Selling a Business

Selling a Business

Two entrepreneurs knew that they had developed a valuable technology, and had identified an interested buyer. But when a well-known software company made them a seven-figure offer, the partners felt that it undervalued their business by as much as several hundred thousand dollars. They tried to negotiate with no success – the software company felt that they had the upper hand, and was unwilling to increase their offer. In fact, the software company’s leadership was pressing the entrepreneurs to make a decision – take the offer, or walk away. On the brink of conceding in order to protect their seven-figure payday, the entrepreneurs decided to contact Consensus in a last ditch effort before giving up and accepting the offer.

As independent third-parties, we adopted an objective point of view without any emotional involvement. Using this to our advantage, we developed a plan for shifting leverage to our clients. We also developed a strategy for communicating this shift to the buyer – the message had to be conveyed delicately in order to avoid alienating the buyer or jeopardizing the deal. With the strategies in place, we focused on preparing our clients for their conversations with the buyer.

A series of conversations ensued. We coached our client from behind the scenes, meeting with them in between their talks with the buyer. A deal was made two weeks later. And, our clients walked away with almost $500,000 more than what they had been willing to accept before meeting with us.

Other examples of what we can negotiate for you include:

Executive Compensation
Buying Out a Partner