IN ASSOCIATION WITH: DOING THE DEAL WHEN BUSINESS BECOMES A BIG DEAL


For our Doing the Deal 2022 event, held in association with PM+M and WHN, we brought buyers, sellers, investors and advisors together to tell their own individual stories.


We wanted to get beyond the figures and look at the very personal journey of buying or selling a business. It’s something most people will never experience, but for those that do it can be a defining moment in their life.


The honest and frank stories our panel shared with us give a fascinating insight into dealmaking. We think they are essential reading for anyone thinking about embarking on a similar journey.


David Gorton - PM+M


There’s a lot of action and a lot of money out there at the moment. Financing institutions have cash to invest.


Corporates have made good profits over the last two or three years and want to do something with that. So, both in the trade and finance sector, there are people looking to buy.


People are keen to realise the value of the investment. People who own their own businesses are looking at what they can do with the cash afterwards.


Sellers are being quite choosy and there is a trend towards selling in-house through management buyouts and handovers because you can get a lot of cash out of the business if you’ve built it up. You can then borrow a lot and defer terms.


Prices are relatively high at the moment, and everybody is cautious about what they spend. It’s not the tech world of 20 years ago where you could get 50 times revenue. People are keen to do deals, but they’re cautious with money.


You make money running the business by getting bright people to do things for you. If you don’t, when you’re buying or selling a business, think about how those bright people are going to operate under your new structure, then you’re just wasting time and money.


You’re destroying your value, so focus on how you get the right people in your business, how you make the right people continue to be happy and productive.


Paul Matthews - WHN Solicitors


It has been exceptionally busy for 18 months at least and the market is showing no signs of abating. There’s the availability of money and businesses


that have done well through the pandemic. Continued on page 30 LANCASHIREBUSINESSVIEW.CO.UK


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