The key to selling an unquoted business is knowing who to speak to, however, it can also be knowing who not to speak to. At PCF the first stage of any disposal project is to carry out an extensive 6 week research exercise to identify, analyse and categorise potential purchasers. This will involve an analyst working full time on the project and thinking “outside the box” to identify all of the businesses and individuals that may be interested in purchasing the business. Once all the potential purchasers have been identified the analyst then reverses gear and starts eliminating the potential purchasers that appear interesting but in fact are not relevant for whatever reason. This is done through both desktop research and talking directly to the decision maker in the business about what he or she is interested in (NB these are always anonymous calls). The result is an extensive report stating companies we recommend that our client speaks to, companies we would hold in reserve and companies that we reject. The report will give full reasons for the decisions and will be discussed with the client prior to agreeing the final list to approach. In this way as little as 5-6 companies can be approached with the name of your business therefore minimising the possibility of a breach in confidentiality.

Once the approaches have been made our deal leading team will manage the entire process, including meeting the potential purchaser, assisting in the provision of further information, negotiations and transaction management all the way through to legal completion. At PCF we believe that selling a business requires a great deal of thoroughness and preparation. We also believe that the research done in the preparatory stage is essential to the marketing stage. To this end we constantly liaise within the team to ensure that any document released to potential purchasers are relevant and tailored to the specific requirements of the potential purchasers. It is essential to make a business as attractive as possible at every stage to ensure the highest price for our clients. THIS IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY AND PROMISE. All stages are led by one of our Directors personally and the Director is available to the client at any stage to update them on the progress of the deal.

We also offer a “penalty box” service if you have received an approach and wish to sell your business to that company without a full marketing exercise.

If you would like to understand more about our Disposal service please contact Mark Hardwicke on 07738 218 219 or e-mail at mark.hardwicke@precision-corpfin.com for a discussion in the strictest confidence and at no cost or obligation.