Trade between the UK and EU countries has fallen significantly after Brexit. According to figures released by the UK statistics agency ONS on Tuesday, trade volumes in the first quarter of this year were almost a quarter (23.1 per cent) lower than in the same period of 2018, which is considered the last stable trading period.
Source: Manager Magazin
A knowledgeable and experienced M&A deal team can help facilitate and streamline the business sale process-from due diligence to negotiations to the execution of agreements and other post deal transactions. Whether you're buying or selling a company, consider the following to help ensure your team will be a winning one.
Choose members wisely
Some of the most important decisions you'll make in the process concern selecting professionals to help with your M&A. A deal team may consist of financial and legal experts or you may need to expand the team to include - depending on the size and scope of the deal and your industry-specialists from fields such as government and environmental regulation, human resources, risk management, information technology, and operations. Often, a business broker or intermediary will lead the team, helping to organize and package information from all certifiable sources and further negotiate the deal.
Your current legal and accounting advisors may be able to serve on your deal team and recommend M&A experts to work with you. When evaluating potential advisors, consider such factors as their:
• Experience with transactions similar to yours in terms of size and industry,
• Success rate with previous clients,
• Number of engagements handled per year, and
• Professional affiliations.
Also investigate potential complaints of inappropriate or unprofessional behavior, which can be ascertained by contacting relevant regulatory agencies. And be sure these are individuals you can talk with honestly and who, in turn, take your concerns seriously. Once you've assembled your team, open communication and efficient information sharing will be essential to its success.
Guide your team
Because of increased concerns about fraud, financial misrepresentations and the profitability of consolidation, many buyers have intensified their due diligence and are demanding a more qualitative analysis of an acquisition target. They should be ready to devote time to the information-gathering and negotiation process.
As sellers come under intense scrutiny, they should put a deal team in place as early in the process as possible to enhance the value of their assets and prepare to prove their credibility. Any significant surprises uncovered by a buyer during the due diligence phase will almost certainly lead to a reduced offer.
Ensuring that team members understand the goals of a deal is critical. Buyers need to articulate their consolidation objectives-for example, whether theirs is a financial or strategic acquisition-and which of the target's assets are of greatest interest. Sellers need to communicate their selling price goals and unique value drivers and outline other issues, such as the protection of intellectual property and financial information.
Without clear guidance, conflicting views and opinions among the deal team could hamper its productivity and efficiency. You can avoid this by assigning tasks to specific individuals, based on their areas of expertise. And both sellers and buyers should consider forming due diligence committees. Comprising company executives and select deal team advisors, the committee should meet regularly to review the status and progress of the due diligence process.
Know your purchase agreement
Buyer and seller deal teams also will be instrumental during the negotiation process. The teams can help outline the structure of the deal, purchase price, financial terms, integration and any potential "deal killers."
Once the parties have come to an agreement, the deal team will prepare and review the purchase agreement's terms and conditions. For example, the team may work through actual conditions that may arise and run model purchase price adjustments using anticipated inputs, such as how current assets and current liabilities are defined.
The deal team must be prepared to include additional stipulations into the purchase agreement to solve issues that will affect the final purchase price, such as a valuation of a piece of intellectual property. Once the purchase agreement is signed, the team will continue to work together through any regulatory consent processes and assist, as necessary, with the process of merging finances, operations and other systems. The deal team also can help ensure that the terms of the transaction are carried out.
Start building yours
The process of buying or selling a business can easily distract owners and executives from important day-to-day operations. An efficient deal team can help by focusing your transaction goals at every phase-from pre-negotiation to integration.
By Omar Garcia
Managing Partner, VR Mergers & Acquisitions in San Antonio, TX. U.S.A.
Dr. José Gonzaga Rosa is an Economist and Capital Markets Practitioner. We take this opportunity for a brief snapshot of the portfolio of the CBA Associate that joined our Global Alliance in November 2021, located in Lisbon, Portugal.
In M&A, José Gonzaga Rosa currently has sale mandates in the packaging and moulding industry, aluminium solutions for construction and industrial applications, marble exploration and product development, to name a few.
In private debt, José is seeking senior loans for a global leader in paper towels.
In real estate, he has an experienced real estate broker on his team who frequently comes across opportunities in distressed areas, usually triggered by non-performing loans.
In the capital markets, he is responsible for originating deals in bonds and commercial paper and has discussions with asset managers (insurance companies, pension funds, discretionary asset managers) on the distribution of commercial paper and fixed income securities, both rated and unrated (80% Spanish issuers).
All in all, José is looking forward to triggering business opportunities in M&A debt, both with private equity/asset managers and industrial companies.
