Issue 4 of 9: Financial Partners

Construction Ownership Transition Issue 4 of 9: Are Your Financial Partners, including Bank and Surety, Onboard with the Transition?

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share
Succession: Ownership Transition Issues - Number 4 Financial Partners. Construction is a cash-intensive business. Ownership transitions require even more cash.
  • Engage them very early in the process to understand what they are looking for. Because they see this a lot, they often have great advice for owners making transitions. 
  • Start building the relationships with the management team early.
  • Get a good understanding of the capital and collateral that will be required to be left in the company for the bank, surety, and insurance.  
  • Build these requirements into your financial model of the transition and build some cushion in because things will never go as planned.
  • If a personal guarantee will still be required from the current owner(s) for a period of time, set a value for what that guarantee will be worth for them if they are willing to take that risk at all. This will typically be a percentage for what is guaranteed paid annually.  
  • Depending on the exit strategy, this may or may not be that big of an issue, but the financial partners are one of the major stakeholders in the transition. 

Issue 4 of 9: Financial Partners
Continue building value in your business, yourself and your key team members with a good succession strategy....

Issue 4 of 9: Financial Partners
Continue building value in your business, yourself and your key team members with a good succession strategy....

Change Management Foundation
There are four foundational items that support great change management. Without these in place, you will never get the value out of streamlining the process.
Ownership Transition Timelines
While it is possible for ownership transition timelines to be accelerated, that largely depends on the current condition of the company, including the management team and current owner.
Stephen Schwarzman - Time Wounds All Deals
Speed is a competitive advantage and a capability that can be built. Contractors work through hundreds of deals each year, including negotiating to win new work, joint ventures, recruiting key talent, successions, and mergers and acquisitions.