Way back in mid-October, our management team began putting on presentations to sell Zenith Cutter, the company that I work for. Our owner had died in the summer of 2008, and we have been working since then to get the company ready for sale. In late summer last year, the investment bankers that we hired to help us said that it was a good time to begin marketing ourselves.
So we solicited potential buyers and began the process of doing nine separate full-day presentations to prospective companies. In mid-December, three buyers showed interest serious enough to offer letters of intent to buy us. One company was chosen for its bid, and we began serious deliberations with them. This company is named Fisher-Barton, and they are based out of Waukesha, WI, which is just west of Milwaukee.
After five months of due diligence review by them, we finally closed the deal on Monday, June 13th. I was designated as the main focal point of the process since most of the information was financial and administrative in nature. If you ever have the chance to go through the due diligence process as the "target company", DON"T DO IT! I can tell you that it was like working two full-time jobs simultaneously -- a major, stressful endeavor that I do not want to go through again. While my job is secure after the purchase, it has changed substantially.
Gemma and I have been planning our future from here on, and I intend to chronicle our progress through this blog. Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment