EP #214 - Thomas Hofer & Vito Gigante: How To Sell Or Buy A Company

Timestamps:

1:32 - How not to sell your company

6:46 - KPIs to reach before selling

20:40 - Finding the right price

26:32 - Whoever wants to deal less wins

32:04 - Your role after the sale

About Thomas Hofer and Vito Gigante

Thomas Hofer is the head of the transaction advisory at UBS' corporate finance department, and has been working for UBS for over 20 years. Vito Gigante has been the head of SME M&As at UBS ever since 2016.

Here are a few common mistakes when it comes to selling/buying companies:

- Sellers often underestimate the difficulty of the selling process;

- Sellers often neglect to undertake the necessary preparation (i.e., mostly the documentation process);

- Buyers often focus on the aspects they have expertise on, and neflect to ask for advice on other topics.

Thomas and Vito recommend that you sell your company while it still has a bright future ahead, and not when it's about to tank. You should also pay close attention to the political and technological zeitgeist when assessing the right time for the deal.

UBS provides transaction financing services, where they act as a sparring partner for the buyer the whole way through. Their internal experts provide a 2nd opinion on various aspects of the deal, and they also coordinate the closing process to ensure utmost transaction security.

Memorable Quotes:

"The best time to sell your company is as soon as a promising future comes on the horizon. Don't make the mistake of waiting too long."

If you would like to listen to our other episodes from this UBS co-production, check out our conversations with Jürg Tauss and Fabian Humbel.

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