Strategic preparation and expert sale execution for maximum value
OVERVIEW
Company Overview
Fondevo knows what your business needs to look like to position it for a trade sale. We have grown, positioned for sale, acquired and sold numerous professional services businesses over the last twenty years.
Our portfolio of clients we have been involved with have been Management Consulting firms, IT Houses, Recruitment firms, Events companies, Tech Houses and even Food Retail chains.
Why Fondevo
Fondevo is unique in its field. Fondevo founders have personally been on the journey of entrepreneurships having found, built, and sold a number of companies. They have also worked in large corporates and have been on the ‘buy’ side, having bought companies and integrated them into the business.
The journey for any business looking to grow and sell is never the same for any two companies. However, the process underpinning this journey is always similar.
Our ambition is to help businesses realise their growth potential and capital value. We take a range of positions from fast ‘turn arounds’ to longer ‘three-year growth trajectories’ by providing to Owners and Founders: a. Capital b. Advice to and c. Through our networks - other specialised support in areas such as strategy, operations, legal and marketing.
We are a one stop shop for those who want to go to market. We have our own network of lawyers, corporate financiers, tax advisors and benchmarking companies and search agents who will find the right buyer for you.
Fondevo will prepare you to get to market. We will widen the buying pool and help structure the deal for you. We will get the deal over the line.
This 360-degree understanding of what entrepreneurs want and buyers are looking for makes Fondevo best in class and successful in bringing companies to market.
Deal Structure
Our fees
Please research this point independently. You will see a range of potential cost structures that max out at about 15% of the deal value.
Our target fee structure for all the professional advisors involved is 5% of the deal. This also includes the targeted advisory required to get you into the right shape to be taken to market.
Time it takes
If you have not prepared your business to go to market and if that needs to happen, then that will take approximately 12 months to three years. The time period will be reflective of the state of maturity your business is in before the sales process.
If you are ready to go to market, then it will take 12 to 18 months to sell your business.
All in for a business it can take up to three years. An accelerated process for those in a rush is 18 months. The quickest we have been involved with was five months.
What you make
This is not an easy question to answer as some of this depends on factors that are not under your control - market valuations and macro-economic conditions and geopolitical situation happening at point of sale.
We list below some of the factors that you control that influence price.
1) Turnover (if more than £5m that helps – if less than £3m that hurts).
2) EBITDA
3) Quality of Earnings (consistency, client base / customer base)
4) Age of your business – older is sometimes better
5) Reliance on key management etc.
6) Use of Technology
7) Scalability
Each of the above has weight attached to it when calculating the final valuation. There are many other factors that will be relevant.
If you are a professional services business the multiple should be more than one-time top line or seven times EBITDA. However, we could debate what we mean by EBITDA or even top line.
Sale Process
Although the sales process is never the same for two businesses, we show some of the major components here
Price guidelines agreement among principal sellers
Data Room Set Up
Teaser Preparation
Price guidelines agreement among principal sellers
Information Memorandum Preparation
Price guidelines agreement among principal sellers
Buyer list prep
Buyer communications
Bid and Auction Control
Negotiation
Price guidelines agreement among principal sellers
Contract management and execution
People
The Fondevo team is led by two former CEOs who have started, invested in, and sold a number of companies during the last 20 years including some of their own. On the team are also experts that contribute to marketing, legal, operational, and other business aspects that focus on company growth and value.
Our approach is a personal one.
We work with no more than five businesses at any one time.
Irene Molodtsov
CEO, Entrepreneur, Operating Models, Marketing, Change Management.
Rory Colfer
CEO, Entrepreneur, Strategy, Finance, IT, Business Structures