The Burns Firms M&A Advisors, LLC
The Merger and Acquisition (M&A) arena combines many services and is an exciting area of involvement for our firm. For this reason, we have created The Burns Firm M&A Advisors, LLC which allows our Mergers and Acquisitions team greater focus and often combines The Burns Firm services.
Mission Statement
A trusted Partner — providing expertise and peace of mind to business owners assuring they receive the maximum return on the sale of their company.
Experience
“As anything, the more experience one has the better they are and vice versa. We have been involved in literally hundreds of acquisitions and sales of businesses over the past 30 years. We can almost always can determine a tax efficient way to save thousands of dollars payable to the IRS. Mr. Burns has spoken at conventions with the Texas Association of Business Brokers and the International Business Brokers Association in Texas and around the country. Ask us about some of our “war” stories in completing difficult transactions and in saving buyers and sellers thousands of dollars.”
At The Burns Firm M&A Advisors, LLC, we are prepared to utilize all of our resources to assist in making your purchase, sale, or merger a success. We are experienced in representing buyers, sellers, and merger partners in all aspects of the process, and work closely with the other professionals (brokers, attorneys, credit officers, etc.) on your team.
Business Valuations
A major step in any purchase, sale or merger is determining the value of the business(es) involved. Buyers need to know how much to offer for a business, sellers need to know how much to ask for their business, and merger partners need to know the respective values of their business before all the parties can come together. In many cases, we act independently in valuing a business to assist in bringing buyers and sellers together.
Audits
Many purchasers and/or merger partners require the seller or merger partner to have audited financial statements for at least one year and in many cases several years. This provides the purchasers and/or merger partner with a level of confidence in the financial statements from which they may be making their offer and will be basing their business plan.
Due Diligence
Most purchasers and/or merger partners require certain due diligence procedures to be performed prior to closing their deal. These procedures vary dramatically depending on the particulars of the transaction. Some typical procedures include: search for unrecorded liabilities, review of tax returns to determine outstanding taxes payable, review of corporate stock and minute books, lien searches, and review of lease documents.
We will also review employment contracts, purchase commitments, and other contracts, review the business plan, analyze the accounting systems, and cost control systems, and confirm the term and status of loan agreements. We help establish the most cost-effective due diligence procedures necessary, and act as the catalyst to completing them.
Forecasts and Projections
It is imperative that purchasers and merger partners know how the business will operate after the transaction is complete. They also need to know that future goals are attainable. Such issues as adequate cash flow to service acquisition debts and pay dividends and profitable operations need to be addressed. We can assist in preparing realistic forecasts and projections to explore these issues and satisfy outside lenders and/or investors as to the viability of the project.
Structuring
The structure of any deal is critical. We can help establish the best structure for a transaction to achieve the best tax and economic results. There are numerous complicated tax laws relating specifically to purchases, sales, mergers and liquidations, and a wrong choice can result in a larger current tax liability and/or an ongoing tax cost.
There are also many non-tax issues that need to be dealt with in structuring a transaction. These might include various accounting requirements, carryover of seller’s liability to purchaser, personal liability of purchaser and seller to outsiders, and satisfaction of investor’s/lender’s requirements. Buyers, sellers and/or merger partners all need to know how a particular structure will affect them. We can assist in evaluating all of these issues and help design the appropriate structure.