About Us
Sales
Selling your business is probably the most important business decision you will face.
The key is to identify ways in which different acquirers can extract greater value from your business under their control than in its current form.
This value premium can be leveraged or be derived through various sources such as:
- management, administration, R&D, selling or manufacturing synergies
- selling your product or technology through their brand or distribution channel
- selling their product or technology through your brand or distribution channel, particularly for foreign companies expanding
- vertical acquisition, allowing buyers to offer an integrated service
- horizontal acquisition, where a competitor will incorporate your company to build-up critical mass
- profit opportunities associated with well financed larger companies
- PE (price earnings) premium associated with certain quoted companies
You will then have to work with a professional organization to target the acquirers most likely to value your business at a premium and approach them discretely in a way that ensures customers, suppliers and employees do not learn of your intentions.
Our service
We will help you assess the value of your business in its current form. We will then assess the value to an appropriate buyer and accordingly evaluate the likely sales prices.
Potential buyers with the most to gain from such an acquisition will be targeted through our international database of acquisitive contacts, and the wider market, and approached discretely. Once an acquirer's interest is established we advise and help you through the negotiation process.
The fee for such a service can be either partially or wholly success based, depending on the complexity and our assessment of the probability of deal closure.
Acquisitions
Whether you are new to acquiring companies or businesses, or seasoned, you'll have to adopt a similar procedure.
Consider exactly what you are looking for, established the economic benefits and plan the purchase process through to post acquisition integration and management.
The steps are:
- Develop a strategic fit analysis
- Produce acquisition profiles
- Test that profiles result in suitable targets
- Consider integration of 'suitable target'
- Collate key sector, people, target facts
- Refine priority target profile
- Use specialist to source and anomalously approach targets
- Consider available targets and choose one or two for in-depth review
- Discover target's merger strategy, JV etc, price aspirations
- Consider strategic fit and post acquisition
- Initiate due diligence process, including property, client portfolio and accounts
- Negotiate price and write up heads of agreement, on the basis of;
- target's perceived opportunities
- using early due diligence findings
- delaying some value to ensure attainment of forecast earnings
- subject to final due diligence conclusions
- Reconsider strategic fit and post acquisition plan in the light of greater target knowledge
- Set up legal contract
- Complete due diligence, including legal and tax, depending on conclusions renegotiate or sign contract
Our service
We will help you define your target profile, find suitable companies and anomalously approach them to assess their willingness to sell, using subtle and professional techniques to encourage them.
We will help negotiations, finding the target's keys negotiating considerations, helping identify solutions where problems are encountered, keeping discussions alive wherever necessary. We can also help plan and perform the due diligence.
The fee for such a service can be either partially or wholly success based, depending on the complexity and our assessment of the probability of deal closure. We request a retainer where clients require ongoing acquisition work.
Finance
Finance is the most important attribute to determining a businesses success, ahead of management, sales, market environment, intellectual property and products - in order of importance.
Speed, Start-up, Early stage, Expansion, Bridge, Bank debt, Mezzanine or One-off project finance all need to be handled professionally. Whether through Angels, DTI loans, Property finance, Bank loans, Grants or Venture Capital, we can assess the right approach and help access funds. And together with our FSA Associate can approach private investors.
You will need to:
Update your Business Plan with:
- Executive summary
- Company history, product information and market background
- Marketing strategy
- Key personnel, including curriculum vitae type detail
- Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Advantages and Threats (SWAT), including an analysis of competitors and their reactions to competition
- Financial history and projections, with sensitivity analysis
- Assess how much money is required, what it will be used for and when it is required
- In the case of loans, relate sales or other cash inflow, to ensure interest and loan repayments can be met
- In the case of investment
- value the company after investment, to make the price per share and return on investment sufficiently attractive
- consider if there are business opportunities that could be forthcoming from investor expertise
- Prepare for due diligence or other assessment process
Our service
We will discuss and assess the best form of finance for you, help prepare your business plan if necessary, and approach investors we consider amenable to your business plans. We have our own funds, and work closely with established investors and the investment community, so we can speed up the process.
We will help negotiations, realistically valuing your company after investment, anticipating the likely issues that will be raised at due diligence.
The fee for such a service can be either partially or wholly success based, depending on the complexity and our assessment of the probability of deal closure.
IPO’s and MBO’s
IPO: Initial Public Offering
This is the initial means of raising stock market finance, or allowing early stage investor's to exit. A high proportion of businesses eventually wish to become publicly quoted companies. Other than finance there are plenty of sound reasons for taking your company to the market; investor relations, public and employee relations and the ability to expand by using shares to acquire companies.
Our service
Through our FSA Authorized Associate we can introduce companies to AIM and advise on companies preparing themselves for other exchanges.
MBO: Management Buyout
Management and investors may wish to part company for reasons of exit, finance or directional differences. Management Buyout may be the best way of financing the business, buying out investors wishing to leave.
Our service
We can help management prepare business plans, target and approach MBO investors and negotiate suitable terms with the new investors.
MBI: Management Buy in
If you believe you and your team can manage a public company better, and derive a significantly greater value than the current share price, and can demonstrate it by experience, then we might be able to support you.
BIMBO: Buy-in management buy-out
Take-over deal whereby external management take positions in a business alongside existing management.
Our service
We can help MBI teams prepare persuasive business plans, target and approach MBI investors and negotiate suitable terms with the new investors.
Investor Seminars
Investor Seminars, or Road Shows, are a way of discussing your investment proposal with many institutional and sophisticated private investors as a group, or rapidly one after the other.
If you are based overseas or out of London, and wish to raise finance in London, the easiest way to do this may be to organize a series of investor seminars. You can in addition use the seminars as a means of introducing potential distributors to your product and company.
Seminars can vary considerably in size, number and profile of attendees and content or delivery. The method you choose depends on your budget, time and complexity of investment proposition.
Our service
We will discuss your needs and plan the seminars, target and contact a suitable number of quality investors or potential distributors and organize the events. These can take the form of a series of meetings, to conference centers using the latest audio visual displays.
The fee for such a service is partially consultancy for the time, and partially consideration for successfully raising investment or obtaining a distributor.
Contact us if you wish to make an enquiry about any business venture.
Our offices
156 – 158 Buckingham Palace RoadLondon
SW1W 9TR
Tel: +44 (0)20 7976 6600
Fax: +44 (0)20 7976 6611
Email: office@gaassociates.co.uk
