Finding Buyers

When it comes to selling a company, the only way to realize value is to find a buyer who is willing and able to pay for it. ASG Partners maximizes the benefits of a sale by identifying and engaging multiple prospective buyers.

It only takes one buyer to complete a business sale - but engaging multiple prospective buyers increases the probability of maximizing the transaction. Our process is designed to engage multiple buyers that are financially and professionally qualified.

We begin by developing profiles of what prospective buyers of your company might look like. They might be other private or publicly-held companies in a complimentary business to yours, or pure competitors; they may be suppliers or customers. Private equity firms might also be profiled.

ASG Partners has worked with a broad spectrum of buyers from within the Northwest, across the country and around the globe, including privately-held and publicly-traded corporations; private equity firms; and private investors/individuals.

We maintain an active network of companies, investment groups and individuals that are looking to buy businesses. Our extensive buyer network has been built through 25 years of representing sellers and working with all types of buyers, CPAs and attorneys. We leverage this network, along with other targeted marketing efforts, to identify and engage qualified buyers for each client’s company.

Once we have identified what prospective buyers of your company might look like, we proactively (but confidentially) contact prospective buyers who have the skills, aspirations and resources to grow your company - since buyers that fit this profile may be willing to pay more than others. We approach these prospective buyers with a small amount of information about your business - just enough for them to assess whether or not they are interested in the opportunity, but not enough to breach confidentiality.

Those acquirers who demonstrate some interest are then screened and qualified. Once we are convinced that they are legitimate prospective acquirers and they have signed a confidentiality agreement, then they receive a CBR. Many buyers do not pass our filters because we are extremely vigilant about maintaining confidentiality.

It is not uncommon for us to send out 20-30 CBRs to prospective buyers after contacting hundreds of prospective buyers that we have profiled. After reviewing the CBR, prospective buyers ask questions of the ASG Principal managing the process. If they are very interested, then it may be time to arrange a meeting between you and the prospective buyer, either on the phone or in person. This will give the buyer a chance to learn more about the business, and you the opportunity to learn more about the buyer’s operating philosophy, business ethics and fit with your company.

When qualified buyers have been identified, we move on to the Buyer Selection phase.