Buying a family-owned business requires much more than settling on the right price, mergers and acquisitions professionals say. The sale of a company that’s been in a family for decades or generations may come with emotional strings attached. In those instances, cutting a deal requires addressing much more than just financial considerations.
John Kerschen, managing director of Charter Capital Partners, urges families that own a business to go through a formal succession or exit planning process with professional advisers. Conducting a “purposeful exercise” enables a company’s owners to identify its characteristics and opportunities and match them with their personal objectives, “and then you start to pursue a transaction that fits those objectives,” Kerschen said.