Initial Face to Face Consultation
Prior to acceptance of the engagement, we have found it crucial to get to know the seller and his/her background and particulars about the company and its history. We also take this opportunity to fully explain who The George Ryan Group is as a company, who we are as principals/individuals, the unique processes we employ, and to initially determine what type of opportunity exists to work together.
Our understanding of the ultra-sensitive nature of the initial meeting/s we will have regarding your company, your products, your processes, your financials, proprietary items, etc., is paramount in the seller gaining a comfort level with who we are.
Over many years and through the course of many successful engagements, and before we can move forward as partners in this transaction, trust must be established and maintained throughout. Once that trust is realized, we truly begin to learn about the business and how we can best present it buyers. Furthermore, buyers will not buy from people they do not trust, therefore making it critical for our company to gain the trust of both the seller and the buyer.
To illustrate the points above, The George Ryan Group is prepared to execute a confidentiality agreement to ensure that the prospective client understands that any and all information provided to The George Ryan Group from the seller will be handled in the strictest confidence.
At the conclusion of this initial face-to-face meeting, we can typically provide a timeline of events from initial engagement to successful conclusion, giving the prospective seller a realistic expectation and sequence of events.
Our understanding of the ultra-sensitive nature of the initial meeting/s we will have regarding your company, your products, your processes, your financials, proprietary items, etc., is paramount in the seller gaining a comfort level with who we are.
Over many years and through the course of many successful engagements, and before we can move forward as partners in this transaction, trust must be established and maintained throughout. Once that trust is realized, we truly begin to learn about the business and how we can best present it buyers. Furthermore, buyers will not buy from people they do not trust, therefore making it critical for our company to gain the trust of both the seller and the buyer.
To illustrate the points above, The George Ryan Group is prepared to execute a confidentiality agreement to ensure that the prospective client understands that any and all information provided to The George Ryan Group from the seller will be handled in the strictest confidence.
At the conclusion of this initial face-to-face meeting, we can typically provide a timeline of events from initial engagement to successful conclusion, giving the prospective seller a realistic expectation and sequence of events.
Value Added Services
We have a team of 3rd party professionals ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice to assist the seller in their need for expertise in the following areas:
- Transactional legal issues, review, and consultation
- Transactional accounting review and preparation
- Transactional tax and financial issues
- Accredited Formal business valuation
- Certified equipment appraisers
- Escrow company specializing in business acquisitions
- In-House real estate brokers to assist in real estate related issues
- Equity and Debt funding
Information Gathering, Financial Analysis, Comprehensive Recasting
The George Ryan Group is in the business of representing sellers and helping them maximize shareholder’s value in the sale of their companies. One could also say we are in the information gathering, information analyzing and information presentation business.
Though the step of information gathering, financial analysis and recasting is one of the initial steps in our proprietary process, it is a crucial step, as it is the foundation for what we will eventually present to prospective purchasers and what will entice them to eventually acquire the company.
What many sellers don’t fully realize is that their financial information, the numbers that make their company run and that seem so “black and white” to them as owners entrenched in the day to day operation of the business, can be open to interpretation. A purchaser’s initial interpretation can often be to interpret the numbers in a way that benefits them, or in other words, minimizes the purchase price.
Our job as intermediaries is to interpret the financials in a manner that the market recognizes as standard (yet aggressive) but that also provides a value that meets or exceeds the expectations of the ownership. The George Ryan Group possesses the tools, certifications, education and hands-on experience to take financial data and analyze it fully and thoroughly. We are experts at recasting financial data as well. Recasting is the practice of determining discretionary EBITDA, showing a buyer what monies exist in a business when accounting for very specific items. This practice is recognized as an industry standard when dealing with private equity groups, and other buyers who would have an interest in purchasing a company. However, they expect this information in a very specific and logical format, which we provide them. They also only recognize certain items in these recasting, and expect to see certain industry specific assumptions made throughout the recast analysis.
We also perform a comprehensive Financial Analysis and Narrative report, which essentially grades your company and uses numerous financial ratios to compare your company with companies that have the same SIC code or NAICS code. It is the same software that the banking and lending institutions use when considering lending money on a business acquisition. This report is just part of our value added service.
Part of a successful engagement is to have an intermediary working on your behalf who knows what the private equity groups, strategic buyers, etc. are looking for from an information standpoint. We have a wealth of experience and knowledge on how to gather and analyze that information. Information gathering, financials gathering and recasting are at the core of our business. These items are a part of what enable us to move to the next step, and ultimately sell a company. This step in the process cannot be overlooked and must be a focus of the seller and intermediary.
