BizON had the honour of sponsoring the Business Transition Forum! We would like to share some valuable information with our audience from the forum in case you did not have the opportunity to attend!

1. MODERATOR
Dr. Basil Peters, CEO, Strategic Exits Corp and
Author of: “Selecting Your M&A Advisor” and “Early Exits”
PANEL
Darin Brock, Business Development, TorQuest Partners Inc.
Ed Giacomelli, Managing Director, Crosbie & Company Inc.
Bruno Suppa, Partner, Financial Advisory Services, BDO Canada LLP
Randy Williamson, Partner, Aird & Berlis LLP
HOW TO BUILD THE BEST EXIT TEAM
(& WHAT IT WILL COST)

2. OUTLINE
• Introductions
• Building the Ideal Exit Team
• Terminology
• M&A Advisor Success Rate
• Selecting Your M&A Advisor
• What the Team will Cost
• Resources

3. THE IDEAL EXIT TEAM
• The single most controllable factor in determining
whether a saleable company will actually be sold is
the capability of the exit team
• Who are the ideal members of an exit team?

4. WHAT IS AN M&A ADVISOR?
• Is that the same thing as an Investment Banker?
• How is that different from a Business Broker?
• What do M&A Advisors do and why do you need one?

5. M&A ADVISOR QUALITY
• With almost every service, there are varying quality levels
available.
• For M&A advisory engagements, what’s the difference between:
1. Gold (premium)
2. Silver (mid-range)
3. Bronze (economy)
• Service levels?

6. TYPES OF M&A TRANSACTIONS
• What is a fully marketed transaction?
• What is an unsolicited offer?
• What are the differences?

7. M&A ADVISOR SUCCESS RATE
• One of the secrets of the M&A business is that paid M&A
professionals very often fail to complete a transaction
• There are no statistics available on this and the professionals
almost never talk about it
• After a company engages an M&A advisor, what are the
probabilities they will actually end up completing the sale?

8. M&A ADVISOR SELECTION CRITERIA
• Reputation for transaction completion rate
• Reputation for getting exceptional price and terms
• Reputation for being a good 'bad guy'
• Chemistry and experience with seller psychology
• Geographic proximity
• Post transaction service (warranty work)
• Domain expertise
• Fees

9. M&A ADVISORY FEES
• For a “fully marketed” global search – researching 50 to 250
companies
• And a “Gold” quality service
• Work fees usually $50,000 regardless of the company size
(less if not busy)
• Success fee, including the work fee, from:
o 8 to 10% for sales under $5 million
o 5 to 8% for sales from $10 to 30 million
o 2 to 4% in the $100 million range

10. SUCCESS FEES VS QUALITY AND SCOPE
FOR A $20 TO 30 MILLION TRANSACTION
Service
Level
Fully Marketed
Global Search
Limited to
3 or 4 Buyers
Gold
7% 3.5%
Silver
5% 2.5%
Bronze
3.5% 1.75%
Reference: http://www.exits.com/blog/ma-advisor-fees-selling-business/

11. PRICE RECEIVED AND M&A ADVISOR FEES
-50%
0%
50%
Low Average High
PriceandFeeDifferences*
M&A Advisor Quality
Additional Cash
to Shareholders
Reduced
Cash
*Estimated Ranges
Price Received 
Fees Paid 

12. LEGAL AND ACCOUNTING FEES
• Legal and accounting fees vary widely depending on the
complexity, not the size
• For a simple, clean transaction legals might only be $25,000
• But for a complex deal can easily be
$1 million or more
• Accounting costs can be a few thousand to over $100,000 if audits
haven’t been done