When Tom was approached by a strategic buyer for Pack Hacker, his content business focused on travel and outdoor gear, he was apprehensive. Having never gone through an acquisition, Tom was concerned about potential gotchas or other mistakes that could cost him in the transaction. He contacted us to guide him through the process.

There was no business broker involved in the transaction, but we have the experience to handle such a scenario. We reviewed diligence requests with him, sequenced the responses to those requests, previewed and preempted likely sticking points in the deal process, and otherwise made sure that the transaction stayed on course.

Tom wanted to remain involved with Pack Hacker post-acquisition and wanted to look after the interests of his team as well. This meant we focused our attention on making sure that we knew the buyer’s plan. Due diligence should be a two-way street when the seller is going to remain with a business after an acquisition. We encouraged Tom to speak with several other founders of companies they’d acquired to make sure that he was comfortable with them as the buyer.

With Tom staying on with the business, we also needed to finalize an employment agreement as part of the transaction even if greater priority was given to the purchase agreement. We also made sure that the rest of the team signed contracts to continue working for the business post-acquisition.

On the transaction documents, we negotiated hard for Tom but without ever pressing for a term that we knew the buyer would view as a non-starter. We stood firm on several items and obtained better terms for Tom than many sellers get. Then when the time came, we made a strong recommendation that he accept what became the final deal terms instead of trying to push more and potentially kill the transaction or poison rapport with the buyer that would become his employer. Each negotiation is unique, and we tailor our approach to the needs of each client.

The closing process took longer than we’d hoped, but we held everything together and got the deal over the finish line. When we asked Tom to reflect on his experience working with us, he told us: