What Is a Management Buyout: Everything You Need to Know

Companies change hands regularly. Owners take on business partners or sell the company. Shareholders trade ownership on the stock market. Managers with equity come and go. However, a management buyout is a unique method of taking over a business.

What is a management buyout, and what can it mean for your business? Whether you should consider this process depends on the business performance, the management team, and available resources. Let's take a closer look at this type of merger or acquisition.

What Is a Management Buyout?

MBO describes an acquisition strategy where the management team buys the business from its owners. It tends to happen in private companies when the existing owners retire or prepare to move into a different field. In other cases, it’s how a public business goes private.

The driving force behind an MBO is the firm belief that the business's executives can boost performance and company value if they have a controlling stake. Managers may buy all or part of the company.

Starting the Process

The buyout process begins when managers identify the company as a good purchase and then begin negotiations. Once they have arrived at a purchase price, they may need to pool resources and seek external capital to finalize the deal.

Legal and Regulatory Considerations

Like all mergers and acquisitions, MBOs face legal and regulatory scrutiny. Some jurisdictions require shareholder approval, disclosure of information, and adherence to competition laws. The management team must avoid conflicts of interest and breaches of fiduciary duties during the transaction process. Failure to do so could lead to lengthy investigations and costly fines.

What Are the 5 Steps of a Management Buyout Explained?

Managers seeking to buy the business they work for must follow five basic steps. Knowing the process can help them set a realistic timeline for ownership transfer.

1. Conduct a Company Analysis

Managers start by thoroughly analyzing the company's past performance. They also need to review the current situation and prospects to ensure they get a strong return on investment. This process can entail the following:

• Reviewing financial statements
• Talking to customers/clients and suppliers
• Conducting market research
• Getting an initial business appraisal

The owners-to-be will also need to determine what success looks like for the new company. That starts with painting a realistic picture of where the company is now and what the vision for its future should look like.

2. Negotiate the Selling Price With the Owner(s)

The selling price is one of the most significant factors of success. Buying at the right price ensures strong ROI and improves the chances of getting funding. Owners might not feel ready to sell. Those who need to retire will need the best price to ensure they can care for themselves and their families.

Don't start negotiations blindly and in good faith alone. Have a strategy and execute it. Choose the manager best-known for their persuasive skills to lead the charge. Keep in mind the following tips:

• Prepare With Care: Review what the company brings to the table and what it's truly worth. This will mean letting go of any sentimental attachments and looking at both the bigger picture and smaller details.
• Utilize Expert Assistance: Hiring a financial professional can help you stay on track and make decisions based on objective value. They can provide much-needed advice on how to negotiate effectively and help you avoid legal pitfalls.
• Be Transparent: Be open about your intent and plans for the company's future. This will establish trust and positive rapport with the current owners.
• Plan for Contingencies: Have a plan B ready. If the initial negotiation doesn't go well, offering alternative strategies can keep the process moving forward.
• Have Patience: Remember, negotiations can take time. Stay patient and persistent. The goal is to reach an agreement that is beneficial for all parties involved.

The negotiation process is a critical part of a management buyout. It requires clear communication, understanding, and patience from both ends. A fair and successful negotiation will pave the way for a smooth ownership transition. Should negotiations fail, it should have gone well enough for managers to retain their jobs if preferred.

3. Finance the Buyout

Executive pay has reached an all-time high in America. Some CEOs make millions, and the managers reporting to them are often not far behind. Consequently, some managers might have the resources necessary to purchase stakes in a company.

However, most need external financing, especially for larger corporations. Here are some of the main types of available funding:

• Venture capital/private equity: Some management teams bring in outside investors, such as venture capitalists, while retaining ownership.
• Family loans: Managers might borrow from other family members. This could even include the owner if the managers and owners are related.
• Bank loans: Management teams can seek debt financing from a bank, typically with the company's assets as collateral. Examples include senior debt, junior, and mezzanine financing. Small business loans are also a viable solution. This is also known as a leveraged buyout.

Even when managers use external funding, they must put up some personal assets as collateral or a down payment. Having skin in the game signals commitment to creditors and venture capitalists.

4. Create a Transition Plan

What happens when the business transfers ownership? Will the owner still play a role at all? Are there any provisions for family members who had hoped to work in the industry upon graduation? Will the company retain its name, logo, and other branding assets? Will the owner's departure be abrupt, or will they gradually reduce involvement over time? These are some of the many questions you must answer when creating your transition plan.

5. Complete the Transfer of Ownership

Execute the transition plan with the assistance of professionals to ensure the legal and financial transfer. This step typically involves signing legal documents, such as shareholder agreements, stock transfer agreements, and non-compete agreements. Ensure there are contracts for any concessions granted, such as reasonable access to family-owned resources that the business needs to thrive.

What Are the Advantages of Management Buyouts?

Managers who want to run a business could consider several options. They could buy another company or start a rival from scratch. Here are some of the benefits of choosing an MBO instead.

Streamlined Compared to Other Options

MBOs have a faster, smoother, and more cost-effective process than other routes to business ownership. This makes them an attractive option for first-time buyers or those with limited resources.

Better Understanding of the Business

Managers who work in a business know its ins and outs. While due diligence is still essential, they have seen the company's true form. Existing managers understand what works and what doesn't. They are better positioned to make decisions that will impact the company positively.

Career Advancement

When managers hit the peak of their role, MBOs provide a way to stay in the company while advancing. They can continue to manage the company as full-time workers, or they might take on a more reduced role as an owner while allowing other employees to move into the roles they had.

Succession Planning

Succession planning is often a complex and emotional process for owners. They usually want to keep the business in the family, but sometimes the children have no interest in the company or lack the skills to take over. In some cases, there are no children to inherit.

In these scenarios, MBOs can provide the perfect succession plan. However, some families also use MBOs to pass companies down through the generations. Newcomers buy the business from the older generation.

What Are the Risks and Challenges of Management Buyouts?

Despite the benefits, MBOs do have some challenges. Executives must know these upfront before purchasing so they can plan for success and guide management decisions.

Owner and Employee Reluctance

Convincing the owner to sell could take a lot of work. They might be reluctant to let the business go, even if some or all of the managers are family members. You must have an honest and transparent conversation about such concerns and address them. For example, if the owner worries the business will lose its roots and become too modernized, find compromises to preserve the current culture.

Managers might also face resistance from employees who are wary of the change in ownership and potential shifts in company culture and policies. Employees might feel that managers will only look out for themselves or that new generations might not handle the business as well as older and more experienced ones did. This can lead to increased turnover rates and the creation of rivals as people jump ship.

High Risk for Managers

MBOs pose a high risk for managers due to the considerable financial obligations involved. There is also the possibility of overvaluation of the company. Managers face a higher risk of this if they think they know the company operations well enough to skip due diligence but then later discover the owner did not disclose everything about the business.

In case of failure, managers risk their investment. If the business fails, they lose both their capital and their jobs. Trust has its place in business, but due diligence and professional advice are indispensable when the stakes are high.

Financial Stress and Conflict

If the buyout is heavily leveraged, the company could be burdened with high debt levels. This can make it vulnerable to economic downturns. It can also stifle innovation and growth within the company as managers focus on reducing debt and returning the business to its former financial position.

As in any transaction, the primary conflict is that the seller wants the highest price, while the buyer wants the lowest price. Managers will also experience conflicting interests after the transfer. For example, the desire for higher salaries (to compensate for more responsibility) conflicts with the company's need to boost liquidity and reduce debt.

A Successful Management Buyout Example

Dell is one of the most commonly cited examples of a management buyout. The company made headlines in 2013 when the founder, Michael Dell, leveraged debt to buy back Dell Inc. It cost him more than $24 billion, but he took the company private and rebuilt it from the inside out. He accomplished this with the assistance of Microsoft and Silver Lake Equity.

This fictional example further illustrates the management buyout meaning:

Curtis is the owner and CEO of a company that sells farming equipment to the surrounding towns. Over the years, he has made millions of dollars and lives comfortably on his income. However, Curtis is getting older and has health issues. He has made countless attempts to involve his sons in the family business, but one has started a career as a pilot and the other has moved to the city.

The managers in the organization recognize Curtis’ desire to retire due to his failing health. They approach him with a pitch to buy the business for its estimated worth of $10 million, plus continued business funding of his health insurance. Curtis accepts the offer, transfers ownership, and steps down as CEO. The manager who initiated negotiations and invested the most personal capital becomes the new CEO.

Curtis has built a strong relationship with the credit union, allowing him to secure loans at favorable rates whenever needed. He agrees to negotiate on the business's behalf when it needs new loans while the new managers earn the bank's trust.

What Is a Management Buyout Cloud Migration Partner and Why Do You Need One?

Modernization and efficiency are critical when new talent takes over a business. Managers must meet new demands with fewer resources in order to set aside a portion of business revenue to repay loans. Migrating to the cloud can make this possible by increasing cost savings with more efficient operations. However, too much modernization can alienate customers.

New owners need to work with an experienced cloud migration partner able to help them decide on the right approach. Potential options include hybrid, multi-cloud, and partial migration. In some cases, you might even need to repatriate data to an on-premises system after a previously unsuccessful data migration.

Whatever your concerns and needs, the right partner can lead you in the right direction.

With unmatched next generation migration technology, Cloudficient is revolutionizing the way businesses retire legacy systems and transform their organization into the cloud. Our business constantly remains focused on client needs and creating product offerings that match them. We provide affordable services that are scalable, fast and seamless.

If you would like to learn more about how to bring Cloudficiency to your migration project, visit our website, or contact us.