7 Essentials to Sell Your Company at a Premium
Robert Sher , Contributor I write about how CEOs lead mid-market businesses. All too many mid-market CEOs sell their companies for far less than what they’d hoped for because they hadn’t prepared for the “exit day.” In my research and experience, I’ve found seven strategies to be essential for executives who some day want to cash in on all the hard work and risks they took. The story of one such firm, which was launched in the early 1980s and became an industry leader, demonstrates the hazards of being unprepared for the exit day. In 2007, the company scorned a buyout offer in 2007 that was four times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The offer was full value—about what their investment bankers had expected, and was the norm at that time for companies of that size and performance. Holding out for more, the owners were forced to sell the business in distress in 2011 for just enough cash to pay off the bank and the remainder in seller-financed debt, which is...