How a Good M&A Advisor Can Add Value to Your Transaction

No large or publicly traded company would consider selling their business without representation by an M&A advisor. They understand the complexities of these deals, and often have far more experience with buying and selling businesses than smaller businesses. So if they hire M&A advisors, shouldn’t you? Absolutely. An M&A advisor lends their expertise, guiding the sale through to a lucrative closing and ensuring the transaction runs as smoothly as possible. They can stop you from making costly mistakes, and run the transaction so that you can focus your attention on the demands of running your business. Here are 19 key benefits to hiring an expert:

1. Deals come close to falling apart many times. M&A advisors bring them back from the brink.
2. Your advisor understands how to favorably present your company to different buyer profiles. They also help assess whether a buyer is a good strategic fit.
3. They can accelerate the process without compromising sale price when you need to sell immediately.
4. They can find creative ways to finance deals, since most are not 100% cash.
5. They manage the sale process, allowing you to focus on running the business.
6. They mine their personal and marketing networks to find more buyers, creating a competitive bidding process that can increase value.
7. They lend credibility to your business and to the transaction, since their involvement tells the buyer you’re serious.
8. They allow the buyer to freely express concerns without compromising the buyer-seller relationship or eliciting an emotional reaction from the seller.
9. They act as the bad guy to deliver bad news or handle challenging negotiations.
10. They’ve witnessed how certain mistakes can tank a deal. This allows you to benefit from others’ mistakes without making those mistakes yourself.
11. They implement effective processes, infrastructure, people, technology, and more that can help you market, package, and polish your company.
12. They prepare information for the sale. This includes key performance metrics to highlight success. They can also prepare marketing materials without compromising confidentiality.
13. They help you plan for and manage the costs associated with other members of your advisory team, such as your lawyer or accountant.
14. They know which advisors are the best, and can bring them in as needed to handle challenging or complex transactions.
15. They have relationships with other brokers, allowing them to learn who has clients seeking businesses similar to yours.
16. They help temper your eagerness, preventing you from revealing too much too quickly.
17. They know how to screen out shoppers and competitors who are not seriously committed to purchasing the business.
18. They act as a mentor, coach, therapist, ally, and sounding board as you deal with the stresses and challenges of selling a business. This prevents you from taking these challenges out on others—like the buyer or your employees.
19. They ensure that the deal-making process is fully aligned with your short- and long-term objectives, enabling you to get the most out of the deal.

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