How to prepare a company for sale
A premium is not a reward for a good business. It rewards a good business that can prove it quickly, with numbers a buyer's team can rely on without rebuilding them. Our exit readiness program is a structured 12–36 month engagement that closes the gap between the company you run and the company a buyer will pay a premium for.
- Clean financials. Statements brought to an audit-ready standard, prepared for quality of earnings review.
- Defensible forecasts. Forecasts that are met, quarter after quarter, until they become a record.
- A diligence-ready data room. Built and maintained before a buyer asks for it.
- Closing value gaps. Revenue quality, customer concentration and contracts, addressed while there is time.
- The narrative. A story that creates competitive tension among buyers.
Know who your buyers are
Your most likely acquirer is often already in your orbit: a partner, a supplier, a customer, a competitor. We map that landscape early. You learn who would pay a premium and why, and the relationships are in place before a process begins.
Several credible buyers create competitive tension. One buyer is a negotiation you lose.
How long exit preparation takes
Eighteen months is roughly the shortest runway in which the important gaps can be closed and seasoned: about twelve months to fix, six for the fixes to produce a track record. Starting earlier is better. Exit readiness is a discipline you run while you still think you never will sell. Read The Eighteen-Month Rule.
Through to the transaction
When the process goes live, the same leadership stays at the table: banker selection and management, negotiation strategy, diligence leadership and steady counsel through signing.
Wendy led MAKE Technologies through its acquisition by Dell and executed Immersive Media's CA$100M cross-border exit to Hong Kong-listed Digital Domain Holdings. That record includes one deal over $500M and twelve between $30M and $200M.