PORTUS Case Study on Succession

An electronics entrepreneur was approached by his tax advisor about the need to address succession. PORTUS took on the mandate.

The first step in the process is our deeper familiarization with the entrepreneur's industry, with the aim of carefully analyzing the company. Within 4 weeks we prepared the exposé to address interested parties. In addition, documents about the company, such as annual financial statements, product range, machine list, employee structure, etc. were compiled with the aim of being able to carry out a comprehensive company evaluation. On this basis, both a time frame and realistic financial targets for the sale and handover of the company could be defined.

Within the framework of a targeted campaign, we were able to find more than 30 potentially interested parties both in our large network and through discreet and anonymous advertisements in industry magazines and Internet portals. These were intensively screened by our Portus team for their professional and financial suitability, enabling us to present seven qualified successor candidates to our client. A PORTUS employee accompanied and moderated the discussions between the entrepreneur and the potential buyers.

The sales process in general lasted about 10 months in this case. All parties involved were bound to absolute confidentiality so that employees and customers in particular would not be disturbed by the sales process. Two other important stakeholders in the process were the company's tax advisor and financing bank, with whom we maintained very close cooperation throughout the process.