Making an Investment and Exiting
This is a one-day seminar, following-on from 'Preparing for Investment', which starts from the point where a target opportunity has been found, due diligence has been completed and an investment is about to be made. You will look at the issues around making a deal: What’s the value of the company? How do you make the investment? Should you look for ratchets, preference shares, or loans, or a combination? What’s the downside? Who controls the company and how? How is motivation maintained through the process? How are costs managed?
As part of a fictional case study, you will review some example agreements.
You will look at the basics of contract law, negotiation, and some tax mitigation techniques and review some financial engineering opportunities that can leverage the value of investment the company receives.
Some case studies of problems with EIS will be examined along with issues of contingency planning, especially for companies with IP.
Once the deal has been complete and the champagne served, the hard work starts. This is where the management of the company needs to be considered. Is there going to be a board? Who is going to be on it? How is control managed? What happens as the company expands? What about corporate governance? Does the company need further funding rounds, if so, how do you prepare for them?
Finally the part we all are looking for: the exit. You will examine the different ways a company can return the investment plus benefits to the founders and original investors. What are the benefits and disadvantages of each route? What is the role of the business angel at this stage?
