By Adam Bernstein
We’ve seen the sale of plenty of family businesses in the aftermarket over the last couple of years. It isn’t just down to the major buying groups stamping their feet either, for all, there comes a point when it’s time to ask whether the business should be sold. The question for most is, how?
According to David Emanuel, partner at law firm VWV and head of its Family Business team, the prime reasons for selling are retirement, the need for investment and no one else to take over.
Take the first – retirement. As Emanuel notes: “for many business owners, a large proportion of their personal wealth may be tied up in the business. Some are able to take profit out during their working life to buy homes and build up pensions. But many need to crystallise that value to fund their retirement.”
Next comes the need to grow the business. As time progresses, some owners ask whether they have it in them to take the business to the next level. Clearly, if a business is not the right size for the market it will not survive; looking for someone external (and usually bigger) to buy out the firm can be a solution which also allows the owner to realise the value in their business.
A variation on this means external investment, for instance private equity investors, who take a stake in the business with a view to exit within three to five years. From Emanuel’s perspective, “this offers the current owners the opportunity to build significantly higher value with external investment while postponing the exit.”
But what if there is no internal succession plan? Emanuel frequently sees family owned businesses wondering whether the next generation want to take the business on: “For many the family is a strength and a USP, and the thought of passing the business to the next generation is attractive. But in practice, successful transfers between generations are rare.”
But few last. A 2015 Economia report, How to maintain a family business, suggests that in the UK only 30 percent make it to the second generation and around 12 percent to the third.
Opportunity Knocks
Sometimes an offer comes in at the right moment so that selling becomes an option. What do you do?
Emanuel’s first response is to take advice.
“Many businesses will probably know who is likely to be interested in buying them, and in some cases informal contact, particularly where there are personal relationships with potential buyers, can sound out interest.”
But he offers a note of caution: “Do not underestimate the potential adverse reaction of staff, customers, and suppliers to rumours of a sale. Maintaining confidentiality for as long as possible is a key feature of a successful exit.”
The message is clear: Seek professional help from the moment you decide to sell. Accountants, solicitors, or specialist corporate finance advisers, can all help formulate a plan, including a strategy for confidentially marketing the business, advice on valuation, and preparing the business for sale.
Sale processes
The next stage is the actual sale which Emanuel says comprises four steps.
“The first,” he says, “is to market the business else no one will know that it’s up for sale.” He says that the firm’s accountants or specialist corporate finance advisers will help put together a sales memorandum and circulate this (on a no names basis initially) to potentially interested parties.” A Non-Disclosure Agreement should be part of the process.
Once a buyer has been chosen, the next stage will be to agree the outline commercial terms of the deal and timescale – “Heads of Terms”. Emanuel describes these as “non-binding in most respects but they provide a framework for the negotiation of the deal from which the parties should not normally stray other than in exceptional circumstances.”
And then there is due diligence – mentioned earlier. “This,” says Emanuel, “is the process by which the buyer seeks to find out about the business, its assets and liabilities, trading relationships and employees.” Experience has taught him that sellers often underestimate the amount of work this generates.
The penultimate stage is the sale agreement where the main contract for the sale will (normally) be drawn up by the buyer’s solicitors to be negotiated with the seller. In practical terms, Emanuel says that most of this will deal with risk apportionment – “who is liable, if for instance, there is a hidden tax liability, or any employee makes a claim after completion for something that happened whilst the seller was in charge?” These issues are, he says, dealt with through a process of warranties – in effect, guarantees.
And lastly comes completion where the documents are signed, the monies are paid, and the business transfers.
In the End
With any complex process the sale will usually take several months from its starting point and involves a huge effort. But as Emanuel has seen, the sale can mean that “owners often have mixed feelings about leaving behind the business they created and have run for years.” His suggestion is to think about what is coming next rather than what has been left behind.
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