Whether a decision has been made to sell a business or not it is always beneficial to consider how a prospective buyer would perceive your business. Viewing the intricacies of your business from an outside perspective is typically the best way to identify areas within your business that could possibly reduce overall value upon an eventual exit.

In a recent study of the lower mid-market M&A landscape, conducted by CASS Business School, it was revealed that both deal values and volumes increased significantly in the second half of 2013.

As we have previously mentioned, many M&A professionals will look upon 2013 fondly as the year in which confidence returned to the market. Following a slow start to the year, multiples and volumes of deals increased significantly throughout H2 2013.

Today we received a very nice letter of gratitude for our help from Coronation Street following their success at the National Television Awards 2014 which took place last night.

Following a fantastic year in 2013 in which Benchmark International achieved a record number deals completed, highest average deal value and multiple and the prestigious ‘Deal of the Year’ award at the Insider Dealmakers awards 2013, our achievements have also been recognised in Experian’s 2013 Advisor League Tables.

Today we received a very nice letter from one of our recent clients, Chris Cowan of Arrow Supplies. Chris recently sold his company to an Internationally operating, Danish acquirer, in a deal which he was very pleased with.

Benchmark International has advised the shareholders of Arrow Supplies on the successful sale of the Company to Nilfisk Advance Group for an undisclosed sum.

Benchmark International has advised the shareholders of Albors & Alnet on the successful sale of the Company to Interpreters Unlimited Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

An improving global economy coupled with decreasing uncertainty, large cash reserves and attractive acquisition and investment opportunities saw confidence in M&A return in 2013. A continuation of these factors promises to run through 2014 with increasing competitiveness for opportunities from corporates and private equity acquirers driving deal values back to pre-recession levels.

2013 will be looked back on as the year when confidence truly returned to the M&A industry. After a slow start, buyers returned to the market in droves in H2 2013, with a strong focus on quality opportunities, backed with unspent cash and driven by pent-up demand.

Benchmark International has advised the shareholders of Text Marketer on the successful sale of the Company to Esendex, backed by Darwin Private Equity for an undisclosed sum.

Chancellor George Osbourne has presented his 2013 Autumn Statement which, on the whole, can be seen as positive, especially for business owners. Economic growth forecasts have more than doubled from 0.6% to 1.4%, however, the Chancellor was evidently keen to emphasise that there is still a lot of work to be done and achieving a ‘responsible recovery’ will be done through the austerity plan that has granted the results to date.

Benchmark International has successfully advised the shareholders of Primera Healthcare on the sale of the Company to Adept Medicare for an undisclosed sum.

Benchmark International has successfully advised the shareholders of Monitor Environmental Limited on the sale of the Company to Laboratories Protec SA, part of Protec Group for an undisclosed sum.

Established over 30 years ago, Monitor Environmental provide a full range of asbestos related services including consultancy, management surveys, refurbishment and demolition surveys, fibre counting, bulk sampling and producing asbestos registers, either as a written report or on an electronic database, and providing asbestos awareness courses.

Established in 1997, the Protec Group is one of leading environmental companies in France. The company is specialized in key environmental issues. Protec’s companies provide an array of services and products: from performing analysis to instrumentation for quick measurements on site to health and hygiene protective equipment.

Benchmark International would like to thank all parties involved and wish them the very best for the future.

November saw Benchmark International’s UK Corporate Finance Team; based at the company’s Greater Manchester head office, complete a record ten (10) deals.

Following three years of gradual growth we now seem to be firmly within the growth phase of the M&A industry lifecycle which is great news for business owners who have been putting off the sale of their business for a time when they are better placed to receive the best price.

Acting on behalf of Tee Times USA Inc (TeeTimesusa.com) and its shareholders of Flagler Beach, Florida, USA, global company sales specialist, Benchmark International, successfully facilitated the sale of Tee Times to two owner operators, Adam Wachter and Marc Bender. The transaction was completed with a growth strategy in mind.

Benchmark International has successfully advised the shareholders of Verplas Limited on the sale of the Company to Indutrade AB for an undisclosed sum.

