Helping a friend

Author
Discussion

Smminton

Original Poster:

2 posts

12 months

Monday 20th November 2023
quotequote all
Morning all

Apologies if this is not the correct area for this question, but I wondered if someone could provide some advice on the following.

A good friend of mine is selling his "Automotive" business in the south of Spain and is a huge operation. He has built it for over 15 year and has now decided that he would like to move on. So would anyone have any words of wisdom on how he should go about this?

There is a website that has been produced that has all the details included in the sale, but I'm not sure if I can show that on this forum.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Olivergt

1,649 posts

88 months

Monday 20th November 2023
quotequote all
I would advise that they pay for some professional advice from a reputable company who knows the car business in the area of Spain where they are trading.

That way they should get the best price for their business which will more than pay for the cost of the advice.

StevieBee

13,570 posts

262 months

Monday 20th November 2023
quotequote all
I'd start by mentioning his intentions to his Accountant and Solicitor as they may well have other clients that might be interested and entering into negotiations with a party sourced through a mutual network can be more fluid and beneficial than other sources. Equally, there is nothing wrong in approaching the owners of companies he currently works with where he sees a potential fit.

Reality check is also necessary.

If he's looking to hand the keys and books over and walk away in one go, he's likely to get less than a gradual tapering of ownership over time.

And a general rule I've found to hold true is that both parties feel like they've been ripped off: the seller that he's sold for too little and buyer that they've paid too much. I think that's just human nature though.

And talking of the human factor, something that is often overlooked is the impact of selling something that you've given birth to, nurtured and grown. I had a client some years back that sold his business for £30m but ended up in a terrible state of depression which to anyone without £30m seems unfathomable. Counselling helped but he certainly lost a lot of his 'spark' because he had nothing to do.


Smminton

Original Poster:

2 posts

12 months

Tuesday 21st November 2023
quotequote all
Thank you both for your replies. Apologies for the delayed response as I have been travelling all day today. Having read all the suggestions, I will be forwarding the information some time this week, so it is much appreciated.

Regards Stuart