has now happened is that you are creating a joint future together. 6. Appreciate their connection to their staff and customers - They need to know their staff will be taken care of. These people have stood by them and they literally stand on their shoulders. Sometimes it is appreciation, sometimes it is guilt (as they have become wealthy and others have not) but generally discussing your excitement for having this kind of people on your team and what you can do for them will be viewed very positively. However, avoid being baited into any conversation about getting rid of anyone, this can often be a trap. You can just say… it is not your policy to get rid of anyone, good people are hard to find, etc. 7. Be confident but vague about valuation - Despite the above points, money does matter and they will want to know they are not wasting their time. If you waffle on this point they may think you are not serious. However, any attempt to discuss commercial terms in detail usually ends up acrimonious and is the number one reason for people falling out. Most Buyers and Sellers don't understand all the in/outs of deal structure, valuation, risk, etc and end up in a muddle focusing on the wrong points. Our advice is never to discuss commercial terms in specifics with a Buyer, let your M&A Advisor do that as they will have a process and can fulfil the role of an intermediary. However, what you can say is … . that you understand that valuations are typically a function of EBITDA and a multiple and that you are fully committed to a transaction based on what is fair in both of these respects. However, both of these need help from specialists to work out exactly what they should be. Further, that you have an M&A Advisor and specialist M&A accountants that will help both parties work out what ‘fair’ looks like.
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