In the world of trade and commerce, the purchase of one business by another is not uncommon. In fact, whenever a business wants to grow, besides widening its avenues of trade, it also tries to acquire other relatively similar businesses with a view to establish a larger presence in the commercial world. The entire process may look quite simple. However, in reality it is a pretty complex exercise as there are a lot of technicalities that are required to be taken into account to make sure that the decision turns out to be financially fruitful for the company vying for the deal at the end of the day.

Here we bring to you some finer points that a company needs to take into consideration prior to acquiring a business. Things are no different in purchase of businesses in Edmonton. Hence, all these points revolve around the concept of business valuation in Edmonton, which is an indispensable factor on which buying a business in Edmonton as well as in the rest of the world depends.

• The Suitable Standard of Value that is to be Considered – When it comes to taking into account suitable standard of value, there are two varieties of standards. While one is fair market value the other is the strategic value.
  1. Fair Market Value – It is the value that represents the value or the worth of a particular business in case it is to be sold out to a third party who is not related to the business. It also determines the floor value of the business which ultimately decides the acceptable price or value in the event of a sale. It is typically considered as the most realistic or appropriate value in case financial buyers are involved in the sale. This is simply because these buyers do not have any synergy to squeeze out of the business and hence are more inclined to acquire the business in “as it is” condition and continue with its normal operation unabated.
  2. Strategic Value – This comes into play when the acquiring a business that are from the same niche of industry and the deal that is struck between them is a strategic one. This happens when the purchaser considers the effect of the redundant expenses that can be eliminated or avoided. The elimination of these expenses would allow the purchaser to pay a cost that is more than the fair market price though that will still give a greater return at the end of the day.
• The Amount of Impact the Purchase Structure will Have on the Price – The structure of a deal greatly impacts the price. Parties involved in a deal may ponder over the fact as to whether they should structure a particular deal as a stock deal or an asset deal, for this will in turn ultimately put an effect on the price of the deal once it is struck. Sellers of businesses generally opt for stock deals as their proceeds are considered taxable as capital gains only once. In case of stock deals, the buyer is purchasing the legal entity and all items on the balance sheet which will include all the contingent as well as unknown liabilities would be assumed by the purchaser.
• Taking into Account the Earn-outs – Earn-out is an effective tool when it comes to considering business valuation in Edmonton for acquiring a business. It comes in handy when bridging the difference between the seller and buyer of a business in case they cannot agree in terms of price. In case of an earn-out, the two parties come to an agreement that once the transaction is closed, the seller might get some additional payments that are based on the performance of the company. It enables the purchaser to compensate the seller in certain aspects if and when certain activity levels are attained and to keep the price lower in case the targets are not achieved.

If you take into account the concept of business purchase on a broader perspective, the issues that we have discussed so far collectively form a mere tip of an iceberg. This is because there are innumerable aspects of business purchasing that comes into play depending upon the real life scenario that crop up during these deals.

All said and done, it is a process that is better handled by Performance Business Brokers who are experts in business purchase deals and related activities.

Contact us today to discuss. info@performancebb.ca or call 780-756-2990