IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Registration and participation in the webinars is completely anonymous to third parties
How to maximise the value of your business before selling
Maximising the value of your company before selling is almost always the most profitable work a founder or CEO can do in the years leading up to an M&A transaction. The price signed in the contract is not decided in the final negotiation, it is decided much earlier: in how revenue is built, who makes operational decisions, what can be proven with figures and what has been legally protected. Once the sales process has started, the scope for shifting value is drastically reduced.
Book the appointment
- Date: 26th June
- Time: 10:30
- Duration: 30 minutes
- Registration: free of charge
The session will be moderated by Paul von Kessel, BD Manager at Baker Tilly, and speakers will include Diego Gutiérrez, partner at Baker Tilly Tech M&A, and Cristina Salmon, Director of Baker Tilly Tech M&A.
Why value is built before the process, not during
In an M&A process, valuing a company is not just about applying a multiple or building a financial model. Valuation is a strategic tool that makes it possible to understand what the business owner can expect from the market, defend their position against the right buyer and anticipate the factors that will determine the final price. That defence is much more robust when the levers have been worked on well in advance.
After the first session of the series Tech M&A Update focused on fundamentals — price versus value, multiples, DCF and adjustments to EBITDA — this second part focuses on practical application in real transactions: what decides value when there is a real buyer on the other side.
Three keys that will decide the final value of your company
The same company is worth different amounts to different buyers. A financial investor — private equity, search fund, family office — values a company based on its capacity to generate autonomous cash flows. A strategic buyer also values it for the cost, revenue or time-to-market synergies they can capture after integration. The difference between the two profiles can reach 20-30% of the base value. Identifying which type of buyer maximises the value of your specific company is one of the first tasks for the M&A adviser.
The payment structure matters just as much as the price. An offer of 10 million with 70% upon closing and 30% subject to a three-year earn-out is not equivalent to a 9 million cash offer. Earn-outs, vendor loans, retentions, equity rollover and taxation modify the real present value of each offer. Comparing offers solely by the total figure is one of the most expensive mistakes made in a negotiation.
Value levers are worked on 12–36 months in advance. The highest-impact improvements in the tech sector are revenue quality (recurrence, NRR above 110%, client diversification), commercial efficiency (LTV/CAC above 3), operational continuity without the founder, clear ownership of intellectual property, and financial strength (at least three years of audited accounts). These are the levers that a buyer can verify during due diligence and for which they are willing to pay more.
These three keys, and the operational decisions each one implies, are the focus of the upcoming webinar by Baker Tilly Tech M&A Advisors.
What you are going to learn on 26 June
In 30 minutes, Diego Gutiérrez and Cristina Salmón will explain:
- Why the same company can have different values for different buyers
- How a seemingly superior offer may not be the best if the payment structure carries more risk
- How different valuation methods are combined to build a defensible range
- How to use valuation as a negotiation tool
- What levers your business can pull before selling to increase its appeal and maximise value
Addressed to Tech company CEOs and founders, entrepreneurs considering selling or growing through M&A, and management teams who want to understand how a company's value is measured.