Sell-Side Advisory
Phone: 205.949.2043
Email: ddonner@foundersib.com
Shareholders in middle-market private companies and managers in divisions of larger corporations often face the frustrating challenge of not having a clear understanding of how, when and where to realize the value they have built in their businesses. Accordingly, when they desire to sell all or part of their companies to an internal or external buyer or investor, they have difficulty making a “market” through which they can realize maximum value for what they have built.
Founders has a proven track record of maximizing value for clients in the marketplace when acting as a sell-side advisor on their behalf. Our professionals closely manage and lead each step of a sell-side process, from the creation of a transaction roadmap to the negotiation of terms through to the execution of the closing documents. In particular, three primary considerations allow us to be a well-equipped advisor to our clients:
- Underwriting: We invest substantial resources to understanding the particular nuances of each of our clients and their businesses, including identifying the company’s strengths & weaknesses, assessing the micro- and macro-economic industry trends affecting the business now and in the future, evaluating its historical and current financial performance, and projecting its future results. This rigorous work helps us best understand the company and become its well-educated advocate in the marketplace. By highlighting strengths and skillfully mitigating weaknesses, our professionals, through conversations and carefully crafted marketing materials, are best positioned to provide the desired outcome for shareholders.
- Market Making: We take a comprehensive view of the marketplace by canvassing it to find the right buyer or investor for each sell-side assignment, including fully exploring all possibilities that may be “out-of-the-box” counterparties. Our team takes absolutely nothing for granted by leveraging our relationships with a wide swath of well-qualified buyers and investors to increase the odds of an optimal outcome. Of course, and most importantly, our professionals work with our clients to understand their sensitivities to ensure information is not shared with any non-approved buyers or investors.
- Project Management: Our thorough process and project methodology ensures we create a transaction environment that is beneficial to our clients by creating competitive pressures and deal momentum. At the beginning of each transaction process, we create a detailed project roadmap that we carefully execute towards in order to achieve a successful close. This approach promotes clear communication and progress assessment with our clients, ensures the integrity of the overall project, and, perhaps most importantly, provides for the desired standards of confidentiality.
This approach enables us to streamline the transaction process, gain access to critical counterparties, understand the particular facets of each client’s business, and ultimately, maximize the value for each client’s transaction.
A sell-side transaction can take a myriad of forms, but generally involves the existing shareholders selling all or a portion of their ownership in a company to a buyer or investor. The appropriate structure for each client is dependent on their unique situation and goals, and we work with our clients early in our engagements to assess the right approach to the marketplace. Additionally, we have the flexibility in our approach to explore multiple possibilities during a transaction process, which allows shareholders and executives to determine the best alternative once they have been exposed to the full range of available options in the marketplace.
