Exit Planning Enhances Full Sale Outcome

 

The Challenge

Corporate Translations, Inc. is a Connecticut-based middle-market company that is a leading global provider of translation services to the life science industry. The owners contacted Bill Quish in 2011 to help them crystalize their personal and business goals as related to an eventual exit from the business and to understand:

  • What their company was worth
  • The various exit options available for them to monetize the wealth they had built in their company
  • How a buyer would view the company’s strengths & weaknesses
  • What changes they could make to the business to increase valuation and the likelihood of a smooth exit at an appropriate time
  • The likelihood of finding buyers in a highly-fragmented industry that had less than a few dozen buyers of a qualified size
  • Their likely post-sale transition work obligation to the buyer


The Solution

The owners hired Bill to develop a comprehensive Exit Plan that would provide answers to the above and prepare them for an eventual exit on terms that met their objectives. The Exit Plan recommended among other things, that the owners, work with a young management team to improve their management skills, have key managers take-on more of the day-to-day operational decisions, begin the process of transferring key client relationships to other employees, and further diversify their client base.


The Result

The Exit Planning process identified that the owners wanted to sell the company by the time they had achieved a certain age and wanted to maximize valuation to fund post-sale initiatives. The target exit date was approximately 3 years from the start of the Exit Planning process.  During that time, Bill stayed in touch with the owners and was provided updates on how the company was performing. The owners implemented most of the recommendations presented in the Exit Planning Report. Armed with a strong understanding of the company and industry in large part due to the comprehensive Exit Planning work performed, Bill was retained to represent the Company in its sale. After receiving approximately ten offers from buyers around the world, the owner consummated a transaction with a United Kingdom publicly-listed company that wanted to significantly expand its presence in the Life Science translation industry.  Our client received a significantly higher valuation than expected and an all cash deal. This transaction was completed within five months of the buyer being identified.

Letter of Recommendation

Dear Bill,

Ted and I would like to thank you for the exceptional job you did handling the sale of Corporate Translations earlier this year. We were greatly impressed by your professionalism and business savvy throughout the four-year process.

When you first contacted us about a potential sale of the business we were not ready to make the leap. You suggested that we begin the exit planning process at this point. We found the process useful and though it did not lead us to act for three more years, it did get us thinking about doing some serious planning for our retirement.

For the next three years, you quietly kept in touch with us. When we finally were ready to begin the selling process this year, you approached the task with skill. As a result, you were able to bring many potential buyers to the table who were interested in the niche business we had built.

While many M&A specialists may be able to find buyers, you were also able to do two other things that were essential to us. First, you understood what types of buyers we would and wouldn’t be willing to sell to and did not push us to make a move that we would not be happy with later. Second, you worked effectively with our attorney to build a strong, cohesive team. Both of these factors made completion of the deal much less stressful and ultimately more successful for all of us.

Any owner of a mid-size business would be happy to have you leading the sale of their business. Please do not hesitate to let me know if I can provide a recommendation for you in the future.

Best regards, 
Mary Gawlicki, President
Corporate Translations, Inc.

 

Saybrook Capital Advisors, LLC

5 Overlook Drive
Old Saybrook, CT 06475
860-391-8672