Identifying & Negotiating Acquisitions

An acquisition is where your company would purchase the majority (or all of) the shareholding in another company. 

The target company could be a competitor — where you’re looking for synergies and the expansion of your current business model — or it could be a way for you to bring in a separate arm for the business. 

You could even be looking to acquire a supplier or manufacturer to achieve long-term cost reductions.

Acquisitions can take time to make sure that they’re the right fit for your company. 

Our job is to help you navigate that process — providing analysis of financial information and negotiating with the target company and potential funders to help secure the best deal for you and your business.

This is the only time that as accountants we’ll say: ‘unless one plus one makes five, you should walk away’. An acquisition shouldn’t be entered into for the vanity of ‘growth for growth’s sake’. It should be additive and not put your existing business at risk. This is a complex transaction and you should be clear about why you want to acquire before the process starts.

Think about why you want an acquisition and document your reasons. This could be to acquire a product group, licence, supply chain, etc. The culture of the target business should also be considered pre-deal, as should whether the businesses can be integrated post-deal. This will all need testing in the due diligence phase.

An acquisition might be right for you if: 

• Your business is growing rapidly and you think you’ll need to expand into new premises with operations already in place. 
• Your current strategy is working well but there are some restrictions to growth that would be achieved with an extra ‘push’. 
• Your growth plan is working well, but you’re struggling to keep costs low (this is where acquiring a manufacturer or supplier could benefit you).

If you still aren’t sure whether an acquisition is right for your business, feel free to give us a quick call to discuss the specifics. 

We always welcome finding out more information and would never push you into a deal that isn’t right for you or your company. 

Organic growth can take a long time and careful planning to achieve.

Some businesses can see growth potential and recognise that they’ll be reaching capacity in the next few years. An acquisition could help you to avoid a plateau in growth. 

An acquisition can typically take anywhere between six and 12 months from the initial idea to completion. However, this can vary based on how many acquisitions you’re looking to make, how many targets are identified and how the funding is sourced. 

Whether an acquisition is something that you’ve been thinking about for a while or you’re just starting to explore the possibility, we can help. We love being involved in the early stages to ensure that you achieve the right deal and hit your objectives. 

If you’ve already sourced an acquisition target but need advice on how to structure the deal, whether the target has the right financial and cultural fit for your business or how the acquisition is to be funded, speak to us right away.

We can assist throughout the entire process. As experts in negotiating, we’ll always look to ensure that your target is appropriately valued and — if needed — any terms with potential funders will fit with your business. 

As specialist accountants, we can help you to understand the financial implications of an acquisition and whether the valuation of a target is affordable to your business. 

If you don’t have free cash to fund the deal, we can introduce you to a range of funders to ensure that you get the best terms for your business going forward.

There’s more than just affordability to consider when looking to make an acquisition. We can help you to consider the culture of your target and whether there will be synergies. 

If you aren’t sure on whether your target company is the right fit for your business, we can help you to gain a better understanding so that you’re making the most informed decision possible.