Preparing a Business for Sale

You have been working hard to make your business a success, haven’t you? But what should you do to maximize its value?

In fact, selling a business requires one to comply with some basic requirements, such as:

• assembling a team of professionals;
• understanding the value of a business from the point of view of the buyer;
• being prepared for the sales process and negotiations;
• knowing what are you going to do after completing a transaction.

Putting Together a Team of Professionals

As mentioned before, successfully closing a sales deal requires putting together a team of professionals. This can be either an internal management team or external legal, corporate & tax advisors. Please, keep in mind that the team you’ve put together will play an important role in the sales process. To be able to sell a business, you need to make sure that your team members act as one whole & are able to cooperate with the relevant authorities on a number of sales-related matters.

Before making contact with potential buyers, you should consider conducting internal DD of the target business. This will include analyzing the business from the perspective of a potential buyer, identifying its strengths and weaknesses.

Those planning on buying or selling a company should keep in mind that negotiations & approval of legal documentation varies from deal to deal. However, it can be significantly accelerated by properly preparing your business for sale. When it comes to the legal documentation and process, the following elements will be key to the success or your sales deal:

• non-disclosure agreement;
• sale contract;
• disclosure process.

A critical part of the sales process is getting the buyer to sign a non-disclosure agreement. It is also common for the parties to agree on the basic aspects of the deal.

Another vital stage of the sales process is the conclusion of a sales agreement containing contractual terms,  such as the purchase price, payment process, warranties and compensations, etc.

Selling a business requires meeting a number of legal requirements, which is why the sale deal should be structured in such a way as to qualify for tax breaks.