed who was going to sell the company ( after we had decided to sell ) and put into the pot Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young and one other ( who I forget ). To get to the short list the three partners each put out feelers amongst thier contacts and 3 were chosen for presentations. Our accountants and our lawyers were consulted ( D & T were our accountants ). We ended up using Ernst and Young and our lawyers ( from Leeds ).

With 5i the lawyers and accountants were consulted; board members and shareholders put forward suggestions and a process was followed which resulted in Nortons Corporate Finance being selected.

I have to say that in my opinion both firms were exactly the right ones for us. The Nortons process and culture was similar to the one at Ernst & Young and this was a factor in the decision to go for Nortons.

Now, there are a great number of Corporate Finance and M & A companies to choose from and it is very important to find the right partner with the right processes and capabilities.

It is possible that the right people to use are your own accountants and lawyers but probably not. Or, at the very least, you should look for alternatives. If you are very experienced at selling companies then you may well have lawyers and accountants that you have used on a number of occassions. My advice is directed at people who have not had these opportunities.

In an ideal world you want to have decided wether you are a lifestyle business or an exit route business as early as possible. Also in an ideal world, you want to give yourself time to select the right legal and accountancy M&A partners for you and your business.

http://redeye.firstround.com/2009/12/finding-the-dreamers.html

They can’t sing but I like it !!

The Birmingham post reports that M&A activity is looking positive for 2010 in this article:

http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/financial-business-news/2010/01/08/optimism-for-midlands-m-a-market-despite-22-per-cent-activity-drop-65233-25557722/

If you are looking for advice on Corporate Finance and M&A in the Birmingham area then take a look at the M&A Rainmaker website for practical help and information

Having started a Midlands based ICT business ( Voyager Networks ) in 1993 and sold in 1999/2000 Chris Windley went on to invest in a number of High Tech and other businesses with varying degrees of success. Last year he successfully sold one of these, 5i Limited, to Impera plc ( renamed 365iT plc ) which is currently on a buy and build strategy.

Following this sale, at one of the worst times in economic history and the earlier sale of Voyager ( at one of the best times for High Tech in history ) he documented the sales process used in both sales on the M&A Rainmaker website.

This has been added to with practical information about investing in businesses, marketing businesses and running the salesforces in businesses.

A useful article and reference in Fresh Business Thinking ( which is a great site )

http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/business_advice.php?AID=4248&Title=Finding+Capital+To+Fund+Growth+Or+A+Turnaround+