Dear industry-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
“…how do I go about dealing with this?”
You deal with it in a clear minded, professional, business-like
manner. You are now on a different “team” than your former partners.
Approach this as a “winner-take-all” card game. Never show your poker
face and don’t let anyone see your cards. If they do they will predict
your next move. Strategy will be your only secret weapon, unless of
course you are privy to other potentially useful information that you
can hold as a legal trump card. Keep in mind the old adage “two heads
are better than one”. It still applies even though it is not
necessarily in your favor. Conceptually, financially, and perhaps even
intellectually, you are now greatly outnumbered 3 to 1. What you need
to do now is get a bigger and better “team”. Which brings us to your
next question.
“Do I get a lawyer?”
ABSOLUTELY! And the sooner the better. Your business opponents should
not be allowed time to strategize. You need to get legal counsel and
you need to get it fast if you plan to retain your stake in the
business, or at very least, settle for a fair or even more lucrative
severance. Your attorney can provide you with a means of preventing
your partners from liquidating, re-structuring, tampering with your
interests or perhaps even carrying out a hostile takeover/hostile
buyout – at least for the time being. Often, by causing your opponents
to become so encumbered with liability and litigation that they begin
to look unattractive to consumers or investors, they might be forced
to counter with a settlement or maybe even reconsider the move
altogether. If they get the idea that you might selfishly scuttle the
entire ship in defense of your own personal interests, it’s possible
that one or more of the partners might have a change of heart. If even
one of them get skiddish and appears to be leaning back toward your
side, you’ve succeeded, because then it will be 2 against 2 (a much
more advantageous position to be in, for sure).
“How do I know what my company's worth?”
Your attorney can help you determine this. It might also be necessary
to him to buy you some time to do it. You have a right to evaluate
your interest in anything you own before it can be sold, transferred
or liquidated by hostile partners. In doing this, many of the
partners’ plans will have to be placed on hold. Hopefully, again, this
might produce some anxiety, or maybe even disenchantment between one
or more of the partners. They are more likely to cooperate if they
become impatient or nervous about their own futures or believe that
their hostile coalition may not be as strong as first perceived.
Your attorney can provide you with information for performing these
types of analysis in order to determine with worth of your interests.
Keep in mind that you also want to determine the worth of each
partner’s interest as well, along with an overall appraisal of the
company as a whole:
THE JORDAN EDMISTON GROUP, INC
http://jordan.broaddaylight.com/jordan/TFAQ1.shtm
“A supply and demand analysis would imply that the value of your
business is worth what the market (defined as the point at which the
marginal buyer and the marginal seller meet) is willing to pay you at
a given moment in time. Determining a business's value often begins
with the preparation of a discounted free cash flow (DCF) analysis. A
discounted free cash flow analysis calculates the present value of a
business' total estimated future free cash flows over a given period
of time usually five years. While a DCF analysis will provide a range
of implied multiples of revenue and earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for a business, there are
several drivers that affect market value including:
Current health of the economy
Size and dynamics of the underlying markets served
Growth trajectory and profitability of the business
Strength of the company's franchise and brands
Competitive landscape and the company's share of market
Strength of the management team; and
Opportunities for continued organic growth and growth through
acquisitions”
BUSINESS KNOW-HOW
http://www.businessknowhow.com/QandA/bizval.htm
This article explains in very simple terms how one gets a fairly
accurate idea of how much his business is worth.
GE SMALL BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
http://www.gesmallbusiness.com/magazine/1998_fall/f1998_whats_busin_worth.jsp
This article talks about many of the same methods as the article above
but offers a different approach to the explanation.
BANKRATE.COM
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/biz/Cashflow_banking/20000609.asp
Offers some online sources and tools for evaluating your business.
ANATOMY OF A HOSTILE TAKEOVER
http://loper.org/~george/trends/2002/Feb/87.html
A very interesting article that recounts an actual situation that
appears to be very similar to yours.
TAKEOVER DEFENSIVE TECHNIQUES
http://emgt.ku.edu/emgt806/Handouts/takeover_defensive_techniques.htm
Explains some terminology. You will quickly note that the names
reflect a kind of corporate game-play.
TECH COMPANIES WARD OFF TAKEOVER
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-256140.html?legacy=cnet
A nice article about a new takeover defense called “the poison pill”.
I hope you find that that my research exceeds your expectations. If
you have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
THE JORDAN EDMISTON GROUP, INC
http://jordan.broaddaylight.com/jordan/TFAQ1.shtm
BUSINESS KNOW-HOW
http://www.businessknowhow.com/QandA/bizval.htm
GE SMALL BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
http://www.gesmallbusiness.com/magazine/1998_fall/f1998_whats_busin_worth.jsp
BANKRATE.COM
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/biz/Cashflow_banking/20000609.asp
ANATOMY OF A HOSTILE TAKEOVER
http://loper.org/~george/trends/2002/Feb/87.html
TAKEOVER DEFENSIVE TECHNIQUES
http://emgt.ku.edu/emgt806/Handouts/takeover_defensive_techniques.htm
TECH COMPANIES WARD OFF TAKEOVER
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-256140.html?legacy=cnet
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
determine company's value
determine company's worth
company hostile buyout
company hostile takeover |
,
0 Comments
)