Co Founder and CEO, Digital Transformation Solutions Company
Our advisory team is committed to partnering with entrepreneur-led tech companies to realise the best strategic outcomes in every sell side M&A situation – whether we are mandated to drive a strategic investment or shape an exit strategy over time.
As an entrepreneur-oriented firm, SA understands that entrepreneur-led tech companies are fundamentally different businesses from companies in traditional sectors and require specialised experience and a well-rounded transaction process. Our partners and team spend significant time to understand your company, your diverse goals and bring unique insights to help you assess how strategic investors may value your company. We work closely with you to uncover ‘differentiated value’ that your company could bring to strategic investors, beyond what is visible from your traditional financial statements and valuation.
We understand that building a company is an arduous, long and highly emotional journey for most entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs put their blood, sweat, and tears into building a successful business. As a result, any strategic investment or exit needs to be handled with extreme care as this is not just a financial decision, the strategic and emotional considerations for founders cannot be overlooked in any transaction.
There are several critical decisions besides the valuation, deal structure and key terms, right from succession planning, managing confidentiality, taking care of your most important asset – people, brand equity, and many others which can be simplified by having a firm execute a well-defined process and enable owners to focus on leading their business during the transaction process. Our partners know this well from having been through this process several times in their own journeys. Our clients also value the buyer’s perspective from our experience being on the other side and having acquired and integrated several tech companies.
SA’s approach involves working closely with our clients to set clear goals for the transaction early in the process. As we establish clear goals, we must take into consideration all key stakeholders including your investors, board members and employees who are all emotionally connected with the company and equally interested in the best outcome. At the appropriate stage, it is important we take into account your personal, family and business considerations, to ensure we can enable the best strategic outcomes for our client and meet goals we’ve set out upfront.
Our unique approach to running sell side M&A transactions enables our clients to realise the best strategic outcomes and ensures the goals we establish upfront are fully aligned with the entrepreneur.
SA runs a comprehensive goal-linked process in every client engagement right from setting clear financial, strategic and personal goals, to carefully planning the transaction strategy to meet your goals, assessing the merits and demerits of an offer, and front-ending negotiations on valuation and terms (cash, stock, earn-out, exclusivity, non-compete, succession plan, etc.) to maximise value for our clients.
Over the past 30+ years, we have built deep relationships with global public and private tech companies, private equity groups, family offices and others who primarily invest in the technology sector. We leverage our global network to help position your tech company to the right strategic investors and create the best deal structure that takes into account all your goals.
We believe any strategic investment or exit transaction must be meticulously planned at least two to three years ahead in order to maximise value. Especially when shaping an exit, preparation must start early and having a runway helps build the foundation for a strong exit, and enables the company to have strong financial reporting, governance, legal and tax compliance in place to minimise risk to closure.
Co Founder and CEO, Digital Transformation Solutions Company
Founder and CEO, Digital Design Agency