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Selling Your Company - The ProForma West Process
The general steps our professional intermediaries take when selling your business are outlined below, followed by a lengthier discussion. When working with Seller Clients, ProForma West represents those Clients on an exclusive basis, serving your needs and interests.
An Outline of the Selling Process
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A confidential, in-person meeting is held to gain an understanding of your business and your objectives for a successful exit. There is no cost or obligation to you for this meeting and initial review.
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Once retained, we will typically perform a Market Value Assessment of your company to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the factors that drive the value of your company, and provide an objective basis for evaluating offers when they are tendered.
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Develop the materials today’s more sophisticated buyers require when evaluating a business opportunity. At a minimum, this will include an in-depth financial analysis and summary, and a comprehensive Confidential Business Review that highlights the essential elements of your business while inspiring additional interest.
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Develop and implement a local and possibly national marketing plan that is appropriate for your business to locate a qualified buyer that will offer the best possible combination of price and terms for your business.
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Plant tours and initial meetings between buyers and client are arranged.
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ProForma West manages offers and the negotiation process, and also develops a Purchase and Sale Agreement in conjunction with the Buyer and Seller’s legal counsel.
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ProForma West manages the deal, working with all the parties involved, to a successful closing!
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A Further Understanding Of The Selling Process
A number of reasons may prompt you to decide to sell your business. Whatever the reason, you have invested your time and talents to make your company successful. Now it is time to "cash out," and you deserve the highest value possible for your company.
ProForma West's experienced intermediaries will assist you throughout the entire process of selling your business. Once engaged, our first job will be to prepare a Market Value Assessment to help identify a range of value a prospective purchaser might pay for your company, as well as provide an objective frame of reference for interpreting offers that are submitted. After the Assessment has been reviewed with you, we can determine if any adjustment may be necessary in the marketing approach or in the pricing expectations we have. We will begin to market your business in a highly effective but confidential manner. First we develop a Confidential Business Review (CBR) that presents the essential aspects of your business in a professional manner that inspires additional interest on the part of potential acquirers. The CBR includes a concise Executive Summary, Business and Financial Overview sections, and additional key information about your company to help a potential buyer decide if your company is a good match for the buyer's interests or needs. The CBR's are only provided to investors who have signed a Non-Disclosure and Confidentiality Agreement (NDCA). We will also pre-screen the financial capacity of a buyer to acquire your company prior to releasing sensitive information.
Our buyer search immediately follows the preparation of the CBR. Searches are local, regional and national as appropriate, and the search involves multiple tactics and resources including our own proprietary databases as well as databases we have acquired from other sources. Typically we search for buyers that will have the greatest interest and benefit the most from acquiring your company. We will then contact these buyers by discreet letter or telephone, being very careful not to disclose too much information at this early stage. If the contacted individuals want to proceed beyond the initial conversation, the NDCA is signed and financial qualification occurs before more information is provided. Other marketing efforts are underway at the same time and might include some or all of the following: discreet descriptions of your company on our and several other M&A websites, media advertising, such as the Wall Street Journal, and trade association/journal advertising and direct mail to high potential targets in and out of your industry. We always consider confidentiality and the impact of our efforts on your operations, particularly when talking with other players in the same industry as you.
As a business owner, it is imperative that you concentrate on the day-to-day operations of your business and not find yourself working your way through the curious, non-qualified, low probability buyers that can consume so much of your time, violate confidentiality and distract you from the task of running a successful business. Managing the selling process from beginning to end is our job. You also do not want to deal with only one buyer at a time and risk being paid far less than your company is worth. Let us find the qualified buyers while you keep your business running smoothly and profitably! By staying focused on profitability, you are enhancing your opportunity to optimize the price and terms you will receive from the group of buyers we introduce.
We understand, and are highly sensitive to, the importance of discretion and confidentiality, recognizing the damage that advance knowledge of a company on the market can do to employee morale and customer confidence. ProForma West is well known for using techniques that minimize disclosure of a seller's identity and enable a sale to be pursued virtually undetected.
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