Considerations when selling to an overseas buyer
As we approach the conclusion of one of our cross-border transactions, it may be useful for those SME owners considering a sale to an overseas buyer to be mindful of some of the variables, pros and cons inherent in such a process. Whilst on the surface the sale...
read moreWhen “prepared enough” isn’t enough
Looking through a shirt shops' clearance bin recently, it struck me that what I held in my hands was a well-crafted, beautifully-designed, stylish item made from the finest materials. Yet its price had been slashed to almost one-third of its original RRP. This then...
read more“Is now a good time to sell my business?”
A business owner posed this question the other day, and it is a question that is doubtless playing on the consciousness of many. In fact, it is an oft-asked question, and one with only one really logical answer when you think about it: Yes. Now is the perfect time...
read moreBaby Boomers or Bust?
The extent of insufficient retirement funding and poor exit/succession planning appears to have been laid bare over the past few months, with a number of studies pouring cold water on broader expectations for the retirement plans of the Baby Boomer generation. ...
read moreWhy Businesses Fail to Sell
Conventional wisdom tells us that we learn more from our failures than from our successes. With this in mind, a review of failed transactions of recent years has allowed me to compile a fairly rigorous list of pitfalls that derailed business sales, so that I may...
read moreThe 80/20 Rule in Business Exits
Having read through the many and varied surveys and research reports conducted in Australia, the USA, the UK and Canada that relate to business sale/succession intentions, preparation and readiness, a familiar pattern in the statistics has emerged. Yes, the Pareto...
read moreThe Three ‘Fs’ of Acquisitions
Business acquisitions can be complex at the best of times, so it is always useful to be able to distil key principles into simple, memorable sound bites. Whilst I can lay claim to some pearls of wisdom, most I pick up during my day-to-day interactions with M&A...
read morePPSA and M&A Transactions
Most owners of Australian businesses should be aware of the introduction of a significant piece of legislation earlier this year: the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth), now more commonly referred to as PPS. For those not in the know, and even those that are...
read moreThe rise of the Boomer Buyer
Contrary to perceptions that the retirement of the Baby Boomers will exacerbate supply/demand imbalances in the market for buyers of privately-owned businesses, market trends in the United States are revealing a diamterically-opposed reality. According to research...
read moreIs this the new normal?
Since the onset of what has been termed the Global Financial Crisis – in typical Western shorthand, the GFC - in late 2008, the market for business exits has undergone a radical transformation. Unable – or at best, unwilling – to forecast with any confidence, buyers...
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