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The next line could be, "Will it Derail Your Sale?" We have seen it go both ways, unfortunately. If a deal does blow up, everybody looses. The seller has spent six months of divided focus and many of the normal business development activities have been put on the back burner. His or her business will simply not be as strong if the business sale process is not completed.
Normally a buyer that has made it to this point is the one that recognizes the most strategic value and has indicated their willingness to pay for that value. The second, third, and fourth place buyers, if they even have been uncovered, are generally far short of the winning bidder. We have had some very specialized companies that were great fits for only one buyer and the next best bid was less than 50% of the leader's offer. That is not a very attractive backup plan, should the best buyer go away.
The buyer is also damaged by an eleventh hour deal blow up. They have devoted senior level people to analyzing, negotiating, preparing for the integration of the two companies, etc. It often involves several hundred thousand dollars of opportunity costs. If the target company was the answer to a gap in the buyer's product set, they will no longer be able to recognize the anticipated benefits unless they now build it themselves or go acquire the next best target company. Both of these approaches are expensive and time consuming.
Let's get back to the root of the problem. What would cause a buyer to make an eleventh hour change?
Dave Kauppi is a Merger and Acquisition Advisor with MidMarket Capital Advisors, LLC. MMCA is a private investment banking and business broker firm specializing in providing corporate finance and business intermediary services to entrepreneurs and middle market corporate clients in a variety of industries. The firm counsels clients in the areas of M&A and divestiture, family business succession planning, valuations, minority interest shareholder sales, business sales and business acquisition. Dave is a Certified Business Intermediary (CBI), a licensed business broker, and a member of IBBA (International Business Brokers Association) and the MBBI ( Midwest Business Brokers and Intermediaries). Contact Dave Kauppi at (630) 325-0123, email davekauppi@midmarkcap.com or visit our Web page www.midmarkcap.com.
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