Selling Your Company
BACK TO BROKERAGE
We are frequently asked, “When is the best time to sell?” And, unless you have a strategic exit plan in place, our answer is always the same, “If you’re asking, it’s probably time to sell. Let’s ask some questions and find out.”
If you are considering selling your company, dozens of questions are popping up:
- Who should handle the sale?
- Why not do it in house?
- How much is the right price, the best price?
- How long will it take?
- Do I have to stay on after the sale?
Since this may be the only time you will be selling a publishing company, it isn’t likely that a broker is in the PDA, iPhone, or if you’re ancient… rolodex. And because this is a personal transaction, requiring expertise and selling skills, matchmaking talent, and tax savvy, finding the right person or company may be difficult. That’s why we have a process we utilize with prospective clients that allows both sides to get a feel for the other and find out if we’re good for you and you’re good for us.
A basic Questionnaire is given to the seller. When completed, NPL has a simplified picture of the company and assets for sale. By doing financial analyses on the information, NPL can create a “ballpark” valuation of the company for the owner, based on today’s marketplace, adjusted for the economic upheaval.
With this ‘ballpark” valuation in hand, the owner can ask pointed questions, determine what might be left after various tax options, and learn how long she/he might have to stay on after the sale. We can offer different scenarios about owner financing, post sale employment agreements and performance bonuses, and areas of potential tax savings. Then we can get together and begin the process of achieving the sale.
We will prepare the company for sale by asking you the questions a prospective buyer would ask: titles, subjects; sales history by title; profitability of the company; digital media revenues; success of PR including reviews, awards, endorsements; social media participation including YouTube author interviews, for example; review financials; narrative history; your strategic plan for the future; titles/authors under contract, in development; eBook plans; licensing arrangements; pro forma financial information… just about everything.
Working with your trusted professional advisors (attorneys, CPAs, etc.) NPL will compile a comprehensive presentation for potential buyers. If all of the information is not readily at hand, we will assist in locating or creating what is missing.
Then, your company is offered, first to our clients, then our network of contacts in the industry, then, to appropriate target companies inside and outside publishing, and finally, to the publishing marketplace at large. The process may include on-site visits, and will include thorough due diligence by the buyer.
Even a small sale may have major tax ramifications. We are careful to create a beneficial package for the seller that allows him/her to keep as much of the sale as possible, yet achieving the buyer’s financial goals as well. The entire process usually takes four to nine months, but can be as short as six weeks or as long as a year and a half.
We are frequently asked, “When is the best time to sell?” And, unless you have a strategic exit plan in place, our answer is always the same, “If you’re asking, it’s probably time to sell. Let’s ask some questions and find out.”
If you would like to have NPL represent and sell your company, send a confidential email directly to Mr. Foner. Don’t postpone the discussion “for some other time”. For example, those who postponed from 2008 to now, in this ‘nastiest recession in decades” environment, wish they hadn’t procrastinated.