Entries by Allston Advisory Group, LLC

HIDDEN MARKETPLACES AND THEIR “TARGETS”

In the current economic environment, troubled, distressed, insolvent and Chapter 11 bankruptcy businesses are presenting strategic and financial investors with attractive opportunities. Distressed transactions may provide the acquirer with a pathway to: gain access to a new client base or geographic territory; acquire assets at extremely discounted prices; effectively eliminate a competitor; or new technology, […]

EXIT STRATEGIES; DO YOU HAVE ONE!?

A great amount of real wealth is created when entrepreneurs sell their business. The secret behind ultra-successful entrepreneurs is their development and implementation of an exit strategy and timetable of events beginning with the start their business. The good news is the short and long term successes are not mutually exclusive. Exit planning is absolutely […]

AVOIDING EXPENSIVE MISTAKES BY UNDERSTANDING MULTIPLES OF EBITDA

A multiple of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is a means to reflect the economic value of an operating business and is a significant driver of sale price discussions in M&A transactions. EBITDA represents the earnings stream (free cash flow) produced by a company available for distribution to the investor. Multiples are […]

PREPARING FOR THE DANCE, THE BUYERS’ LIST!

A key step in the sell-side merger or acquisition process is generating a list of potential acquirers. Today, M&A professionals avail themselves to extensive and expensive research tools which help them in identifying possible buyers for their sell-side clients’ businesses. This relatively straightforward exercise of identifying likely acquirers from databases may be greatly enhanced by a creative approach to […]

HOW DO BUYER AND SELLER BRIDGE THE “PRICE GAP” BETWEEN SELLER’S EXPECTATIONS AND BUYER’S FEARS?

Earn-out agreements have long been introduced into merger/acquisition transactions when Buyers and Sellers have a “price gap” impasse; yet both have the common goal of arriving at an agreement that meets the needs of both Parties. Earn-outs may also provide a flexible way to deal with Buyer/Seller differences, future uncertainties and post-acquisition potential. Most successful […]