Business Exit Planning
“Refreshingly honest, diligent and a respected advisor that will always go the extra mile to help you realise your end goal.”
— Simon Jeffreys, CEO Designers Guild
Every business needs an exit strategy, yet it is often the most overlooked aspect of a business plan, and if considered too late, it can sometimes result in a loss in value or your business changing in a way that wasn’t part of the initial plan.
Your Transaction Strategy
Business exit planning isn’t just about selling your business or simply focusing on your retirement. It is also about protecting the value of the business you’ve built and successfully moving it to the next stage, whether it’s merging with another company, pursing an acquisition or taking the company public (IPO). Therefore, having a clear exit strategy in place can enhance the value of your business in more ways than one, as it not only provides the business with a focused trajectory towards long-term growth, but it also shows potential buyers that you have a clear vision for its future.
At Accelve, we will guide you through the different options of the exit process and help you build a detailed business exit plan that is aligned to both your business and personal objectives.
Define Your Objectives
Ideally, you want to allow at least two years to consider how best to maximise shareholder value, before any exit transaction occurs. This is when you engage experienced professional advisors, like our team of experts at Accelve, to help you with the sale process. We will begin by helping you to define your goals and selecting the best type of exit strategy to achieve these. Once we have your vision for exiting the business mapped out, we will build your exit strategy and advise on the complexities involved.
Commercial Due Diligence & Value Creation
One of the most important elements of this process is making sure that your business is in a strong position and ready to exit. We will therefore critically assess your business and conduct initial financial due diligence, highlighting any risks or issues that need to be addressed to guarantee a successful exit. We will also advise you on how you can create more value, whether it’s through branding, service development or making processes more efficient to boost productivity and improve operating functions.
Financial Planning Expertise
To help you identify and achieve your financial objectives as part of your business exit plan, we will also assist you in appointing a financial planning expert. Together, we will remove the stress of working out the finer details and tell you exactly how you can reduce your tax liabilities and maximise the sale price.
Our team will work closely with you through every step of the exit process, sharing our expertise and insights to maximise value and make your business exit happen, so you can remain focused on running the business.
Contact us
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FAQs
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We are the trusted advisor for many businesses and have helped to successfully build and execute numerous exit strategies. A key recipe to our success is the ability to leverage our team's global network of relationships, coupled with deep sector knowledge. An international reach of buyers and vendors and an intimate knowledge of transaction requirements enables us to give you the inside track from valuation and market insights to tools and tactics required for a tricky exit negotiation.
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Corporate finance transactions require specialist, up-to-date knowledge, so we provide the expert advice you need to plan and execute your business exit strategy. This includes finding the best solution for you and creating the most value.
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Ideally, business owners should start thinking about their exit options at least two years before it actually happens. In fact, it’s not uncommon for some to create their business with the exit plan in mind. However, as most businesses evolve as they mature, somewhere between two and four years in advance will give you enough time to prepare and engage professional advisors so that they can help you ensure matters from structuring to tax and legal are all addressed in advance. This will save you a lot of worry and provide you with significant savings and value that you simply cannot underestimate.
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We typically work with businesses that have a value of more than £5 million. In recent years, we have advised businesses that have sold for more than £100+ million, with our medium deal value being £20m.
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The business exit process typically takes between six to nine months to ensure you give yourself sufficient time to prepare the business for sale and maximise the value by running a competitive sales process. It actually really helps to start planning your exit two years ahead of the game. There are often circumstances where time is of the essence, particularly if you have received an unsolicitated approach or if you’re in financial difficultly and need help to run a process in a short period. Our team are experts in running accelerated M&A transactions (AMA).
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Due diligence usually involves a detailed report being prepared on the target company's financial and tax, IT, operational, market and commercial aspects. Due diligence is used by investors or buyers to ascertain if the potential target company is suitable for their needs. It helps ensure investors or buyers get the right price for the target, mitigate risk and maximise returns. Quite often, the target company may also request a due diligence report to help get themselves ready for a potential sale or fundraise.
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The most important thing to have in place is a plan. There is a lot of planning and work that goes into the exit process to make sure you get the best deal and fulfil your exit ambitions. Secondly, you need to understand your buyer or investor market to ensure your business meets their needs. This includes corporate governance, market positioning and strategic direction.
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There are several things that can impact a business exit, but the most common issues come from a lack of understanding in relation to the key drivers of the business. This often means owners are unable to clearly articulate how and why their business is successful, which ultimately erodes buyer confidence. Other common issues include poor governance, weak information and volatile cash-flow. This is why having the right advisors and conducting due diligence is vital for a successful business exit.
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No, we are not brokers. We are professional advisors. We support our clients throughout the entire process, from developing your business case and advising on how to create more value, to finding potential buyers and managing the negotiations.
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Whilst we have specific sector knowledge as a result of the different deals we’ve made happen, we work with many different sectors, so our experience remains very diverse. This naturally means we bring unique insights to our clients, helping them to create robust business exit plans.
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Our fees vary depending on the scope of the engagement. Our corporate finance related fees tend to have a large component which is based on the success of a transaction completing. Our strategy advice fees are normally charged as monthly retainer fees or charged on an ad hoc time basis. Our fees are always tailored to your specific needs, ensuring we are completely aligned.
A selection of brands our team have worked with
Recent insights.