Benchmark International has successfully advised the shareholder of Crane Services on the sale of the company to REEL for an undisclosed sum.

Benchmark International has successfully advised the shareholders of J C Kellett (Development) Limited on the 100% sale of the company to Britdoors Group Limited for an undisclosed sum which equates to 6.5x the company’s EBITDA.

Benchmark International has successfully advised the shareholders of Datalytics Limited on the sale of 75% of the company’s shares to Iris Nation Worldwide for an undisclosed sum.

Benchmark International’s UK team were the proud recipients of the ‘Deal of the Year (Sub £5m)’ award at the Insider Dealmaker Awards 2013, held at Manchester Central, Thursday 24 October 2013.

Benchmark International has successfully advised the shareholders of Netplan Internet Solutions on the sale of the company to Daily Internet for an initial sum of £2.5m, with additional deferred and performance-related elements due after 12 months.

Established in 2000, Netplan provides internet infrastructure as a service (IaaS), focusing on high security, e-commerce and cloud-based infrastructures. The company’s primary co-location facility is in London Docklands and the company also has a number of data centres including one in Coventry.

Netplan currently has a database of 840 customers and for the year to 30 September 2012 it's audited accounts show an EBITDA of £320,000 on a turnover of £1.1m.

Founded in 2006, Nottingham-based Daily provides web-hosting services. Daily is funding the acquisition with a placing to investors on the London Stock Exchange’s growth market, the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The acquisition represents a strategic move by Daily to gain increased product reach and a strong foothold in its target markets.

Benchmark International’s Managing Director (UK), James Thornton, commented, “The UK web-hosting sector is particularly buoyant at present and our highly targeted marketing efforts to both UK and overseas acquirers generated significant levels of interest, particularly from trade acquirers seeking to gain an increased market share.”

Commenting on the role Benchmark International played, Stuart Gibson (Netplan’s main shareholder) said, “Benchmark delivered everything they promised. From gaining a thorough understanding of the business, they presented it to a host of strategic buyers, generating a lot of interest and allowing us to choose the most suitable buyer for ourselves, the company and its fantastic workforce”.

Working closely with Benchmark International’s Corporate Finance team, particularly in the latter stages of the transaction, he added, “Benchmark stood by us every step of the way, guiding us through some intense negotiations with Daily and it's advisers. The team’s help ensured that the deal was completed on terms which were satisfactory to all parties and we look forward to working with Daily’s management team going forward.”

Benchmark International would like to thank everyone involved in the deal and wish them the very best of luck for the future.

Benchmark International Corporate Finance Director, Nick Hulme, will be speaking at Insider’s Finance for Growth Breakfast to be held on Thursday 24^th October 2013 in Manchester.

North West-based drain and sewer specialist, Underground Vision (UK) Limited (UGV & the Company) has been acquired by Torenvalk Group BV (Torenvalk), a Dutch-based trade acquirer for an undisclosed value consisting of cash and shares issued on completion.

Established in 2007, UGV has grown to become one of the largest independent drain and sewer operations in the UK. The Company has developed a strong reputation, providing domestic and commercial clients, including several blue-chips, with an exceptionally high standard of service utilising cutting-edge technologies.

The opportunity to acquire UGV generated a wealth of interest from both UK and international trade and private equity acquirers. From the interest generated, the Shareholders identified Torenvalk as representing the strongest fit for the Company. The Dutch-based company has operated within the drainage industry, managed by the Van Der Valk family, for over 50 years.

With the French and German markets possessing fairly significant barriers to entry, the Shareholders of Torenvalk, which has existing operations in the Belgian and UK drain and sewer industries, identified the UK as a market within which they wanted to strengthen Torenvalk’s presence.

Following the acquisition, UGV’s Shareholders will continue to manage the Company’s operations supplemented by additional resources, provided by Torenvalk, to further develop UGV’s UK market share. The extra resources will help the Company fulfill contracts it previously did not have the capacity to accept.

