Help! My Wife is Leaving and I Need to Sell My Business

The Situation

We received a call from a CPA whom we had worked with on a previous sale. One of his clients owned a small metal fabrication company that the owner had unsuccessfully been trying to sell on his own. The owner and his wife (in anticipation of selling the business) had built a retirement home in the south and it was to be finished with a move in date of June, 2020.

The Seller told us and his CPA that his wife and family were moving with or without him and that unless we could offer solid evidence that we could sell his company he was going to sell off the equipment, let the employees go and give the accounts to a competitor.

Our suggestion? Partner with George and Company to package the company and let us utilize our proven business sale processes a try. If we were going to be successful, we’d know in 30 days or less.

The Result

We priced the business slightly below market value factoring the desire to sell quickly and because there was a 50% revenue concentration with 1 client.  We sent out a confidential teaser to our data base of Buyers and within 2 weeks we had 3 solid offers on the business.  

Picking the right Buyer is always critical, but since we were on such a tight deadline, we suggested going with the Buyer who we felt had the emotional fortitude to buy the business versus the one with the highest offer.   This proved to for fortuitous. Three weeks after the signed LOI, the world became embroiled in a pandemic.  The Buyers banker stopped processing the loan to focus on the PPP loans, deep panic set in and everything went on lockdown.

In spite of this, the Buyer we selected never gave up.  We closed on the business in mid-June far exceeding the Seller expectations while also saving the employees jobs. 

In the end, the business sold for $1.5 million plus real estate and 15 jobs were saved.

If you're in a similar situation or are ready to sell your business, speak confidentially with one of our transition experts today.