Business Valuation, Buying & Selling a Company

M&A Trends May 2021

Alteris LLC tracks Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) valuation and other trends/metrics from its various partners and research sources.  We will periodically report on what we find here.  For more detailed information on valuations and M&A trends contact us directly. Please note that this information is a summary, generalized for many different types of companies of various sizes. This data is collected from various sources and includes proprietary deal information from over 200 PEGs (Private Equity Groups) on $10-250mm sponsored transactions, with an average TEV near $50mm. The information available as of May 2021 show that M&A activity continues to increase…

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Buying & Selling a Company, Exit Planning

How Does Your Company Look To A Buyer? Or Don’t Be That Company (Ouch)

You want to sell your company. An outside buyer has approached you and is evaluating it. What are some of the things they will be looking at? The best way to handle this question is to look at it from the buyer’s perspective. In fact, it is always a good idea to look at things from the other person’s perspective, but that is a different topic. While every company is different, there are a few things that will really stick out to a buyer.  Know what those are. It is a good idea to consider three important areas a buyer…

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Buying & Selling a Company, Exit Planning

Why Do Companies Fail to Sell at the Last Minute?

When deals fail to close (companies fail to sell), everyone is disappointed.  This includes everyone involved in the transaction:- the seller, the buyer, the intermediaries. Everyone. The issues causing the closing process to stop may be fairly minor or impossible to resolve. If the problem is somewhat minor, it still may be possible to resolve the issue if handled well. There are hundreds of reasons why a business sale may not reach a successful closing. It may begin with the Letter of Intent which formalizes verbal understandings into a written document. A bunch of items in the LOI can cause…

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Alternative Investments, Business Valuation, Buying & Selling a Company

M&A Trends as of Feb 2021, for Q4 2020

Alteris LLC tracks Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) valuation and other trends/metrics from its various partners and research sources.  We will periodically report on what we find here.  For more detailed information on valuations and M&A trends contact us directly. Please note that this information is a summary, generalized for many different types of companies of various sizes. This data is collected from various sources and includes proprietary deal information from over 200 PEGs (Private Equity Groups) on $10-250mm sponsored transactions, with an average TEV near $50mm. The information available as of February 2021 show that valuations on private middle-market transactions…

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Buying & Selling a Company

Middle Market M&A Trends: Lending

Alteris periodically reports on M&A valuation metrics in the middle market.  We are sometimes asked to expand on what’s behind the numbers. Especially given all the uncertainty during the pandemic. The last two posts were about Deal Structuring and Due Diligence trends.   This post is about trends in business lending. There is no doubt: lenders are cautious regarding new lending and in underwriting new acquisitions.  Instead, lenders are now focusing on the quality and liquidity of their existing loans.  It’s a defensive mindset. In particular, lenders are now very reticent about making loans to companies that are pandemic impacted. For…

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Buying & Selling a Company

Middle Market M&A Trends: Due Diligence

Alteris periodically reports on M&A valuation metrics in the middle market. We are sometimes asked to expand on what’s behind the numbers. Especially given all the uncertainty during the pandemic. The last post was about Deal Structuring trends.  This post is about Due Diligence. In middle market M&A – as in all market segments – the time to close a deal time has been substantially extended. Increased levels of due diligence is being conducted especially regarding items that could be impacted by COVID-19.  Businesses are attempting to minimize the impact of the virus as it relates to operations and the…

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Buying & Selling a Company

Middle Market M&A Trends: Deal Structuring

Alteris periodically reports on M&A valuation metrics in the middle market.  We are sometimes asked to expand on what’s behind the numbers.  Especially given all the uncertainty during the pandemic. This post and several following gives more detail as to what is happening in the market.  It is based on what we are seeing and hearing from our clients and colleagues. The pandemic has slowed down the entire acquisition process.  It now takes significantly longer for a deal to reach closing than pre-pandemic.  Many deals/acquisitions are on hold while management awaits clarification as to the economic direction. In April of…

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