Case Studies
Personal
+ Financial Balance
Family
Business
Hostile Takeover
Problem: A private Northern California company was facing a hostile takeover attempt from one if its investors. Further complicating matters, the investment firm’s takeover efforts were being aided by one of the company’s former executives.
Solution: Accent Capital Founder Milt Reeder provided the company’s litigation firm with the accounting and financial arguments it needed to win a jury trial, and counter-sue the investment firm. He then negotiated to have the investor leave the board and accept a buyout of its shares payable in three years. Once this concluded, Milt refinanced the cost of the buyout, so the client company could completely end its relationship with the hostile investor.
“Milt is a rare find — he brings solid financial acumen and creative problem solving, along with an understanding and appreciation the business and personal needs. He was key in our ability to defend against this hostile takeover.”
-Private Company CEO
Optimizing Valuation
Problem: A private company was taking on an outside investor and had a soft agreement for a valuation of 30 million. The company’s law firm recommended that it have Accent Capital Founder Milt Reeder review the valuation.
Solution: After reviewing the prospective agreement, Milt Reeder was able to increase the agreed valuation of the company by 66%, from $30m to $50m. The prospective investor agreed to the new valuation and the investment went forward.
“While this was a particularly large increase in valuation, it is not uncommon for private companies to be undervalued when doing their own assessment. It’s important for companies to understand their optimal valuation before negotiating terms of a loan, investment or sale.”
-Milt Reeder, Accent Capital Founder
Selling Advantage
Problem: A private San Francisco Bay-area CEO was eager to sell his company so he could retire, but his company’s valuation didn’t warrant the his target sale price.
Solution: Accent’s Milt Reeder identified factors that were impeding the company from getting a higher valuation. These included having a groomed executive ready to step into the CEO position, and cleaning up the books. Just 18 months later the CEO was able to sell for more than his original target sale price and retire.
“This isn’t an uncommon situation. But in my experience on or two strategic changes can make a big difference in how attractive a company is to buyers, elevating the sale price and often accelerating the sale transaction process.”
Balancing Personal + Financial
Problem: Obtaining a competitive price for the company was just one part of the selling equation for this CEO, who like many private business owners was concerned how the sale of his company would impact his employees and the legacy of the business he had built.
Solution: Milt Reeder understood that this was no ordinary transaction and that the buyer would need to be interested in building the business. He was able to negotiate a successful sale that met the owner’s financial goal, while also guaranteeing the company would continue in the same location, retain current employees and maintain the business name
“I was clear on what I needed to feel good about the sale of my company, Milt got that right away and found the right folks to work with us in finding a buyer.”
Family Business
Problem: The matriarch and CEO of a family-owned business was nearing retirement and her children were planning to take-over the company’s operations. Unfortunately, the money set aside to fund her retirement was also needed for operating capital to maintain and grow the business.
Solution: Having been raised in family that owned a business, Milt Reeder understands the how difficult it can be to manage the transition of the CEO and founder. After reviewing the needs of the CEO and her family and the optimal valuation of the the business, he was able to provide the company with viable options for funding the CEO’s retirement combination of loans and private equity, while comfortably maintaining the capital needed for growth. (To learn more about private equity, visit our “Articles” page.)
"Milt took all of our concerns seriously, making everyone involved feel ‘heard.’ Then he gave us several viable options that addressed these concerns and met our personal and business objectives.”
- Former Private Company Founder and CEO (Now happily retired)
