You've put so much blood,
sweat, and tears into your company,
your baby.
Now, how do you figure out
what might be the right time to sell?
I asked Neil Balmert, an attorney with DLA Piper.
Well, thanks, Leo, first for having me.
It's a pleasure to be here.
I'm a tax partner at DLA Piper.
I've been a partner for 25 years,
and my specialty areas are
really mergers and acquisitions.
And I pretty much do public and private,
both on the buy side and sell side.
You may have the company
in the perfect position
for a liquidity event,
but if the market doesn't have the appetite,
then it's not the best time to sell
from a valuation standpoint.
How does market volatility affect the M&A market?
Oftentimes, there's unpredictable events,
like March of 2020, that might
close the liquidity pipeline.
When COVID hit, the M&A market died
completely for about six months.
And then in September of 2020, we saw the market,
the M&A market, pick up.
And it was a robust market.
The market right now for M&A is still very high.
It's a great time to sell,
and there's tons of cash in the economy,
a lot of balance-sheet cash
for particularly public company buyers.
So, we're seeing still a robust M&A market.
My advice to clients is, you know,
be ready and be ready to sell,
have the company in the appropriate position to sell,
and then let the market kind of drive the valuation.
So, you never want to miss the market opportunity.
You always want to sell,
frankly, a little too early,
and not miss the window, than a little too late.
Neil, that's great. Thank you.
If you have questions about what's
best for your business,
give us a call.
We know your time is precious. Let's make it count.