Buying a Business
Buying a business can be one of the fastest ways to become an owner, build wealth or expand an existing company. It can also be one of the fastest ways to overpay for someone else's problems.
Buying a Business is a practical, plain-English guide for entrepreneurs, owner-managers, searchers, investors, family businesses and business owners who want to find, evaluate and acquire the right company with discipline.
Written by Martin O'Donoghue, an MBA-qualified M&A lawyer with more than 25 years' experience, this book explains the acquisition process from a commercial buyer's perspective. It is not a law textbook. It is a practical guide to making better acquisition decisions: what to look for, what to question, what to negotiate, what to finance carefully, and when to walk away.
Inside, you will learn how to:
- define the right acquisition criteria before the market distracts you;
- build deal flow without becoming dependent on brokered opportunities;
- read seller materials without being seduced by the story;
- screen acquisition opportunities quickly and intelligently;
- test valuation, EBITDA, cash flow, working capital and seller add-backs;
- structure offers using completion cash, deferred consideration, earn-outs and seller finance;
- negotiate heads of terms without losing commercial leverage;
- manage due diligence so that legal, financial and commercial findings change the deal where necessary;
- understand acquisition finance without starving the business after completion;
- read the share purchase agreement commercially, not just legally;
- plan completion and the first 100 days; and
- recognise when the best acquisition decision is to stop.
If you are considering buying a business, pursuing entrepreneurship through acquisition, expanding an existing company, or assessing private company acquisition opportunities, this book gives you a clear framework for finding, evaluating and acquiring the right company - without confusing a possible deal with a sound ownership case.