The essential success factors of a medium-sized company sale

Four essential success factors in the sale of a company

Every year, around 80,000 entrepreneurs in Germany are faced with a succession plan for reasons of age, which is usually implemented more or less well. The following key success factors are based on the experience of our 14 partners from well over 200 successfully completed transactions in recent years.

sales readiness: “What do I really want?”

• Purchase price expectation and time horizon
• Other expectations of the buyer/partner
• Potential cooperation (transition phase)

Expectations and goals must be well defined in order to identify as many potential buyers/partners as possible.

attractiveness from the buyer’s point of view: “The bait must taste good to the fish, not to the angler!”

• Sector- or market-specific situations
• Market position and outlook (financials/planning etc.)
• Company specifics (management, customers, suppliers, etc.)

Best possible presentation of the “object of sale” as well as selection of the optimal time, increases both the transaction value and the closing security

preparing the transaction: “Good planning and preparation is half the battle!”

• Professional advice: business valuation, marketing documents, buyer universe

M&A consulting is also a solid craft that requires a lot of experience

Structured sales process: “You must be eleven friends!

• Market approach, (preliminary) negotiation, due diligence, purchase contract, final negotiation
• Coordination of all parties involved (shareholders, family, management, lawyers, accountants, etc.)

All parties involved must work closely together with a common goal and in a spirit of trust.

CONCLUSION:

Of course, a successful sale of a company, especially at a desired purchase price, cannot be guaranteed. But by designing the entire sales process in the best possible way, derived from experience, both the success rate and the purchase price (and the associated other conditions) can be significantly increased!

You are thinking about selling your company and are interested in further information and references in order to find the right partner for this complex challenge? Then contact us to arrange an appointment for a no-obligation discussion

Daniel Möhrke
Partner
+49 172 73 422 87
moehrke@steinbeis-finance.de/en

Partner

Daniel Möhrke