Commenting on the deal, James Thornton, Benchmark International Managing Director stated, “This deal is going to greatly benefit both parties with Underground Vision set to gain greater competitive advantage due to increased resources and Torenvalk further strengthening their UK market presence. Our clients have been a pleasure to work with throughout and I’m extremely pleased that they have been able to achieve a fantastic deal.”

Also discussing the deal, UGV Director, Brad Commins stated, “Both myself and Anthony are really pleased that we can now continue managing Underground Vision backed with sufficient capital to take the company on to the next level. Torenvalk represents a superb fit and we are now really looking forward to working with them to build upon our success to date. I would also like to thank everyone involved at Benchmark International who really helped us throughout this process. They turned out to be a vital factor in such a successful deal.”

Benchmark International would like to thank all parties involved and we wish them all the very best of luck for the future.

As M&A specialists we are asked one question significantly more often than any other . . .  ‘How much is my business worth?’ Most business owners expect us to give a definitive answer, however, the simple fact is that whilst a tentative valuation can be placed on a company, the acquirer and the manner in which it is sold largely determine its value.

It appears that many buyers are currently on the prowl, attempting to bag bargain acquisitions by exploiting business owners blinded by multi-million Dollar cheques and disadvantaged by a lack of advice from a seasoned M&A professional.

Benchmark International are proud to announce that we have been nominated for an award at Insider’s prestigious Dealmakers award ceremony which will take place on 24 October 2013 at Manchester Central.

Market factors inevitably play the most significant role in successful deal completions. Industry conditions, the state of local and global economies and country specific governmental legislative environments will largely effect demand and realized value upon any company sale.

Today we received a very nice letter from Bob Turner of Fleet Wizard (formerly trading as Fleet Auto-Mates) thanking Benchmark International for the role we played in the sale of his company. Based in Greater Manchester, Bob Turner sold the Company, MSA Software Systems to the Cheshire-based IT services company in March 2013.

As we have mentioned previously, a lack of spending within the Private Equity industry is creating significant pressure to invest. This is good news for business owners looking to exit their company as the huge sums of money available means that Private Equity firms chasing well performing businesses.

In a blog featured on Insider Media James Thornton, UK managing director of Benchmark International, discusses the lessons he learned from his recent move into the US market. (Click to view James blog on InsiderMedia.com)

External market factors play a huge role in determining the value of a company. Regardless of how well your company may be performing, the disappointing thing for business owners is that a variety of factors that impact the value of a business are beyond the control of the owner.

Acting on behalf of Zucker Public Relations Inc. (Zucker PR) and its shareholders of Boca Raton, Florida, USA, global company sales specialist, Benchmark International, successfully facilitated the integration of Zucker PR into Rogers & Cowan for an undisclosed amount.  Zucker is now a senior VP for Rogers & Cowan, heading up southeastern U.S. operations and expanding the footprint of Rogers & Cowan, which currently has offices in London, New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles.

Whether you are seeking an exit from your business in the short, medium or long term, it is always beneficial to bare in mind how any potential acquirers will perceive your business. In order to attain the highest value it is important to get the company in the best possible shape. In doing so, business owners should endeavor to eliminate any potential issues which may arise come the due diligence process.

Within the company sales industry many brokers, investment banks and M&A companies often adopt a 'one size fits all' approach when it comes to structuring exit solutions for their clients.

Last weekend (3-4 August 2013), 20,000 cyclists descended upon London for the inaugural Prudential RideLondon cycling event, part of the governments Olympic legacy plans. The festival of cycling ran over the weekend consisting of a freecycle through London, an 8 mile open event which allowed riders to take in the sites of England’s capital city without cars. There was also a pro cycling event on Sunday which covered the Olympic road race 140 mile route from London to Surrey and back.

Key points

Benchmark International is delighted to welcome Martin Kelway to our International Research Team. Martin will take up the position of Head of Research Strategy, working closely with UK & US Corporate Deal Teams to help source and connect with highly motivated potential acquirers for our client companies.

Occupying the position of Deal Lead Director, Kendall manages and coordinates a large team of Deal Leaders and Executives that are responsible for driving deals utilizing a strong commercial awareness and negotiation skills, ensuring ultimate satisfaction for Benchmark International’s clients.