Greed, if left unchecked, can get in the way of a successful exit. On this episode, Collective 54 founder Greg Alexander shares a shareholder alignment framework to help you keep greed from stopping your successful exit
TRANSCRIPT
Sean Magennis [00:00:16] Welcome to the Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host on this episode. I will make the case that greed, if left unchecked, can get in the way of a successful exit. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander. Capital 54’s founder and chief investment officer. Greg has developed a framework to help you keep greed from sinking your deal. Greg, as always, good to see you. And welcome.
Greg Alexander [00:01:06] Thanks, pal. Nice to be here. I see we are tackling one of the seven deadly sins today. Maybe we should start by saying 10 Hail Mary’s.
Sean Magennis [00:01:16] I use that frequently, but I think we’re okay as I actually took… My mother would be proud. Greg, in all seriousness, what does greed have to do with exiting a boutique professional services firm?
Greg Alexander [00:01:32] Unfortunately, a lot. A common reason that attempts to exit fail is a lack of shareholder alignment. A good deal for some is not a good deal for others. Disagreements over who gets what and when they get it have sunk. Many deals. Greed is a very powerful force.
Sean Magennis [00:01:52] It is indeed. And I can see this being a real issue as many professional services firms are organized as partnerships with each partner being a shareholder. They all have rights and getting everyone on the same page can be tricky. Greg, I. I often hear you speak about shareholder and stakeholder alignment. Can you define these terms for our audience?
Greg Alexander [00:02:16] Sure, a shareholder, is anyone who owns a share in the boutique. A stakeholder is a person or group who has a stake in the business. For instance, in boutiques, clients, they’re a stakeholder. They rely on the firm. So they have a stake in the firm’s business. Or your bank is a stakeholder. They depend on you to pay back the line of credit, for instance.
Sean Magennis [00:02:45] And why do shareholders and stakeholders play an important role when an owner is trying to exit?
Greg Alexander [00:02:52] They can prevent a deal from happening. So let’s start with the shareholders. For instance, they will vote on the exit, either approving it or not. If enough shares vote against the deal, it does not happen. And at times, it can be nuanced and more nuanced than this. For example, let’s say one of our listeners is the majority shareholder and he has enough power to approve the exit. However, his junior partner, who owns 10 percent of the shares, does not want the deal to happen. The junior partner can cause real problems as he is a key employee. And if he threatens to quit, the acquirer might get cold feet and not do the deal. The investor is buying a people driven business. And if key employees do not want to stay, they’re not going to go through with the sale. Majority and minority control are an important element, but in practical terms, not as much as you think. The same can be said about stakeholders. Stakeholders have rights and can prevent deals from closing as well. For example, the landlord is protected by the lease agreement. The bank is protected by the loan agreement. In some cases, stakeholders are not protected by legal agreements, but they might as well be. For example, a key client legally cannot prevent a deal from happening, but they can stop it in other ways. The key client can tell an investor during diligence that if this deal goes through, he will take his business to a competitor that can stop a deal dead in its tracks.
Sean Magennis [00:04:36] I can clearly see how getting both the shareholders and the stakeholders on the same page is absolutely mission critical. This is a tough question. How is this accomplished?
Greg Alexander [00:04:51] Well, as they say, half of a solution to a problem is recognizing that you have one. So if you’ve listened to this show, you’re halfway there. The remaining 50 percent can broking- can be broken down into two actions. So, number one, have the difficult alignment conversations before you attempt an exit, negotiate who gets what and when they get it way before a deal is on the table. And number two is to remind everyone about the alignment frequently during the process. It’s important to keep everyone in the boat focused on the predetermined definition of success. When offers start coming in, you cannot let anyone conveniently change their mind.
Sean Magennis [00:05:41] This is excellent advice, Greg. Negotiate internally first and get everyone to agree on an acceptable price and deal terms prior to attempting an exit. And now a word from our sponsor. Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members join to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.
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Sean Magennis [00:07:15] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com.
Sean Magennis [00:07:31] Okay, so this takes us to the end of this episode. And as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist. And our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions in this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, you have greed in check. If you answer no, too many times, shareholders and stakeholders will put your deal at risk by bickering over who gets what and when they get it. Let’s begin.
Sean Magennis [00:08:14] Number one, do you have more than one shareholder?
Greg Alexander [00:08:18] You know, obviously, if you’re the sole proprietor.
Sean Magennis [00:08:21] It is a lot easier.
Greg Alexander [00:08:22] It is a lot easier. Yeah.
Sean Magennis [00:08:24] Number two, do they agree on an acceptable price?
Greg Alexander [00:08:28] You know, I would tell you this is a difficult conversation and the reason for that is, is that when you get all the shareholders together in a room and you asked a question, you know, what would you accept for the firm? They throw out these numbers and they have no basis, in fact. So handling this with care and making sure that everybody understands the common way upon which to value a firm like yours and bring some type of method to the conversation helps a lot.
Sean Magennis [00:08:52] And you always said preparation is key and planning and taking the time to do it properly.
Greg Alexander [00:08:57] Sure.
Sean Magennis [00:08:58] So number three, do they agree on the terms of the deal?
Greg Alexander [00:09:01] Another issue. You know, sometimes people are doing this for the first time, so they don’t understand things like rolling your equity or an earn out, how much cash is paid at closing, etc..
Sean Magennis [00:09:12] Number four, are everyone’s expectations, which is what we discussing, are everyone’s expectations realistic?
Greg Alexander [00:09:19] Yeah.
Sean Magennis [00:09:20] Number five, do you have multiple stakeholder groups?
Greg Alexander [00:09:24] Yep. So don’t just pay attention to shareholders. Make sure you’re thinking about your stakeholders as well.
Sean Magennis [00:09:29] And number six, do you know what each stakeholder group wants? Number seven, are their expectations realistic? Number eight, do you know which stakeholder groups could get in the way? Number nine, do you know what the acquirer will require from each of them? And number ten, can you find a compromise between the acquirer and the stakeholder group?
Greg Alexander [00:09:57] Yeah, there’s always a compromise. OK. So the solution to preventing greed from stopping your exit is just find- just find common ground and, you know, at the risk of being crude. Don’t be a pig, yourself. You know, if you want to keep greed in check. Don’t be greedy.
Sean Magennis [00:10:14] Yes. Well said, Greg. So in summary, remember that shareholders own part of your firm. They have rights and will need to agree with you and your deal. And keep in mind, you have stakeholders as well. They also need to agree for you to close. It is best to get alignment prior to attempting to exit. There is usually a compromise that makes everyone happy. However, this compromise is very hard to identify under the hot lights of a deal.
Sean Magennis [00:10:49] If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.