Some investment banks focus solely on Sell-Side advisory. Others work principally on Buy-Side deals. Mentor Securities is staffed to provide full service for both types of transactions. The Buy-Side work consists of at least the following:
- Securing agreements with various buyers: private equity (PE), family offices, and strategic companies.
- Understanding the Buyers' platforms for acquisitions, in terms of the following:
- range of enterprise value
- review range
- EBITDA range
- gross margin
- equity "check" size
- control/minority investment
- industries
- industry sub-sectors
- geography
- Sourcing and analyzing target companies for acquisition. This "scrubbing" consists of:
- Speaking with one or more equity owners to ascertain their real desire to sell, now or later.
- Reviewing the financials to calculate adjusted EBITDA.
- Ensuring that their primary products/services fit the platform parameters. Perform some independent market research on the target.
- Coaching the target with insights into each potential buyer, as well as offering to make introductions to any relevant professionals, such as attorneys and tax accountants.
- Providing basic data to a buyer source(s).
- Organizing/participating in a conference call with the primary buyer executives.
Once the buyer(s) is involved and the "handoff" has occurred, our role is mostly done. We will provide regular status check-ins with the buyer(s) to gauge the progress and due diligence. And, we may well continue our dialogue with the target to facilitate and encourage their continued participation in the process.