A client was looking to grow in their industry by acquisition, but was finding it difficult to identify suitable acquisition candidates and was worried about the lack of due diligence. Approaching potential acquisitions and initiating discussions invited the risk of raising the asking price. The client did not understand the various methods of financing a purchase, nor did they understand the various options around setting up a tax effective purchase structure. They were also worried about the integration of the new company into the existing operation without negatively impacting business or driving up cost and were concerned about the HR implications regarding integrating new staff - such as severance liability, and performance problems.

Using a combination of PACE Human Resources, Operations/Production and Financial services, we established a plan of attack around finding and closing a deal with the appropriate target. This included: HR integration, due diligence, a comprehensive search to identify an ideal fit with the existing operation, a comprehensive introduction plan for the owners of the target company which factored the target company’s goals into the structure of the proposed deal, and establishing a clear and open communication and negotiation approach for both sides. PACE acted as an “Honest Broker” once the negotiation started in order to help both sides arrive at a mutually advantageous result. PACE coordinated all legal and accounting support and managed every step of the transaction, right through to a successful close.

As a result, our client found an ideal company to buy and closed the deal. There were no surprises around the financials or the operations fate once the deal was finalized. The previous owners took back some of the financing and stayed around in support of the transition. All current clients were retained.