MaximForte
Exit Planning
You worked hard and sacrificed a lot to build your business. Now let our exit planning experts help you achieve a well-deserved exit. MaximForte specializes in exit planning for SMB and lower mid-market businesses. We have advised 30+ business owners over the last 7 years to realize $650m in value. We provide a comprehensive strategy covering:
-
Position for performance: Identify the most attractive growth opportunities, put the company on a path to achieve them, build a robust marketing strategy and get runs on the board to show the opportunity is real.
-
Craft the equity story: Set the market and competitive context, draw clear links between the work done against the value creation plan and the results of the past few years, and show proof that the next wave of growth is real.
-
Optimize the approach: Whether it's an IPO, SPAC, strategic merger, sale to new owners, or a management-led leveraged buyout, we'll help you assess the trends, timing, and market conditions most relevant to an exit.
-
Pre-qualify buyers and customize the sale: Develop the competitive and financial analysis required in a prospectus for a public or private listing, and identify potential acquirers, anticipate their needs, and determine how best to address them.
-
Private Wealth Advisory: We work with best-in-class private wealth advisors who understand the unique wealth planning challenges faced by business owners to provide tax minimization strategies and cash flow strategies pre and post liquidity event.
Mergers & Acquisitions
It's the details that matter when it comes to selling a business. We focus on the research upfront, taking you through a systematic process that sets you up for success. Our unique 'Exit Readiness Audit' lets you look at your business through the eyes of a buyer, clearly distinguishing opportunities to maximise value before sale. Each step in our process is designed to give you an edge and ensure there are no nasty surprises when you go to market.
Business Valuation Appraisal
The best way to assess your business for sale is to look at it through the eyes of a buyer. Our team has years of experience in valuing and selling businesses. We combine this with our proprietary tools to benchmark your business and determine your business valuation. Straight out of the gate, you'll know how attractive your business is to the market and what you can do to maximize value.
Data Room
This is more than just collating all the relevant business and financial documentation required for the sale. This is actually an 'internal due diligence' where we document the process. You'll go to market confident and prepared with no 'hidden surprises' to derail the sale. This will give you the best edge and will set you apart in the market.
Buyers Research
By gaining an in-depth understanding of your business in steps 1 and 2, we can start to build Buyer Profiles. As part of our research we will look at everything from competitors to industry verticals to ensure we find the strategic buyers that will give your business the highest valuation but will also honor your legacy.
Marketing Strategy
The intelligence that we have gathered will now inform a marketing strategy designed to find you ideal buyers. We create a detailed Information Memorandum to help us explain your business to qualified buyers, and then devise a unique marketing campaign to maximise your exposure. We also take you to our extensive private network and database of buyers, including a broad range of individuals and family offices.
Buyer Screening
The biggest concern most business owners have is that the market will find out they are selling, or that the wrong people will get access to their confidential information. That’s why it is so important to screen buyers appropriately. Most business brokers will send out your information to anyone who enquires, or plaster it all over their platform. We take buyers through a strict process to ensure that only genuine and qualified buyers move through to the next stage.
Offers & Negotiations
Most people think that a negotiation is won or lost in the final stage. We believe that a negotiation is won in the research phase. It’s about understanding the priorities for our clients, and the buyers, so we can work towards a true win/win situation. We take away the smoke and mirrors, and work transparently to drive the best outcomes, and avoid unnecessary conflict.
Due Diligence
Due diligence should be a simple process whereby the buyer confirms the information supplied to them. But too often, it unearths a range of problems that can either impact the valuation of the business, or cause the entire business sale to collapse. We do the work upfront, and undertake an internal due diligence process so we can map out any potential issues well before we start this process with the buyer. This ensures the process runs smoother, with a higher level of success.
Sale & Settlement
We are on the home run but there is still an agreement to be drawn up, conditions to be negotiated, and settlement to be confirmed. Constant revisions to the contract are not only frustrating for everyone, but can be very costly with legal fees. We work with your solicitor to make sure that this part of the process runs efficiently, and if you don’t have a solicitor that is familiar with business sales, then we can introduce you to one that has the experience and skills to get the best outcome for you.
Princeton Executive Center
4301 Rt 1 Suite 220, Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852
(201) 241-4826
Securities are offered through Finalis Securities LLC Member FINRA / SIPC . MaximForte LLC is not a registered broker-dealer, and Finalis Securities LLC and MaximForte LLC are separate, unaffiliated entities. Finalis Privacy Policy | FINRA BrokerCheck | Finalis Business Continuity Plan. www.maximforte.com is a website operated by MaximForte LLC, a privately held Delaware registered limited liability company providing investment banking services.