The sales process
Selling your business is a business in itself
Before selling your business, we will sit down with you. Together we map out your wishes so that the transaction has a clear beginning and end. We then know where we stand and what we are working towards. Where do you want to be in five years? Do you want to distance yourself from your business or do you want to be twice as big? Or do you want to transfer the business to your children? Together we arrive at your dot on the horizon. Your vision of the future is our starting point on the road to a successful sale.
Sales,
the process in steps
1. Where do you want to go?
Together, we'll map out your needs and discuss what the right momentum is for you to take a next step. What do you want and how is your business structured? We will look at which partner best suits your company. This can be a strategic party or an investor. In other words, who offers the best view of your dot on the horizon. You may already have an idea, but we present all options. Out of the box thinking, so you really know you're making the right choice. Together with you, we solve the business case to ensure that the beautiful company you have built will continue to be successful in the future.
2. Information memorandum
We map out your business with an information memorandum that highlights the entire blueprint of your business. The memorandum includes a wide range of topics, such as "What is the history?" "Why do you want to sell your company?" "What market do you want to operate in?" "What is your business model? We clearly map out how your business generates revenue, what your organizational structure looks like and where the added value is for a potential buyer. This is a process of building and improving in which we consult a lot with you and challenge you to think about issues you haven't thought about before. The result is a well-founded story of your company's past, present, future and potential. A professional presentation that shows what you have to offer and helps you find the right partner or buyer.
3. Marketing
We determine together to whom we will send the information memorandum. Approaching these parties is a confidential and secure process. You don't want to put yourself in the shop window too much, but too little is not good either. First, we approach the parties with an anonymous teaser to see who is interested. We apply high standards of confidentiality and also send a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) at this stage. Interested parties can sign this and are sent the information memorandum and a process letter. We outline the process approach. The parties are given the opportunity to study the information memorandum. Hogenhouck will contact them to give a voice over to the Information Memorandum and the background of the transaction and to answer questions. For parties interested in your company, we will organize a management meeting for introductions on a business and personal level. During this meeting, questions can be asked about the proposition and we will find out whether there is a match on a DNA technical and strategic level. If there is a match, we ask the party to make an offer (non-binding offer).
4. Letter of Intent
With the party that best suits your business, we will negotiate to arrive at a letter of intent (LOI). An LOI is a legal document that outlines the deal and is the basis for the final transaction document. This is where we involve a lawyer. Together we make sure that all the important facets of the deal are properly articulated in the LOI. Everything you negotiate out at this stage is a given for later. There may also be matters included in the LOI that will be looked at more closely in the accounting review.
5. Due diligence
Now comes the book examination (due diligence) in which your entire business is scrutinized on various facets. These include financial, legal, fiscal, technical and commercial aspects. At Hogenhouck, we naturally prepare this thoroughly with our client. Together we ensure that the data room is fully stocked and controlled so that the process runs smoothly. Many Q&A and expert sessions also take place during this process. Here, too, we do the preparation and guide you throughout the process. The goal is to optimize the process management and monitoring of timelines so that the DD research proceeds as quickly as possible and we constantly maintain control.
6. The final chord
At the end of the book examination, there follows the negotiation of the transaction documentation, that is, the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) and shareholders agreement (SHA). Broadly speaking, this is a purchase agreement. Included in this are certain indemnities found in the bookkeeping review and it contains warranties and indemnities. The buyer will ask you for a number of warranties until closing.
"Through the right figures, we also get the right facts to the surface."
About Hogenhouck m&a
Hogenhouck is an entrepreneurial and independent M&A firm, where clients always come first. Every entrepreneur, every business and every transaction is different; hence our credo "Business as unusual. As M&A specialists, we work on works of life built with blood, sweat and tears. Our mission is to move the people behind these achievements forward, both professionally and personally. That is what drives and inspires us. Because at the bottom line, for us, it's not just the numbers that count.
Guiding the sale of the business, the purchase of the business, and bringing in the right investor, means helping entrepreneurs take charge of their future. That's why we think it's important to know how you envision it as an entrepreneur. We want to get to know and understand you. To know where the balance lies between your business considerations and your personal interests. In the process that we enter into, we work together as a team. We complement the knowledge of entrepreneurs with our knowledge of markets, market players and an M&A track record of over 15 years. We guide entrepreneurs through the world behind the numbers they don't know, where everyone wants something from them and put them in the best possible position when buying, selling and funding.