Here is the business profile of Dr. José Gonzaga Rosa for easy reference https://cba.associates/associate/dr-jose-gonzaga-rosa-mergers-and-acquisitions-adviser/
A 55-year-old fully licensed bank is for sale in Cyprus. See more here: https://cba.associates/mandate/eu-bank-for-sale-in-cyprus/
An international finance executive with a background in major international banks, factoring and trade finance, financial markets, financial start-ups, international relationships, investment funds and other financial service and private equity providers resulting in a very broad cross section of experience in the financial area.
Education in Banking and International Finance at Melbourne University, Queensland University of Technology, Australian Securities Institute. 20 years of experience in executive management, business development, financial risk management and advisory; dealing room and financial risk trading, sales and structuring experience; Providing executive-level support for fund raising, strategic partnerships, Go-to-Market strategy, global and local market expansion strategy, corporate finance, M&A and investment strategy.
- Experienced in the Russian market, advising international investors into Russia and helping Russian businesses raise capital internationally.
- Experienced in developing and providing investment and funding solutions for start-ups and high growth businesses from Venture Capital and Private Equity investors to Sovereign Wealth funds.
Transformed a business idea from a Russian entrepreneur and made it into an internationally investable successful fintech, creating structures, policies and procedures as CEO of the start-up, then attracting, negotiating and delivering half a billion dollars in investment and senior finance to the business from global investors at a trade finance fintech start-up.
Created, built and led the London and North American team for FX risk management for a large international bank, working as an outsourced risk advisory, structuring and solutions group for FTSE 250 companies and major hedge funds and investment funds.
Worked in Russia, UK, Australia, Netherlands, USA.
Worked with Virgin Group, Lone Star Funds, Citadel, PIMCO, KKR, Carlyle Group, BlackRock, MBK
Walter Colebatch joined CBA as M&A Advisor in Russia in September 2021.
Pablo A. Jarabo was educated as industrial Engineer at ICAI (Madrid-Spain) and achieved an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa (Madrid-Spain). He is member of the Industrial Engineers Association of Spain and has working experience in Spain Portugal and Latin America.
Expert in senior management, with more than 30 years of experience in international companies in industrial and consulting sectors, the last 20 years having held positions of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. High skills in restructuring and M&A situations, with the design and implementation of strategic, viability and business plans. Focused on results and with a strong business component, he has extensive experience in entrepreneurship and advice to SMEs in the start of their business, M&A and turn-around.
Pablo joined CBA Cross Border Associates as Consulting Professional in September 2021.
Dr. Marco Lischetti – Educated at L.Bocconi University with final degree in Corporate Finance.
Marco worked for 30 years in large corporates where he built up a strong finance and management background now applied to his own Advisory Business.
He joined CBA as M&A and Corporate Finance Advisor in October 2021
This impressive XVII Century Mansion is situated in a unique and privileged area in the hills of the Tramuntana range, only a few kilometres from Palma de Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain. The plot covers an area of 300 hectares, of which 3.600m² are delightful and well-maintained gardens. A complete restoration of the property was completed in 2006, providing top technology together with the highest quality of fixtures and fittings. The property has a total constructed area of over 5.600m² and offers 80 bedrooms, including 10 suites all with shower bathrooms and jacuzzi. The other 70 bedrooms have bathrooms en suite.
The Manor House has several lounges and dining areas, a professional industrial kitchen and a superb outside/ summer kitchen enabling maximum enjoyment of the beautiful summer weather.
There are various guest houses with five bedrooms en suite, living room and kitchen, swimming pool, separate personal accommodation, games house, security accommodation, plus covered parking area for 17 vehicles.
One of the last unique properties on the island of Majorca, in an impeccable condition, which can be converted to a 5-star luxury boutique hotel for very special guests, that can also enjoy the nearby golf course. Most of hotel requirements already available and in place.
At the latest through the revelations of the US whistle blower Edward Snowden, a widespread narrative established itself: at American internet companies, private data would be monitored, analysed, and stored - and finally forwarded to one of the US intelligences services.
This reservation has now been reinforced: according to a report by the non-profit organisation ProPublica, the messenger service WhatsApp is said to employ more than 1,000 temporary workers to sift through and evaluate messages on a daily basis.
This is despite the fact that the service advertises that the messages are encrypted and thus not visible to anyone. Not even for the parent company Facebook. So they say.
In response to the revelation, Facebook has now admitted that the content of users is indeed processed for identification purposes. It was only content that had previously been identified by an algorithm or by users as child pornography, spam or fraud. Shamed be who thinks evil of it. Source: Morning Briefing G. Steingart, Belin 11.9.2021
