With the sale to an experienced investor, the succession of the company could be secured - while retaining the jobs and the highly specialized know-how at the site. 

The situation: in a market-leading but small family business with about 20 employees in its niche, no next generation can take over - with the retirement of the founder, a new entrepreneurial leadership is sought, given the owners' willingness to sell. The existing customer base is loyal, but the breadth of potential customers has not yet been exhausted; new markets can be opened up with new marketing. 

The process: Two AAA-Advisors got involved in this task, with the goal to define a solution within 6-9 months and if necessary to initiate a sale, to accompany it and if necessary to hand it over to a new owner after a fair valuation.

The chain of process steps was comprehensive: assessment of the current situation and evaluation of the company financially and technologically, guidance for the owner family up to the decision for a sale, guidance through the sales process with identification of interested parties, preparation of teasers and exposés, short-listing from more than 40 prospective buyers to the presumably "best" five possible buyers, preparation of the "war room", scheduling and execution of the due diligence processes with the interested parties, finally support of the exclusive negotiations up to the conclusion and handover of the company. Of course, during the course of the project, the necessary focus of the management had to be ensured from time to time with the committed leadership of the parties involved (owners, management, staff) "with a steady but clear hand" while the day-to-day business continued.  

Conclusion: the project timeframe (late summer 2021 to spring 2022) was met. The sale was completed to the satisfaction of all parties involved - with the usual conditions. The jobs could be secured - for the previous owners in the rural area a quite essential design. And the know-how of the functionaries could be secured by integration into the new management. With the experience and industrial networking of the new owner, nothing stands in the way of expansion into new markets.

What is the conclusion of the seller, which experiences did he have with AAA Advisors?

To three questions to him here his spontaneous statements in the videos (sorry, in German only):

1. why did the entrepreneur decide to call in advisors?

2. what is the most important experience the entrepreneur has had with the consulting process?

3. what is the conclusion? What is the assessment of the work of AAA Advisors?

Are you in a similar situation with your company? Feel free to contact us - you can find a AAA Advisor with the right profile here!