Successful Acquisitions

BROACHING THE PRICE ISSUE

You may have noticed that I haven’t touched on the issue of price yet. As you know, this is one of the fundamental principles of the Roadmap process: The price paid for the target company is only one part of the equation that will get the owner to sell. The rest of the equation involves the structure of the new business and the accompanying details. If you are unable to bring together an organizational structure that addresses your acquisition strategy and meets the owner’s needs, then any discussion of price is moot.

Still, a discussion of price is inevitable. It does not need to be painful, however, particularly if you have already worked through the key strategic points first. I find that sellers are often disarmed ...