I am thinking about selling my business in the next couple of years – is there anything I should be doing now?
It is never too early to prepare your business for sale as buyers will be more inclined to purchase well organised and managed business.
A Purchaser looking to buy a business will want to see that the business is organised and well run. After agreeing in principle to purchase the business the Purchaser will instruct his accountants and solicitors to carry out detailed due diligence on the business to ensure that the business doe not have any unwelcome liabilities. The Purchaser’s solicitor will produce a Due Diligence Questionnaire that will have a long list of requests for information. For example they will:-
- Want to receive copies of all contracts to which the business is a party;
- need to know certain information on the Business’ employees;
- need to know details of major customers and suppliers;
- require to see a complete insurance history for the business;
- want details of all assets and intellectual property of the business.
The list above is far from comprehensive and the extent of information required will be determined by the size and nature of the business. Advance preparation in the sale process will make the procedure more streamlined and will give the Purchaser confidence that the business is operated in an efficient manner.
