Am I Ready to Work with an M&A Firm to Sell my Business?

You may be more ready to work with an M&A firm than you think, especially in view of increased M&A activity in the built environment.  Don’t wait until it is too late to sell your company.

The most common reasons as to why companies don’t want to engage us now to represent them for sale:

• I’m too busy and we are slammed with work and am not ready to start the selling process
  • It is always better to sell a company while business is good, with upward trends and when new business is being turned away. Remember to always sell high. Good Business = Greater Firm Value.

• I’m 3-5 years away
  • Buyers love it when sellers stay on in a transitionary role of 2-4 years. Our process to engage, value your business, develop the confidential information memorandum, go to market, and find the right buyer to sell to is 10-12 months. Add this with a 2–4-year transition and that’s your 3–5-year timetable.

• I’m not sure there is a buyer for us or what the market is like
  • The M&A market in the built environment is very strong right now. Companies are looking for people, diversification, and expansion more than ever. With our network and processes, we go to the right markets and find the right buyers for consideration. 

• We had a bad year last year but are back up now
  • Buyers look at a three-year history of financial performance as well as current year projections and backlog. A bad year can usually be explained, and buyers understand this as this has most likely happened to them at some point.

• We have a pending claim
  • This does not get in the way of an acquisition. Sellers have professional liability insurance to cover any claims and the seller always purchases tail liability insurance to cover projects completed from the date of closing backwards.