If you are interested in purchasing a Hawaii business but don't see one on our site that feels like a good fit, we do offer two types of Buyer Representation services.

 

1) Assistance with the Purchase of an Identified Business

If you have already identified a business that you wish to purchase, you can retain us to: review financials and provide you with our opinion on business viability, asking price, etc.; assistance with negotiating the terms of a sale; or assist with completing the purchase. Our services can be customized to meet your needs wherever you are in the purchase process.

 

2) A Proactive, Retained Search

Hawaii Business Sale’s comprehensive buyer representation service is designed for both individuals and established companies who generally (but not always) have a clear idea of the type of business they wish to purchase and are committed to making an acquisition happen, rather than just waiting to see what comes on the market.  

 

There are considerable benefits in engaging a professional business intermediary to execute an aggressive, proactive search for acquisitions, as opposed to just waiting to see what businesses come on the market. 

• Quicker results.  It may be years until a suitable acquisition target comes on the market. In the meantime, all the potential synergistic benefits of an acquisition are lost, or a competitor may acquire the ideal target.

• Proprietary deal flow.  The client gets proprietary access to companies that are not formally for sale; thus, the client is not bidding against other buyers.  By contrast, if the target has retained an intermediary to sell the company, the client will likely be bidding against others in an auction format.

• Access to the highest quality businesses.  Many of the best companies never go on the market.  While there are great companies that hire an intermediary to sell, many never do, as they sell quietly to competitors, customers, suppliers, employees, etc. that approach them.

• Sellers are much more open.  Sellers are more willing to engage in discussions with a professional business intermediary than a random buyer who approaches them, or with a buyer from in their industry, as they worry about such buyers’ intent.  The fact that the buyer is willing to engage and pay for an intermediary communicates forcefully that the buyer is serious about making an acquisition.  In addition, many sellers are reluctant to pay intermediaries, even if the intermediary gets them a higher price that more than compensates for the fee.

• Lower price.  Sellers will often accept a lower price if the buyer is paying our fee.  Sellers think in terms of what they net from a sale, after commission, not the gross selling price.  Sellers often tell us, "well, I need to net $XX on the sale, so let's price it at $XX + your commission".

• Sellers may lack professional representation.  When we approach an owner on behalf of our buyer client, they are very unlikely to hire a intermediary or other experienced negotiator to represent them.  The lack of seller representation may give the buyer a substantial advantage. 

 

Our Buy Side Search & Representation Process and Timing

The following table summarizes the basic steps in the process, and approximate timing.  Naturally, the timing can vary considerably with the scope and complexity of each assignment, but this will provide a general guideline.

 

Process Steps

• Assemble the internal and external team that will be assigned to the project

• Clearly define the business objectives

• Clearly define the target acquisition criteria and identify firms potentially meeting the criteria

• Systematically approach the firms and make a preliminary assessment of their level of interest, fit with the acquisition criteria, financial performance, asset value, price expectations, etc.

• Estimate the value of the targets on a standalone basis and reflecting potential synergies

• If multiple possible targets, prioritize based on available information vs. established criteria

• Draft and negotiate the terms of a non-binding Letter of Intent

• Complete financial, administrative, and operational due diligence on the target

• Draft and negotiate the terms of a stock or asset purchase agreement

• Prepare for closing of transaction and create detailed plans for integration of the companies.

 

For clients that engage us in a retained search, HBS takes the lead in directing efforts in all the action steps in the table above.  In some of the activities we drive the process and do the vast majority of work (e.g., identifying acquisition targets, contacting and negotiating with targets, estimating the value of the company), while in others we facilitate, direct and coach the client and its advisors on the activities (e.g., definition of objectives and criteria, drafting of legal documents, completion of due diligence, preparation of integration plans).

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One of the largest "business for sale" websites in the US is BizBuySell.com

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If you see a Hawaii business for sale on this website that we are not representing the seller as a seller's agent, we would be happy to represent you as a

"buyer's agent".