Whether you are interested in selling your business today, in two years or in five years, the financial advisors at California Equity Group can assist you with developing a successful Exit Strategy from your privately held company on your timetable and on your terms and conditions.

Using our propriety process EquityExit™, the advisors at California Equity Group will work with you and your management team designates to develop a comprehensive road map that integrates financial, legal, tax, personal, and business issues involved in the sale, merger, or divestiture of your company.

Your financial advisor will assist you in the following seven areas to achieve your objectives:

1. Assisting you with development of your Exit Strategy objectives and goals.
2. Providing you with referrals to develop your Exit Strategy advisory team.
3. Determining your business’ current value and Gap Analysis.
4. Identifying strategies to build and maintain your business' value.
5. Identifying succession and Exit Strategy options.
6. Selecting the most appropriate exit route based upon your Exit Strategy objectives.
7. Executing the Exit Strategy.

Your financial advisor’s goal is to achieve your objectives by:

• Maximizing your net proceeds at the time of your exit.
• Minimizing the taxes you have to pay upon exiting.
• Ensuring that the price and terms you receive meet or exceed your post-exit objectives.
• Making certain that your other non-financial objectives are met.
• Ensuring that you are advised and prepared to manage your post exit wealth.

Exit Planning Overview

Exit Planning is a deliberate, thoughtful and flexible process that company owners/shareholders use to leave the company on their terms and timetables. It is a comprehensive process tailored to your particular goals and objectives.

The financial advisors at California Equity Group will help you ask the right questions to formulate and execute the most effective Exit Strategy to maximize the value received from your transition.

Start your plan now! Whether your objective is to maximize the capital gain from the sale, merger, or divestiture of your company interest, secure a comfortable retirement, maintain the viability of your company, ensure employment for the current work force, or pass ownership on to other family members, action to develop and implement your plan should start immediately. If the Exit Plan is not complete in advance of need, it will be done in crisis with potentially devastating results.

Exit Strategy Objectives

As the owner of a privately held company, you have two key roles, one of CEO and one of shareholder. As the CEO, it is your job to make the best decisions for the company. As a shareholder, it is your responsibility to make the best decisions about your investment in the company. When it is time to execute your Exit Strategy, these two roles can be in conflict. Therefore, effective Exit Planning must take into account the differing needs of each role.

It is vital to a successful Exit Strategy to time your exit. Receiving the best price and terms for your company interest often requires selling, merging, or divesting at the most opportune time. This means paying close attention to market and business conditions in your industry.

The financial advisors at CEG will advise you regarding market conditions such as interest rates, merger and acquisition trends, and the availability of investment capital. The ownership and management of the company should be aware of business conditions involving trends in the industry endemic to the company, which will increase or decrease its value.

The financial advisors at CEG will assist you in developing your objectives by asking you the following initial questions:

• At what point in time do you want to exit from the company?
• Is the best new ownership for the company a strategic buyer, a financial buyer, a buyer group, an individual buyer, other shareholders, existing management, employees or family members?
• When do you want liquidity from your investment in this company to invest in something else or invest in retirement?
• How much income do you need from the exit of this company to achieve your financial objectives?

Exit Advisory Team

It is important to build your exit advisory team early so that these experts can assist you with each component of your Exit Strategy objectives. If necessary, our financial advisors can provide you with referrals for these experts. An accountant or attorney with a different area of expertise may be unprepared to provide you with the necessary advice to successfully implement a complex set of Exit Strategy objectives.

Your advisory team should be comprised of the following specialists:

• A Financial Advisor with expertise in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures along with business appraising expertise.
• A Certified Public Accountant with expertise in transaction accounting.
• An attorney with expertise in transaction law and estate planning.
• A Certified Financial Planner with expertise in life insurance matters.

Identify an Exit Strategy advisory team leader who understands your complete Exit Strategy objectives and can communicate your goals to other specialists on the team.

Business Valuation

The most critical step in planning an Exit Strategy from your company is determining your company’s market value and how that value relates to your plans for exiting. The financial advisors at California Equity Group are certified specialists in ascertaining the value of your business using traditional appraisal methods coupled with our extensive database of past transactions and other industry data. The appraisal process followed by CEG advisors is a well-developed algorithm (Strategic Valuation Algorithm™). This process will provide the ownership of a company with the critical path to the decision of whether or not their company is positioned to sell for its maximum value and whether that value will meet the Exit Strategy financial objectives.
Learn more about M&A Valuation Services

Gap Analysis

If a gap exists between the current value of the company and the value necessary to reach the financial objectives to exit, then the value of the company needs to be improved.

Strategies to Build Value

After completing over 1,000 transactions during the past 20 years, the financial advisors at California Equity Group have a deep knowledge of the key elements that all types of buyers look for in assessing the value of your company and determining its suitability as an acquisition or merger candidate. Learn more about Building Business Value

Identify Exit Strategy Options

The financial advisors at CEG will assist you with identifying the most effective method to exit from your company based upon your Exit Strategy objectives. There are essentially five methods to exit from your company:

• Sale, merger, or divestiture to a strategic buyer (either public or private)
• Sale, merger, or divestiture to a financial buyer
• Sale to a buyer group or individual buyer
• Sale to other shareholders, senior management, key employees, or family members
• Liquidation or closure

Each of the Exit Strategy options comes with its own set of tax, estate, financial, and deal structuring implications. Your CEG financial advisor can assist you with choosing the right approach to achieve your Exit Strategy objectives.

Execution of the Exit Strategy

Based upon the Exit Strategy selected, your financial advisor will guide you through the merger and acquisition process. Our financial advisors will confidentially seek out suitable acquisition and/or merger candidates from our extensive database of buyers, through our M&A affiliates around the world, and through traditional marketing channels. We will negotiate all of transaction deal points, and we will work closely with accounting and legal counsel throughout the entire transaction process and through closing. Learn more about M&A Services - Sellers