How To Keep Competing Offers In Play

Backing out of a deal is never easy, so when Keith Weigand discovered his acquirer was going to buy his company and terminate his employees, he had a tough decision to make.

Keith Weigand founded DataNet Solutions in 1999. The company provided electronic medical records and prescription software for the non-profit healthcare industry in the United States. Over the course of 14 years, DataNet grew to a company with 10 employees, 3500 users, and almost $1 million in revenue. Facing a changing marketplace with the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, Weigand was ready to take the lessons he’d learned with DataNet and move on to something new.

Weigand got two offers for his business and accepted one. Months later, as negotiations dragged on, he discovered the buyer was quietly planning to move to another city and fire his employees in the process. Not wanting to see his team be disposed of, Weigand pulled out and tried to resuscitate the offer he had originally turned down.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to get an offer back in play after you’ve turned it down
• Why acquirers try to extend due diligence, and how you can defend against it
• How to create urgency to keep your deal moving forward

Weigand knew he wanted his employees to be taken care of and selling to someone who planned to fire them all was not going to work. Have you figured out what’s most important to you in the sale of your business? If not, consider answering the 5 questions in The Exit Checklist.

 

Check out our full M&A Glossary

About Our Guest

Keith Weigand is a programmer turned entrepreneur. After the sale of DataNet in Sept 2013, he took a year off to contemplate his next move. With real estate being a passion for many years, he has since launched PropertyZar, a web-based property management software. He now devotes 100% of his time building PropertyZar and working with real estate investors and professionals.