Exit & Investment Readiness

Applying a buyer’s perspective on your business in a closed environment

We partner with founders, investors and management teams as they prepare for a future exit or third-party investment event.

This begins with our Buy-side Spotlight, an impartial evaluation of your company through the lens of a buyer or investor. Conducted outside the scrutiny of a formal sale process, it allows for potential deal issues to be identified and addressed ahead of time and in confidence, giving you the best opportunity to secure a successful outcome when the time arises.

Alongside our observations, we prepare an exit preparation roadmap and support you in delivering against this while you continue to focus on running the business.

Reduce transaction risk and process friction

Minimise time to close

Drive valuation and terms

Manage off-market interest effectively

Make diligence confirmatory not discovery

Reduce transaction risk and process friction

Minimise time to close

Drive valuation and terms

Manage off-market interest effectively

Make diligence confirmatory not discovery

Reduce transaction risk and process friction

Minimise time to close

Drive valuation and terms

Manage off-market interest effectively

Make diligence confirmatory not discovery

Even strong businesses with high performing teams can leave value on the table without prior exposure to a rigorous sale or private equity process.

We deploy real world learnings, insight and expertise

We adopt a hands-on approach to ensure companies aren’t simply assembling disparate information in the belief this is what buyers require. We spend time understanding the business, its value proposition, positioning, resiliency, commercial, financial and governance factors, alongside its ability to actually execute on a transaction.

Without this, sellers often receive lower-than-expected valuations or unfavourable deal terms, because buyers uncover issues or the business isn’t presented effectively. Even after agreeing a deal, poor quality information can slow due diligence, reduce buyer confidence, and ultimately put the deal at risk.

Using a structured readiness assessment like the Buy-side Spotlight – and subsequently supporting companies in the run up to their process – helps to identify and mitigate risks early, strengthening a seller’s position before going to market.

Tom Battersby – Founder

How it Works

Evaluate

Buy-side Spotlight

A 4-6 week, expert-guided readiness assessment, tuned to your exit objectives and addressing commercial, operational and governance factors that buyers and investors will focus on when evaluating their appetite, risk and valuation of your company.

We will produce a written deliverable comprising a report and scorecard, highlighting and contextualising potential deal considerations alongside a preparation roadmap ahead of going to market.

Support

Exit Preparation

We will support in executing on your exit preparation roadmap through to the point of appointing and handing off to your sell-side advisors to subsequently run the deal.

This allows you to continue to focus on managing the business in the comfort of having someone alongside you taking ownership of “exit” related matters.

The journey to your exit event starts now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is parō-IQ’s readiness assessment aimed at?

The Buy-side Spotlight is aimed at founder or family-owned businesses considering a potential future sale or investment. It is designed to test a business across multiple areas that a buyer or investor will typically focus on during their evaluation and due diligence which can impact valuation and transaction probability. parō-IQ supports small and medium-sized companies with revenues between £5m – £75m revenue and with at least £1m EBITDA at the smaller end of this range. The assessment is also relevant for VC or PE backed companies that will likely explore another sale in the next 12 – 24 months as they prepare to maximise value and transaction certainty with the next buyer or investor.

What happens in the assessment?

The assessment follows a hands-on series of interviews, workshops and offline review of information covering a range of commercial, operational, financial and governance topics. The company will be scored across each area with the findings presented back in the form of a report outlining observations and recommendations. The assessment is calibrated based on the client’s aspirations (e.g. strategic only sale vs. seeking private equity investment).

How long does the assessment take?

The assessment typically takes four to six weeks although timing is a function of the provision of information and access to you.

Does parō-IQ handle the eventual sale process?

No, the assessment and any subsequent exit preparation is aimed at ensuring the company is able to navigate the complexities and demands of a sale process. We work alongside you to ensure the exit preparation roadmap has a dedicated owner through to the point of assisting in your sell-side advisor selection process and handing off to them to execute the deal.

Does a sell-side advisor not just prepare the business?

Not necessarily, and having been the advisor and the buyer, this seldom happens. Some advisors prefer deal-ready companies so they can launch vendor-side due diligence while warming up the buyers to ensure a swift and effective process. However this requires the business to be ready to go through the vendor due diligence process and insufficient preparation can introduce costly delays. Some advisors package what they receive at the point of engagement but this leaves the company on the back-foot for when the buyer-side due diligence commences.

Why should I choose parō-IQ?

parō-IQ is more than just a pre-sale checklist. It is an expert guided assessment of whether the business is ready to successfully progress through a sale process based on years of experience in M&A transactions. Running a buyer-grade spotlight on the business before embarking on the process provides greater clarity and comfort while mitigating potential issues that can materially harm your process and ultimately your value.

How do you charge for your services?

We charge the majority of our fees based on you achieving your successful outcome as we believe this creates strong alignment between us. We do charge a portion on a monthly basis in order to reflect the ongoing mutual commitment of working towards the exit.