A lot goes into getting the best possible price for your business. SSK Capital can give you the confidence to negotiate successfully in challenging circumstances. Check out a few of these examples:
A good deal gets even better with an experienced banker on your side
Steve Antoline, CEO of Superior Highwall Miners (SHM), received a bid of $120 million for his mining equipment company located in Beckley, WV. He retained SSK to advise him on the sale. Over six months, we ran a structured auction process, and SHM closed the sale to Tennessee Valley Ventures for $150 million. That’s more than 20% higher than the initial offer. A good investment banker can add value, even if you already have a deal on the table.
An auction process can increase your price even when there’s only one bidder
In some industries, there is a limited number of buyers. Bill Mitchell of Mantis Cranes experienced this when he decided to retire and sell his crane business. SSK ran an auction process and negotiated with the buyer to the very end of the process, even though we were dealing with only one bidder at the end. The seller was delighted with the final sales price of $37.5 million. Experience in business sales process is as valuable as negotiation experience.
Real-world valuations are critical for good negotiations
At SSK we’ve performed hundreds of valuations for companies to let them know their real-world value. That is the amount an institutional investor will pay for your company this year, as opposed to IRS Fair Market Value guidelines used for tax purposes. In 2020 SSK was engaged by a cybersecurity firm which we estimated was worth $25-30 million. They received three bids for their firm: two at $27.5 million and one at $30 million. Those are typical results for our real-world valuation. In 15 years, we’ve never been off by more than 10%.
It is important to know when to say no
Trivector services, an aerospace & defense engineering firm, retained SSK to advise them on the acquisition of an Israeli UAV manufacturer. After reviewing information, traveling to Israel to meet with the firm, and conducting due diligence, we unearthed concerns that would have been easy to overlook. SSK recommended that Trivector not pursue the acquisition. Trivector was glad to have an advisor that was willing to be honest even if it meant delivering bad news. Since then, they’ve grown into a great company with a strong future. They have also retained us on five additional occasions for advisory work.