This week I’m joined by Steve Bernet, a CFO and finance leader, to talk about navigating an investment banking sales process for selling a professional services business. Listen to our full conversation for all the details. Also, consider subscribing to get future posts and podcasts in your email…
Show Notes
0:59 - Steve’s introduction & bio
2:24 - High level overview of the stages of the sales process
4:16 - Getting ready for the process, working with advisors and crafting the narrative
7:02 - Preparing to be “in market” and getting ready to meet with prospective buyers
8:40 - The importance of running the business well while you’re in market
10:56 - Producing data to support the sales process and some common challenges
12:51 - Meeting with prospective buyers for the first time and doing management meetings
19:17 - The similarities and differences between strategic buyers and private equity / financial sponsors
25:14 - Getting to a “letter of intent” and some common challenges during due diligence
30:31 - What happens after the closing
34:07 - Keys to a successful sales transaction
36:58 - Some common problems that cause sales processes to go poorly
41:09 - What to do if a sales process fails
✌🏼 That’s it for today. Stay tuned as I’ll be following up on the process of sales processes with some key takeaways. Let me know what questions you have or additional topics you’d like to hear about!
Navigating an investment banking sales process