Shaping your company for sale Although you want to show the best possible trading results prior to sale, these are matters of fine-tuning. The actual shaping of your company and the real planning to get the best sale price for your business needs to start several years earlier. Plan well ahead In the world…
Dreaming of the Good Life With relief, you leave the rat race of commuting to London behind. Yes, you had a good job, a decent and guaranteed salary, but it was a better work-life balance that lured you back to the Home Counties to gain control of your business destiny. Now that you are ‘your…
Your company shares might be worth less than you thought You could be in for a nasty shock when you come to sell your shares if you have a minority shareholding in your business. This is because it’s not uncommon for a discount to be applied to the valuation of a minority shareholding in…
When breaking up is hard to do – Part 2 Company valuation as part of a divorce settlement The Court has two essential tasks when determining any financial remedy application where either or both parties of a divorcing couple have an interest in a company, namely: 1. Computation of the amount and 2. Method of…
When breaking up is hard to do – Part 1 When shareholders wish to part company No, I am not a divorce lawyer, but I do become involved in valuing companies whose shareholders wish to ‘part company’. As in divorce, the company separation may be civilised or acrimonious. If the shareholders/directors are still communicating with…
You’ve finally agreed on the deal to sell your company, but how do you preserve your tax status on retirement? Blood, sweat and tears have gone into growing your company and more recently structuring it in preparation to reap the rewards of your hard work. Even if part of the deal is that you remain…
You can still have a business to sell even if YOU are the business It is a misconception that just because YOU are the business, you won’t be able to sell it. Differentiating between the value to the company of the owner’s skills from the return that an owner receives from his or her company…
The ratio you need to know when selling your business If you are an owner of a small business and growing it with the intention to sell, there’s a ratio that you should be aware of. Particularly in the SME market, share transfers usually comprise a takeover or the purchase of the whole of the…
David Cane values private companies. His aim is to bridge the aspirations of the “seller” with the expectations of the “buyer”. The focus is the same whether dealing with a trade sale or purchase, a shareholder dispute, a divorce settlement, or our friends at HMRC on a tax valuation. Warren Buffet said, “Price is what…
Minority interest. What is it? A minority shareholding is no more than 49% (ignoring fractions of a shareholding). Think of a it as trading shares on the stock exchange where valuing each shareholding is a minority interest, unless an offer is made in the form of a takeover. Either way the shares are priced at…