Confidential M&A Consulting
We are solely focused on sell-side advisory. Assisting business owners with the M&A consulting process is all we do. Whether your business is ready for sale today, or in the next five years, we are available to you as a resource to start preparing your business for sale.
If you want to sell your business within the next five years, please request a meeting with us today so that we can advise on the steps that you should take now to maximize your enterprise value in the future. We will identify the specific value drivers of your business and educate you on what levers to pull to make your business more valuable.
If you are ready to sell today, please request a meeting so that we can determine your readiness to sell, a free estimation of the value for your business and any preparation required to take your business to market. A more detailed explanation of the M&A consulting process is provided below.
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M&A Consulting
Analysis
We gather the required financial information. We have a detailed conversation around the value drivers for your business including those that will be most attractive to strategic buyers. An estimate of the business’s enterprise value is determined. We have a detailed conversation around owner expectations regarding valuation and deal structure. We move forward in the M&A consulting process upon a determination that our analysis and your expectations are aligned.
Kickoff
We develop an overall strategy for bringing your business to the market. We determine what steps are necessary to ready the business for sale. We determine the overall timeline for moving forward in the M&A consulting process.
CIM Building
We develop a Wall Street quality Confidential Information Memorandum that will give prospective buyers the necessary information to make an interest determination. A one-page Executive Summary is also developed at this stage. We work very closely with you to gather the information necessary to complete these documents. This process takes approximately one month.
Target List
We use a powerful database to generate a list of prospective buyers for the business. We have access to information for over 3.4 million companies, 388,000 investors, 76,000 funds and 1.6 million completed deals. We will determine the companies that are actively investing in your industry, complete with what companies they have acquired, what multiples they paid and in some cases, an estimate of remaining funds for additional investments.
Marketing
We confidentially market your business by sending a one-page Executive Summary to the target list. The Executive Summary will not contain any identifiable information about the business. The Executive Summary is designed to provide high-level information to prospects to generate further interest. We also confidentially advertise your business on various other mediums.
Confidentiality
We understand that maintaining confidentiality of the business sale and your sensitive business information is of paramount importance. All interested buyers are required to execute a Non-Disclosure Agreement before they are provided with the detailed Confidential Information Memorandum. Client lists, propriety information and other trade secrets are divulged late in the process. They are not divulged in the Confidential Information Memorandum.
Initial Meetings
We will conduct initial meetings with all prospective buyers that review the Confidential Information Memorandum and indicate further interest. At this stage, we learn more about the buyer, their goals and any potential strategic advantages that acquiring your business may provide them.
Management Meetings
This is your opportunity to show potential buyers how excited you are about your business and the prospect of a buyer taking it to the next level. This is also your opportunity to determine if a buyer would be a good fit with the culture of your business.
Offers
It is our goal to have multiple prospective buyers interested in submitting offers for the purchase of your business. An offer deadline will be set for all prospective buyers who have completed management meetings and indicate that they would like to move forward in the process. Offers are typically received as a Letter of Intent or an Indication of Interest and provide the material terms of the deal.
Negotiation
We will review all offers with you and determine which prospective buyers to submit counteroffers to, if any. We will advise you in refining the terms of any counteroffers. We then communicate all counteroffers to the prospective buyers.
Exclusivity
Once we have the winning buyer narrowed down, they will submit a final version of a Letter of Intent that will contain the material terms that were agreed to during the negotiation process. The Letter of Intent is fully executed by both parties and the exclusivity period with that buyer begins. At this point, no further buyers or offers are entertained.
Due Diligence
A due diligence period will begin immediately after the execution of the Letter of Intent. The due diligence period will have a specific ending date. During the due diligence period, the buyer may request any financial or business documents. This is the buyer’s opportunity to determine that the business condition is as presented in the Confidential Information Memorandum. This is also the period to answer any outstanding questions that the buyer may have about the business. A buyer may have an in-house team, or they may engage a third-party company that specializes in the M&A consulting process.
Definitive Agreement
We work with your attorney and the buyer’s attorney in negotiating the terms of a final Definitive Purchase Agreement. The founder of Meridian Mergers & Acquisitions is an attorney and is well versed in the typical terms of purchase agreements. We also work with attorneys who are very experienced in the M&A consulting process and are happy to recommend one to you if needed.
Financing
We work with any Lenders the buyer engages to finance a portion of the business using a business acquisition loan. As a former Lending Director at multibillion dollar bank, the founder of Meridian Mergers & Acquisitions is well versed in the process of obtaining a business acquisition loan. We work with experienced lenders and are happy to recommend one to any potential buyers if needed.
Closing
We work with the attorneys, lenders and parties to get the deal ready for closing. The closing typically takes place at an attorney’s office or at a title company. Any unsigned transactional documents are fully executed at closing. They buyer may also execute bank documents at closing if they are purchasing any portion of the business with a business acquisition loan. Change of control occurs once all documents are fully executed and the funds are wired to your bank account.