The Journey of Selling Your Business: Key Takeaways from a Founder’s Perspective
With strong M&A market conditions and likely significant tax changes, 2021 may be the ideal time to explore a liquidity event. Are you and your business ready for an exit? Our panelists will discuss the steps to prepare your business for an M&A transaction, current market conditions, and the tax changes that may be enacted in 2022.
Jeff Bledsoe, former CEO and Founder of Five Star Custom Foods, shares his experience and provides valuable insights into the intricacies of selling a business and the lessons learned – before, during, and after – his successful sale.
The process of pursuing a liquidity event is time-consuming and has several nuances in each of its stages. You and your team will embark on an emotional journey for which you need to be prepared and surrounded with the right advisors. Alejandro Cola of Lazard Middle Market and Matt Mittman of Mazars share their experience in helping business owners navigate the process.
The proposed tax changes could go into effect on January 1st, 2022, and the process of selling your business could take between six and nine months – so the time to act may be now!
This event will be recorded and sent to all registrants.
****************************************
Sponsored by:
Lazard Middle Market LLC, a subsidiary of Lazard Ltd (NYSE: LAZ), provides customized advice on mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity recapitalizations, and financial restructurings to mid-sized companies across a broad range of industries. Our food-dedicated bankers have played key advisory roles in some of the most important, complex, and industry-defining transactions. For more information about our Consumer, Food & Retail Group, visit https://www.lazard.com/businesses/financial-advisory/middle-market-advisory/consumer-food-retail/.
As CEO of Five Star Custom Foods Jeff raised capital, managed cash flow and led the company to rapid growth and quick profitability. He managed the business from the start-up, entrepreneurial stage through the growing pains associated rapid growth and scale. He successfully grew the capital-intensive business by attracting world class talent and leading the team to exceptional performance. He is passionate about personal development and helping others clarify their objectives and achieve their potential by challenging, supporting, and guiding them to their definition of success.
To learn more about CEO Coaching, here's the website link: https://ceocoachinginternational.com/
Matthew has advised several large and middle-market national and international private equity and alternative investment funds and various underlying portfolio companies. He regularly works with other Mazars’ tax and advisory professionals throughout the United States and internationally. Matthew’s writings are also frequently published in well-respected trade magazines related to current tax matters.
Prior to joining Lazard Middle Market, Mr. Cola worked at KeyBanc Capital Markets where he covered the food and beverage space working on a variety of transactions, including financing and M&A. Some of Mr. Cola’s clients included Chobani, Pulmuone, Ajinomoto, Mizkan, ThreeHouse Foods, KeHE Distributors, and Lipari Foods, among others. Prior to that, he spent several years advising companies and investors across Latin America and working as a teaching assistant in the Department of Corporate Finance at Universidad de la República in Uruguay.
Mr. Cola holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University and an Economic degree from Universidad de la República in Montevideo, Uruguay.
