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Think You’re Ready to Sell Your Business? A Legal Audit Can Identify the Steps You Need to Take to Enhance Value and Facilitate the Process

KJK
November 2, 2016

Once you determine to sell your business, there are a number of things you can and should do to prepare for the sale.  Getting an early start on determining any areas of weakness and implementing an action plan to address them can facilitate and shorten the sale process, as well as help you obtain the maximum value possible for your business.

Through our Legal Audit Program, we can help you review the legal aspects of your business, determine the readiness of your business for sale, and work with you to develop an action plan to resolve any issues identified during the audit.  In conducting the audit, we would, among other things:

  • Provide an overview of the typical sale process and assess your readiness for a sale of your business
  • Outline the kinds of information a buyer is likely to request in its due diligence review of your business and the need to start gathering and organizing this information
  • Address the need to update your organizational documents and clean up any incomplete, unsigned, outdated, expired, or expiring contracts, leases and licenses
  • Consider any regulatory issues applicable to your business and the status of any required permits or licenses
  • Advise you about the need for professionally prepared financial statements, reasonable, supportable projections, and a valuation of your business
  • Assess your preparedness to show how your business can grow in the future or make a good fit with a buyer’s existing operations
  • Assess potential issues such as customer concentration, pending or threatened litigation, cyber risk, and the need to separate family and personal matters from your business
  • Consider the strength of your management team, particularly if you do not intend to continue with the business after the sale
  • Evaluate the steps you have taken to protect your trade secrets, confidential information, and other intellectual property
  • Determine whether you have an estate plan and considered how the sale will play into it

If you are interested, please contact Steven C. Bersticker at scb@kjk.com or 216.736.7219 for further information.