With the mergers and acquisitions market as hot as it’s ever been, many owners of mid-size companies are considering selling their most valuable asset – the company that they’ve spent years building from scratch. However, there are a few mistakes that I frequently see made by owners selling their companies. #1: Failing to Prepare for the...
A Trending Tool in Making M&A Faster and Less Risky: Reps and Warranty Insurance
A competitive M&A market has continued to support the growing use of Representations and Warranties Insurance (RWI) in mergers and acquisitions by both private equity and the private sector. Studies show the use of RWI in transactions increased from 29% in 2017 to 52% in 2019 and has continued to grow. Why are more and more Corporate...
NDAs – Significant Business Tool or Simply More Paperwork?
In business, many situations require you to share sensitive and confidential information with another individual or company. To ensure the other party respects the confidentiality of this information, a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, is often used. But when is the right time to utilize an NDA? And why should you consider them as part of your...

Driving Value Before an M&A Transaction
The mergers and acquisitions market continues to be hot. While it was initially unclear how the pandemic would affect it, the M&A market has proven to be highly adaptable and has recovered nicely. Historically low borrowing costs mean motivated buyers, and while it continues to be a seller’s market, smart business owners are those that are...
M&A Market is Still Hot—For Now
The M&A market has been booming, with the last five years moving at a head-spinning pace. COVID-19 may have momentarily dampened the market, but the fourth quarter of 2020 rebounded to be the strongest quarter in recent memory. 2021 is setting up to look even stronger, but all good things come to an end. Eventually. Given all the...

Corporate Transparency Act and its Impact on Your Business
On January 1, 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”), which requires all entities formed in or registered to do business in the United States to report beneficial ownership information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), subject to some exceptions, by no later than January 1, 2022. Although the CTA...

Why “Red Teaming” is Critical When Selling a Business
The military spends a lot of time planning, updating plans, scrapping plans and replanning. If you’ve ever served, you can attest to the amount of time and effort required to nail down every variable that is considered and planned for to achieve an objective. In many ways, your company is like the military. You spend time and effort creating...

Mitigating Merger & Acquisition Risks in the Era of COVID-19
Deals can be complicated and adding the COVID-19 pandemic to the mix certainly hasn’t made it easier to buy or sell a business. As the pandemic continues to create uncertainty for businesses, buyers and sellers can take steps now to mitigate risk in their transactions. Aside from taking the appropriate precautions to stop the spread of...

SBA Issues “Change of Ownership” Procedures for PPP Borrowers: M&A Transactions Must Now Be Reviewed for Compliance
By: Lawrence J. Glusman On October 2, 2020, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a procedural notice regarding changes of ownership of an entity that has received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds. The notice does three main things – defines when a “change of ownership” is deemed to have occurred, details when and how lenders may...
Modern Commercial Financing: Your Guide to Regulation A+
Attracting capital remains challenging for most investors due to regulatory burdens, higher capital costs, and the high risk, high return nature of venture capital. Often, capital projects won't get off the ground unless projected returns are above market rates. This "mini-IPO" or "on-ramp to IPO" allows investors to raise up to $50 million in a...