By Unknown

Copyright thestar

Regardless of the reason for selling your business, you want to derive maximum value from the sale. Working with an advisor will best prepare you to meet your goals in a transaction, according to Ronen Kroparo, director of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) in the Baker Tilly Toronto office. “I think entrepreneurs underestimate how much work, not to mention the emotional stress, that goes into the process of selling their business. They assume that most of the work is done once they find a buyer or receive a verbal or written offer,” he said.

The sale of a business involves numerous steps such as performing pre-go-to-market due diligence, preparing marketing materials, and presenting well-organized and accurate financial information, not to mention finding the right buyer who can actually close a deal. “The key to a successful sale lies in thoughtful and detailed preparation to position your company and business in the best possible light and uncover and address any potential issues ahead of formal due diligence, and this is where working with a firm like Baker Tilly adds tremendous value,” said Kroparo.

Helping clients achieve full value and best terms

Kroparo’s M&A team focusses exclusively on clients in the mid-market M&A space. “Because we work on transactions like this day in and day out, we understand real world valuation metrics, and whether the client is getting market terms and conditions in an offer and right through to the formal purchase and sale agreements,” he said.

By running a full and competitive process, Kroparo’s team at Baker Tilly will ensure sellers unlock potential and full value of their business. “There is a difference between the fair market value and what a buyer is prepared to pay. Running a competitive process and working with the right buyers is the best way to ensure that we achieve the highest value and best terms for our clients” he said.

Baker Tilly will help you prepare your business for sale and screen potential buyers to ensure that the potential sale will move ahead as smoothly as possible. “You want to minimize surprises discovered by a potential buyer during the transaction process. The more upfront due diligence, the fewer issues you will have as buyers perform their own due diligence on your business. Similarly, buyers need to go through a verification process prior to granting them exclusivity — this avoids getting to the finish line only to find out that your buyer does not have the capital or ability to close the deal,” said Kroparo.

Global reach with individualized care

With Baker Tilly Toronto as your advisors, companies are getting the best of both worlds. “We like to describe our M&A group as a ‘big boutique’,” said Kroparo. “Being a national firm with connections around the globe giving us the ability to bring in experts and collaborate with Baker Tilly specialists in other countries and markets, but we also operate as a boutique, so our clients get hands-on managing directors and experienced staff at each level of an engagement and on all our transactions,” he said.

With the requisite in-house support staff, clients of Baker Tilly Toronto receive dedicated expertise and individualized commitment. “Being part of Baker Tilly gives us access to experts in areas like transaction tax, accounting and assurance, valuations, and while we don’t have in-house legal yet, we do have a robust network of legal firms that we work with so our clients get that full end-to-end accounting, tax, and key advisory components to make sure that the deals go smoothly,” said Kroparo.

As Baker Tilly Toronto continues to grow in the Toronto market and expand its offerings, the company can now service clients in both acquisitions and divestitures. “Plugging in our corporate finance practice team along with our audit, tax, and valuations practices, gives our clients truly a full-service experience,” said Anthony Barone, partner, Baker Tilly Toronto. “With more owner managers choosing to sell their businesses, rather than transition internally, and private equity aggressively pursuing acquisitions in the space, it’s more important than ever for business owners to have an integrated team,” he said.

Ultimately, when selling in the mid-market M&A space, it’s important to reach out to experts with the requisite, qualifications, real deal experience, and enthusiasm. “You want someone who gets excited about deals of varying sizes and who does this all day and every day,” said Kroparo. “In most cases, this is the biggest transaction of an entrepreneur’s life, so it’s important to bring a full team with the right resources to the table.”

To learn more, visit bakertilly.ca/team/ronen-kroparo or bakertilly.ca/team/anthony-barone.