Beating Acquisition Process Challenges

Once you have decided that it is time to sell your VMS business, you will want to find and analyze the set of challenges that you and your business may face on this journey. Here are some common challenges our acquired businesses have experienced along the road to finding their forever home with us:

Pre-acquisition

Preparing for sale

The goal is to show a potential buyer that you have a superior understanding of your business’ current positioning and future growth prospects. It is imperative as a seller to ensure that you are providing high-quality and organized information to ensure a smooth acquisition process. Throughout the process, buyers will make ongoing requests for financial, legal, and HR-related information to support their decision-making. Auditing and updating information can be very time-consuming, so it’s worth considering whether enlisting the help of external consultants or specialists is right for your situation.

By proactively addressing data quality and accuracy, you can present a well-organized, transparent, and trustworthy picture of your business, making it more attractive to potential buyers.

Finding an acquirer

Finding the right buyer requires a comprehensive understanding of your business and evaluation of how a potential acquirer’s plans align with your objectives. It is critical to ensure that a buyer’s vision and values are aligned with yours and that you are comfortable with their plans for your customers, product, and employees post-close.

Jonas’ buy-and-hold forever acquisition philosophy and 20+ years track record is very attractive to sellers of VMS businesses. The speed and certainty of our acquisition process combined with our decentralized management approach allows acquired businesses to achieve ongoing success and organic growth post-close. Preserving the key values and legacy of your business that have been built over time is core to our strategy, as reflected by the Jonas ABCs.

Engaged in the acquisition process

Once you have entered due diligence with a potential buyer, there are multiple new challenges you must consider:

Running your business during due diligence

Due diligence can be demanding. Buyers want to ensure that they properly understand the business that they are acquiring and can request large volumes of data that might not be readily available. As this process unfolds, it is crucial to prioritize and understand which requests matter most to investors. Engaging professional advisors for work streams, such as legal and tax, can significantly ease the burden on you as a seller allowing you to focus on what matters most – operating and growing your business. When Jonas is engaged in an acquisition process, we work hard to prioritize due diligence items and ensure we are not distracting sellers from running their business with unnecessary requests.

Resources required for completing due diligence

Many buyers will hire various advisors to assist with financial, tax, legal, IT, HR, and other areas of due diligence, which can be costly for both sides of the transaction. Jonas performs the majority of its due diligence in-house and only outsources to advisors, when necessary. This allows us to move quickly and efficiently, minimizing interruptions and reducing the overall cost and complexity of the acquisition process.

Agreement Reached

Integrating with your acquirer

Once a deal is finalized, the integration begins. Similar to due diligence, acquirers will continue to dive deeper into various areas of your business, reviewing people, products, and processes, in search of opportunities to optimize costs and grow revenues.

Jonas retains acquired companies as standalone entities, allowing businesses to maintain their unique identity and operational independence. Having completed 160+ integrations, our approach coupled with experienced integration managers, ensures that the acquired businesses continue to thrive with minimal disruption during the transition. Maintaining your legacy is of the utmost importance and will continue to be critical to the long-term prosperity of your business.

How We Can Help

Our team is dedicated to partnering with you throughout the acquisition process, providing support and expertise every step of the way. Fill the form below if you are Interested in learning more about Jonas and our buy and hold forever M&A strategy.