SELLING YOUR BUSINESS
In today's marketplace, merger and acquisition activities continue as an important means of increasing private corporations shareholder values. ABBA provides private market companies with comprehensive merger and acquisition services. Our merger and acquisition professionals have experience in advising thousands of client companies in their acquisition and divestiture objectives. In addition, we maintain numerous close relationships with strategic buyers, both domestically and internationally. ABBA has represented clients in numerous ways, including:

* Selling your business for the highest price
* Recasting financial statements for additional value
* Properly positioning your business for sale
* Getting buyers to pay for future results
* Understanding the value of your business
* Identifying buyers who can pay premium value
* Submitting the proper documentation
* Running a structured sale process
* Getting multiple buyers interested
* Structuring deals to your advantage
* Importance of confidentiality and timing

If you are considering selling your business or simply interested in how to grow your business for maximum value upon a future exit, our staff can assist you in understanding and demystifying the Merger & Acquisition process and the options that may be available to you.


Why Sell Now?   What can a professional business broker achieve? There's More!
Timing Is Crucial in Selling a Company

Carl has reached retirement age after operating a family manufacturing business for more than 40 years. Keen business sense tells him it is time to sell the company and preserve the equity for himself and his family.
Carl has a strong sentimental attachment to a business that he built from a sideline started by his farming parents. Carl manufactures equipment based on his own patents. His Illinois company has a nationwide market and there are prospective buyers among companies already marketing farm equipment.
Keen business sense is one thing, but Carl has no idea what his company is worth. He isn’t sure he can negotiate for its full value with a prospective buyer.

Carl’s reluctance is cheating him and his family of the opportunity to reap the full value of their years of diligence, sacrifice and smart business practices.
Here’s why:
Interest rates are at a historically ideal level for selling and buying business equity.
Capital gains taxes are also at a historically ideal level -- amid predictions that they will soon be increased substantially.
It would be possible to show premium buyers that Carl’s products have untapped market potential.
Now the company needs fresh ideas, new energy and smart capital more than it needs Carl.
“There are hundreds of companies like Carl’s, and when we help the owners understand the true value of their investment, exciting things happen,” .

For openers, ABBA will provide Carl with a comprehensive view of the overall outlook for business in his specialty.
Next, the ABBA valuation team will help Carl establish a realistic value for his company – probably more than Carl might have expected. These experts use objective appraisal tools and highly refined procedures.
No one knows better than Carl which prospective future owners will be the best “fit” for his company. ABBA will help him attract those suitors and reject any others whom he knows to be wrong for his business.
When bidders line up, ABBA will help Carl achieve full value for his life’s work.

Taking the farm equipment business to market will require additional work on the part of ABBA, but soon Carl’s challenge will be to compare hard offers from buyers with his well-informed expectations. Thanks to the specialized services of ABBA, Carl can be confident that he will find a deal that will allow him to retrieve his equity and diversify his investment portfolio for the first time.
Once Carl realizes that expert merger and acquisition advisors can provide the assistance he will need to find a suitable buyer, he will put ABBA on his team.
In 2006 The University of Dallas conducted an intensive survey of two kinds of business owners – those who had just sold their business and those very likely to sell their companies soon.
“What we learned is that almost three-fourths of those who want to sell their business also want the help of a consultant. Roughly two-thirds want help with three key areas.”
The three kinds of assistance mentioned most often by business owners were:
Information regarding access to potential buyers
Business coaching and consulting
Information regarding business valuation methods
“In other words, “we bring our clients exactly what they know they need, and we do it with a highly experienced team of Merger & Acquisition professionals.”

The university study, published in 2006, validated the exact fit of ABBA's dual-phased procedures in helping an owner find and close with the best buyer for his company.
In the Deal Assessment Phase, ABBA builds the foundation for a successful M&A process.
Experts gather the company’s historical financial data and make the picture market-ready by excluding owner-specific charges and by highlighting the market value of the company’s assets.
Comprehensive, in-depth research into the company, the industry and addressable market opportunities brings about optimum market positioning.
Significant quantitative and qualitative analysis by ABBA enables the seller to present the pro forma benefits of a combination with the right buyer.
With a range of value in mind, ABBA identifies a premium buyer universe and moves the company into the deal-execution phase.
In the Deal Execution Phase, there are four major steps.
ABBA prepares powerful, compelling marketing materials that speak the language of the buyer.
Using proprietary databases that are being updated constantly, experts develop a premium buyer constellation of as many as 200 names and solicitation begins. Marketing materials are distributed and follow-up contacts enable ABBA to tailor management presentations and company visits for maximum effect.
As a focused list of interested buyers is identified, the M&A advisor helps the seller proceed with due diligence to provide all key financial and operating information in the language of the buyer.
When final bids are received from interested buyers, ABBA conducts negotiations, structures the deal and closes the transaction.
“It is a complex process, “It is one that ABBA has developed and refined for 20 years with the leadership and assistance of the best M&A advisors in the business. That’s why our clients gladly leave the hard work in the care of experienced professionals.”