Financial purchasers are usually individuals who wish to run the business full-time as owner/operators; or investors who will not, necessarily, wish to put all their time into managing the business. In either case, they will usually require that key senior management remain in the business after transition. Where you believe that you are likely to sell to a financial buyer, it is important therefore that you:
ensure that you have competent senior management in your business well before you exit; and
put in place retention strategy procedures (for example, a bonus or profit sharing scheme) that improve the likelihood that these managers will stay in the business after transfer.
Also, many individual financial buyers are not very sophisticated when it comes to accounting, so for these buyers your accounts should be presented in a straightforward manner.
