Planning for the partial or complete transfer of ownership of a business?

PMAC 2013 Annual Conference & AGM

Session V, Panel I - “Business Succession: The Preparation & Process to Sell Part or All of your Firm Internally or Externally”

Moderator:
Paul Harris, Director, PMAC and Partner, Avenue Investment Management

Panelists:
Allen Church, Partner, Specialty Tax, MNP LLP
Arthur Heinmaa, CEO, Toron AMI International Asset Management
Michael Mezei, Director, PMAC and President, Mawer Investment Management
Arlene D. O'Neill, Partner, Gardiner Roberts LLP
Maj-Lis Vettoretti, Managing Partner, Shimmerman Penn LLP
Colin W. Walker, Managing Director, Crosbie & Company Inc.

Planning for the partial or complete transfer of ownership of a business is a reality many firms will be facing over the next 5 to 10 years. Whether you are bringing in an outsider to transfer partial ownership or planning for the complete sale of your business, having the right plan and resources to assist with the transition are key. This session will provide some building blocks for successfully managing ownership change and aligning interests, including the following:

·         Building a successful internal management succession plan

·         Purchase and sale transactions valuation & negotiation - pitfalls/traps

·         Legal considerations

·         The process: making the deal successful

·         Integration

·         Recent valuation experiences

Date: Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Time: 8:00 am-4:30 pm EST; Networking Reception to Follow
Location: Hilton Toronto – 145 Richmond Street West
Cost: Members $390 + HST | Non-Members $540 + HST
Contact Eleanor Bushell at ebushell@portfoliomanagement.org

Contact Jacoline Loewen, 416 362 1709

Entrepreneurs who obtain angel investing are more likely to survive

Harvard Business Review did a great story on the value of early stage investors. They do make entrepreneurs get professional very fast. The owner of the business finds out that they are not the only person in the room who knows what they are doing - there are some financial activities that add a significant boost to revenues. Problem that I see, owners resist getting in Angels or VCs because they think it will take away their profits. Here is a quick excerpt from HBR:

A 2010 New York Times story on lean start-ups cites experts who see a “shrinking role for venture capitalists in seeking and backing promising young entrepreneurs,” as alternatives including angel investors gain favor. Fresh research by Josh Lerner and William Kerr of Harvard Business School bolsters this argument with evidence that entrepreneurs who obtain angel investing are more likely to survive at least four years and show improved performance.

Another reason VC’s star is on the wane: Research by University of Chicago economist John H. Cochrane shows that investments in VC portfolio firms did not outperform investments in other NASDAQ stocks during the boom period of the 1990s.

In short, the VC business is bad,

15th Annual Canadian Private Equity Summit - InSight conferences

InSight Conferences presents the Private Equity Conference 2013

15th Annual Canadian Private Equity Summit
The Ongoing Evolution of Private Equity

November 13, 2013
Westin Harbour Castle | Toronto
Gala Dinner Fireside Chat Featuring:

• Hamilton E. James, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Blackstone Group LP
• Jane Rowe, Senior Vice-President, Teachers’ Private Capital and Infrastructure, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan 

4:30 | Getting the Deal Done
Moderator: Mark Borkowski, President, Mercantile Mergers & Acquisitions Corporation
Lorne Jacobson, Senior Managing Director and Co-Founder, TriWest Capital Partners
Ian Macdonell, Managing Director, Crosbie & Company Inc.
• Sourcing and finalizing the deal in a competitive market
• What business owners and shareholders seek in a PE partner
• Sectors that are hot
• Working on cross-border deals
• Effective use of placement agencies

Please contact John He at 416.642.6133 or jhe@alm.com to book your table now!
To register online visit www.canadianpesummit.com

Build a more diverse client list, add value to your company's sale price

A business owner’s greatest worry when trying to sell the company is the prospect of receiving an inadequate price by the acquirer or being undervalued.

One of the drags on the value of a business is customer concentration. For owners planning to sell in the next five to 10 years, exporting is one way to diversify a customer base. “It’s too risky to export,” entrepreneurs often say when they’re asked about taking their brands beyond the Canadian market. “It would be a financial drain and a time suck.”

Read more at the Globe and Mail, Small Business.

How exporting can boost the value of your business

By building a more diverse client list you can eliminate the drag that is customer concentration

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Anyone want to buy a business?

The Globe and Mail, WALLACE IMMEN, had a good article on Succession:

Marketability is a particular issue for companies with enterprise values below $30-million, according to business broker Mike Haines, managing partner of M & A Network in Oakville, Ont.. “Retail is the most hard hit and hardest to sell, along with restaurants. No one really wants to get into labour intensive properties that have minimal returns and face risks due to rising transportation costs.”

You have to reconfigure the business so it runs smoothly without you, he advised. “One of the best measures of a good business is if the owner can go away for three months and the business can still continue to operate smoothly and the customers don’t miss the owner. That’s what a buyer wants to see.”

A strategy that can pay significant dividends is to bring in an investor to give the business a boost, suggested Jacoline Loewen, director of Crosbie., in Toronto. “The advice we give is five to 10 years before you want to sell, bring in strategic investors or private equity, that will buy a portion of the business,” typically about 30 per cent, she said.

“It’s a really good discipline for owners, because many entrepreneurs are used to having everyone agreeing with them because they have all the power. Sole owners also find it hard to believe that someone else would take the business and grow it far beyond what they’re doing currently. An equity owner will ask questions and look for efficiencies and ways to grow the business, Ms. Loewen explained.

“It may be the first time an owner is challenged to quantify their success and go through a comprehensive strategy process, she said. You’d be amazed how few small-business owners have figured out their key performance indicators and what drives the success of the business.”

Jacoline Loewen, 416 362 1709