Sell Your Business

Whether you have spent 10 months, 10 years, or your family has spent 10 decades on the development, execution, and evolution of your enterprise to where it stand at this very moment, you owe it to yourself and everyone that counts on you as the primary decision maker / business owner to maximize the one chance you get to sell your business. You cannot afford to leave anything to chance, or even think that a DIY approach will suffice with so much at stake!

We are a seasoned team of acquisition professionals that will be on your side to navigate and overcome all of the numerous perils that may surface during the transaction process, from the initial consultation and due diligence packaging all the way through to the successful close. We will maintain confidentiality throughout the entire process, run a competitive buyer process to ensure you secure top dollar, and be able to accomplish all of this while negotiating on your behalf from a position of strength. We bring an array of deal team members that provide any financing that a Buyer may require, M&A legal counsel that are deal-makers, and financial planners that can help minimize or defer the tax consequences from your liquidity event. Our comprehensive suite of services minimize disruption for you and your staff so you retain the time you need to focus every ounce of your effort on making as much as you can for as long as you can while you still own your Company.

Our sole and exclusive task is to sell your Company to the best fit possible at a fair or ideally an above market multiple of your earnings. We focus all of our energy on selling your Company for you and we focus not only on the dollars and cents but also the dollars and sense. We take the time at the outset to listen to what you have to say and what you perceive to be the ideal Buyer and your dream transaction scenario. You wave your magic wand, then we go out there and make that deal happen as best we possibly can!

For a free initial consultation and business valuation please call us at (800) 985-4939 Extension #1 or email rickcarlson@acebusinessbrokers.com.

Sell Side Engagements:

1)  Initial Consultation

  • Get to know your Company, your story, your pain points, your needs & what's prompting this conversation.
  • Secure initial financial/operational profile & general Q&A
  •  Provide ballpark valuation

2)  Draft Representation Agreement

  • We define purchase price & terms or go to market via an open ended (no asking price) competitive auction.
  • If a defined purchase price - you're priced at the highest realistic sales price, with strategic price reductions built in over time.  We need 90 days at the price we KNOW the Company should attract multiple bids at.
  • If a competitive auction - we set a defined end date in the Confidential Information Memorandum to entice activity from all Buyers.
  • Engagement terms range from 3 months (rare), 6-12 months (typical), to 18 months (rare - only if we disagree materially on valuation).

3)  Compile Due Diligence Material

  • Once hired formally, we provide a checklist of due diligence items that we will require to effectively close your deal at the highest possible #.
  • We consult with your advisers, CPA's, legal counsel, employees (if you direct us to), and any team members that help us tell the best & most comprehensive story about your Company.
  • We craft an initial first round due diligence package or Confidential Information Memorandum.
  • We build a data room and tuck away sensitive financial and all related documents that we release only to the one qualified lead that makes an offer to purchase or submits a Letter of Intent that you accept.

4)  Craft Compelling Ad Copy

  • We consult with you and you approve engaging content that we blast out everywhere anyone is looking for acquisitions in your geography, industry, historical gross & net revenue thresholds, and all related keywords that apply to your Company.

5)  Email Blast Our Internal Database

  • We have every lead we've talked to that has inquired about purchasing a business categorized by SIC code going back over a decade.

6)  Search Proprietary Databases for Strategics & Contact Them

  • We have subscriptions to numerous lead generation sites that provide us the contact information for other company CEO's and Owners in your same space.
  • We harvest those leads and create an email blast to them (if you want us to only - sometimes Sellers opt out of this stage for confidentiality reasons).

7)  Publish Ad Copy & Pay for Upgraded Advertising

  • We create custom landing pages and keyword rich content on our site to increase engagement on the Ace Business Brokers website.
  • We have premium/platinum/etc...memberships on nearly all of the decently trafficked business for sale listing exchanges, and often pay extra out of pocket to ensure our opportunities are displayed above the rest of the riff raff for sale.

8)  Qualify and Secure Confidentiality Agreements from Buyers

  • We have a full time person that follows up with all Buyer inquiries during normal business hours within minutes of receipt.
  • We have an online form on this site and on a googledocs platform to encourage compliance and submission - it takes less than one minute to complete.
  • We review all submissions for characteristics that would highlight a qualified Buyer v. a poor candidate, often times a personal phone call is mandatory prior to releasing the initial Buyer package on file with Ace Business Brokers.

9)  Babysit Buyers

  • Often times Buyers are shopping a ton of opportunities from a ton of Brokers, so we have 3 separate points of contact with them after they secure the initial package from our firm.
  • Either they want to buy, they are a "pass", or just like baseball after 3 strikes with no reply, they are out as an active prospect!

10) Facilitate Initial Conference Calls or Site Visits

  • With a world wide Buyer pool, often times the Buyer that will pay the most may not necessarily be in your backyard.  So whatever means we can we set up a conference call on our bridge, or coordinate with you and shepherd the first Buyer/Seller meeting personally.

11) Babysit Buyers, Again.

  • We make sure that all prospects that take up your time get extra attention and ensure they give us a final answer of a yes or no-go within a reasonable period of time after the first meeting.

12) Draft the Asset Purchase Agreement, Letter of Intent, or Indication of Interest

  • Assuming the Buyer wishes to proceeds we prefer to secure a signed Asset Purchase Agreement, but are comfortable drafting an LOI or IOI per Buyer preference.

13) Share Confidential Secondary Due Diligence Documentation

  • Prior to the official marketing campaign launch we populate our secure Data Room with your tax returns, recent bank statements, lease(s) (if applicable, and other relevant documents.

14) Remove Buyer Conditions to (Close the Transaction - Preferred) or Open Escrow

  • Depending on the size and complexity of the transaction, we either draft closing documents if appopriate and we satisfy all of the Buyer's Due Diligence requirements.
  • For larger transactions or those involving third party financing we would have the Buyer submit a 10% (or more) deposit to open escrow from one of our team of escrow companies we've used throughout the country.

15)  Remove Escrow Conditions to Close the Transaction

  • Since every deal is different ~ we basically run ragged doing whatever it is that needs to be done so you get paid.  Because if you don't get paid, we don't see a dime!

16)  Celebrate!

  • Closing dinner is always on the Ace Business Brokers corporate card!  We work hard and love to play hard.  It's an arduous journey, but a fruitful one, so we appreciate everything our clients go through to get to the finish line with us as your guide!