You have decided that PE is the right route to take for your company. You are about to ‘sell’ your business or at least a part of it to an investor who will become your key stakeholder, be represented on your board and, sometimes, on your management team. The challenge is to find the right investor. You should be looking for an investor who shares your vision for the business as well as an individual that you can work with as your key business partner.

Find out how to make a success of your PE relationship
 

Get the guide

Our advice is always to start by defining what success means for you and your business. What are you trying to achieve? Are you looking for a monetary value? Are you concerned about your legacy? Do you have a vision for your business? How does the PE investment help you achieve that? How much investment do you need to achieve success?

 

How we can help you get the right Private Equity deal

From helping you to define what you are trying to achieve all the way through to completing a deal and beyond, we will guide you so you avoid pitfalls and common mistakes, mistakes that you need not make. We have an extensive network of relationships with PE Houses and an understanding of their individual strengths and specialisms that comes from having completed hundreds of deals and worked with hundreds of PE backed companies. There is simply no substitute for that kind of experience.

BDO works predominantly with ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited businesses. We understand how to help them achieve their goals. In the process of completing a PE deal, we will take the time to understand you, your ambitions and your business. It is that understanding of what makes you tick that will enable us to effectively act as your champion through the complex and time intensive process of completing a deal. We want you to have the confidence to rigorously vet investors to make sure you find the right person to work with for the next three to five years.

There are three main areas where we will provide you with advice and support; readiness and preparation, marketing and deal completion.

Readiness and preparation

It is at this stage that you will begin to establish the fundamentals of your PE deal. You will need to agree a timetable and approach with stakeholders. Are you considering a dual-track approach to finding investment, looking at a trade deal as well as PE investment? Your business plan and marketing information must tell your “equity story”, set out and provide concrete factual evidence for the investment hypothesis that you will take to investors.

You will also need to recognise, anticipate and provide plans to mitigate areas of potential risk and challenge. You must start to prepare the information that will support a deal, remembering that you will be in partnership with your private equity backer typically for three to five years.

How we can help

We can provide advice on any and all areas of your business in order to prepare for a PE dal. This goes from helping you formulate an “equity story” to planning resources and project management for completing the deal. Working with your senior team, we can help identify and seize opportunities to improve business performance, manage risks and ensure the business is ready.

The services we can provide include;

• Help you define what success means to you, your team and your business
• Building a robust business plan and underlying financial model with a returns analysis
• Decide on your deal strategy to match your goals by looking at price, types of potential investors and timing
• Fix, or create plans to overcome, operational issues
• Help build a secure and comprehensive online ‘data room’ with information and content for investors.
• Prepare the Information Memorandum and other accompanying selling materials
• Prepare Vendor Due Diligence including for tax and financial information
• Take initial sounding of the PE market and track market activity to determine optimal launch point

Marketing

With stakeholders aligned around a clear definition of success and a business that is geared for sale, you are ready to take your investment hypothesis to investor and generate interest and competitive tension.

How we can help

The services we can provide include;

• Build and rehearse a credible management presentation
• Lead buyer interactions
• Manage investor enquiries and multiple advisors
• Identify and deal with difficult issues and questions
• Understand and guide valuations to drive meaningful offers

Deal completion

Deal completion is about moving from a shortlist of potential investors to securing a deal with a single investor. You will move from informal conversations and non-binding offers to a final Sale and Purchase Agreement , a ‘management deal’. This will involve legal, tax and financial advisors on both sides and great deal of high pressure negotiation.

How we can help

The services we can provide include;

• Manage interactions with all legal, tax and financial advisors
• Negotiate final offer to completion
• Negotiate an and incentivising management deal that aligns interests
• Ensure that risk and reward are balanced
• Deliver an optimal tax structure

The final way we can help you is to begin preparing the management team for the next stage of the PE process; the challenge of delivering on the equity story and driving the growth in value that investors expect.
 

Speak to our Private Equity team