Though the step of information gathering, financial analysis and recasting is one of the initial steps in our proprietary process, it is a crucial step, as it is the foundation for what we will eventually present to prospective purchasers and what will entice them to eventually acquire the company.
What many sellers don’t fully realize is that their financial information, the numbers that make their company run and that seem so “black and white” to them as owners entrenched in the day to day operation of the business, can be open to interpretation. A purchaser’s initial interpretation can often be to interpret the numbers in a way that benefits them, or in other words, minimizes the purchase price.
Our job as intermediaries is to interpret the financials in a manner that the market recognizes as standard (yet aggressive) but that also provides a value that meets or exceeds the expectations of the ownership. The George Ryan Group possesses the tools, certifications, education and hands-on experience to take financial data and analyze it fully and thoroughly. We are experts at recasting financial data as well. Recasting is the practice of determining discretionary EBITDA, showing a buyer what monies exist in a business when accounting for very specific items. This practice is recognized as an industry standard when dealing with private equity groups, and other buyers who would have an interest in purchasing a company. However, they expect this information in a very specific and logical format, which we provide them. They also only recognize certain items in these recasting, and expect to see certain industry specific assumptions made throughout the recast analysis.
We also perform a comprehensive Financial Analysis and Narrative report, which essentially grades your company and uses numerous financial ratios to compare your company with companies that have the same SIC code or NAICS code. It is the same software that the banking and lending institutions use when considering lending money on a business acquisition. This report is just part of our value added service.
Part of a successful engagement is to have an intermediary working on your behalf who knows what the private equity groups, strategic buyers, etc. are looking for from an information standpoint. We have a wealth of experience and knowledge on how to gather and analyze that information. Information gathering, financials gathering and recasting are at the core of our business. These items are a part of what enable us to move to the next step, and ultimately sell a company. This step in the process cannot be overlooked and must be a focus of the seller and intermediary.
Research and Valuation
A critical step in the engagement process is the research and valuation step. The research portion of this step focuses on extracting information from numerous sources, compiling it and organizing it. The valuation portion of this step focuses on taking this information and using it to formulate a value for the business that can be substantiated.
Researching industry data, trends, comparables, etc. is a fairly straight forward process, if you know where to look. It would be obvious to assume that a Google search for “comps” would immediately render you hundreds of thousands of organic hits for ways to compare values of businesses. Unfortunately, it’s just not that easy, because although the research aspect is fairly direct, you must know where to look, and you must be willing to pay to look. We have several databases (databases we subscribe to, databases we have access to do to our membership, affiliations and certifications, and databases we have compiled in house), all of which are a wealth of information.
Valuation, on the other hand, is more subjective. There are literally hundreds of methodologies and ideologies regarding valuation, and pinpointing the method or gathering the comparables to analyze and insert into the valuation equation can be overwhelming. The George Ryan Group has developed a valuation matrix which helps guide us through several valuation methods depending on the businesses we are valuing. We combine a set of highly relatable comparables (relatable both in size, timing, price, terms and industry) with multiple valuation methods that are reasonably accepted in the industry. We also use our general experience to further enhance the results.
The George Ryan Group prides itself on research and valuation. We do not farm out any aspect of this step in the engagement process because of its vitality and significance to the ultimate value of the business. We also provide a mini-valuation, typically within 2 weeks of receiving all necessary information, that serve as the blue print for asking price and ultimate selling price.
Researching industry data, trends, comparables, etc. is a fairly straight forward process, if you know where to look. It would be obvious to assume that a Google search for “comps” would immediately render you hundreds of thousands of organic hits for ways to compare values of businesses. Unfortunately, it’s just not that easy, because although the research aspect is fairly direct, you must know where to look, and you must be willing to pay to look. We have several databases (databases we subscribe to, databases we have access to do to our membership, affiliations and certifications, and databases we have compiled in house), all of which are a wealth of information.
Valuation, on the other hand, is more subjective. There are literally hundreds of methodologies and ideologies regarding valuation, and pinpointing the method or gathering the comparables to analyze and insert into the valuation equation can be overwhelming. The George Ryan Group has developed a valuation matrix which helps guide us through several valuation methods depending on the businesses we are valuing. We combine a set of highly relatable comparables (relatable both in size, timing, price, terms and industry) with multiple valuation methods that are reasonably accepted in the industry. We also use our general experience to further enhance the results.
The George Ryan Group prides itself on research and valuation. We do not farm out any aspect of this step in the engagement process because of its vitality and significance to the ultimate value of the business. We also provide a mini-valuation, typically within 2 weeks of receiving all necessary information, that serve as the blue print for asking price and ultimate selling price.