Often, IT business owners approach selling their venture just as they would sell their home. They list it, wait for the offers to roll in and accept the first or highest price. However, that best offer may start dropping after the dreaded home inspection uncovers required repairs or worse. To get the deal done and avoid starting over with a new potential buyer or sacrificing their timeline, sellers often begrudgingly take the hit, leaving money on the table. In most cases, they are far from happy with their buyer but at least they don’t have to live with them.
If that sounds familiar, think about why you don’t want to repeat that process with your most valuable asset: the IT company you built from the ground up. When it comes to mergers and acquisitions (M&A), what are you really looking for when you search for a buyer? We suggest IT business owners look for:
- A closely aligned partner – a complement to your vision, operations, culture and people.
- A larger organization – with extensive expertise in sales, support and the latest technologies.
- A growth engine – with career opportunities for employees, deeper relationships with customers and a healthy financial future to ensure the founders’ legacy.
Enter the buy-side intermediary. The name is a misnomer but the approach fits masterfully. While an intermediary firm’s services are paid for by the buyer, the firm works for buyer and seller with one goal in mind: guiding both parties to the closing table and completing a successful transaction. We are able to represent both sides by taking an “Opportunity First” approach.
First, we maintain a strong group of pre-vetted, highly qualified IT organizations that believe in growth by acquisition. We start our “match-making” process with a look at business alignment and customer and employee fit through an early deep dive. During this time, we get out of the way so the buyer and seller learn about one another directly. With a confirmed fit and agreed upon opportunity, Cogent helps develop the offer and Letter of Intent (LOI), project managing the deal through to close. In our process, the LOI deal and definitive deal being closed are one and the same, and that keeps both sides happy.
The benefits to the seller in this approach are significant:
- The seller will only talk with the right qualified buyers. Buyers are thoroughly vetted and pre-matched to the seller.
- The numbers won’t change from initial offer to transaction close because intelligence is gathered early – before the offer is made.
- Peace of mind exists that our buyer can close the deal. Buyers are already funded in 19 of 20 deals we close, which bypasses banks’ onerous requirements.
- The seller (and buyer) avoid delays and the “deal fatigue” that often kills transactions. We work with both parties to learn about each other thoroughly and then we produce the myriad documents needed to close the transaction. Our involvement keeps the transaction moving, which allows the buyer and seller to focus on running their respective businesses.
- Transactions close in 60 to 90 days 95% of the time.
Relationships and trust drive the M&A business. We understand that a successful deal leverages market demand, the financial environment, and alignments of services, fit and culture to benefit both parties.
About Cogent Growth Partners
Cogent Growth Partners, LLC, a buy-side intermediary for mergers and acquisitions, taps into the organic growth opportunities found in America’s 25,000+ IT businesses. Cogent accelerates the M&A process with a set of proprietary tools and processes that enable buyers and sellers to stay focused on running their respective businesses. Anyone who wants to know why Cogent is different, need look no further than our business card: “Transaction TherapyTM for IT Business Owners Since 2010.” For more information, email info@cogentmergers.com, visit www.cogentmergers.com or call 678-820-5288.
