Is There Good Reason to Walk Away from a Deal?

If you submitted an LOI and you are going through due diligence, hopefully your deal is going to close smoothly.

If you are hesitant, sometimes there are good reasons to back out of a deal.

However, cold feet is not one of them.

If you are serious enough to put in an LOI, you are serious enough to go through with the transaction.

But if you are in due diligence, there might be something that arises that gives you reason to back out.

The general rule is it is minor or major, and how material is that, and can that be changed by price or some other term that you and seller agree to.

Minor issues that come up during due diligence are to be expected. Minor issues should not drive a wedge where you take advantage of the seller just because you can.

There are major ethics involved. When a seller accepts your LOI, they do it with the impression you are going through with the deal.

If they were not upfront about everything prior to.

Not reading the prospectus in full is not satisfactory though.

Remember, you want to focus on important items during due diligence. Due diligence is about verifying the material items to make sure the business is doing the cash flow stated, and that the seller is selling you the items that resulted in the cash flow. It will ultimately be your responsibility to run the business, so this time period is making sure the seller historically did what is purported to be. The future is uncontrollable by either party – you just want to ensure everything will be transferred to you that resulted in that historical cash flow and that the seller will not abandon you at a critical stage before all items are transferred. The seller’s obligation is to hand over what they purported to sell once the money changes hands, and make sure it is running smooth until day of close.

Sales may decrease during due diligence. Profit may dip.

Is it because of something material or is it because the seller is distracted because of the deal?

The material items that are cause for you to be concerned revolve around debt or income.

A system being a little different than what you expected, something taking more time than you thought, an employee not as competent as you thought, inventory depleted more than you thought, accounts that are harder to keep than you thought are generally not going to be deal breakers.

It is the major ones that can surprise you that may be justification and that can change the structure of the deal where the seller was not forthcoming about a material term in the prospectus.

Material can mean something burdensome like debt they expect you to take over, or a material misunderstanding when it comes to how much time the business requires.

Even if it is material, it can often be fixed with price or terms in the agreement that differ from the initial LOI.
If you would like to hop on a call with us to go over things related to acquisitions and general business overview, please schedule a time here. We do a one hour deep dive where we go over your needs as it relates to acquisitions & business expansion, and then we go on the hunt for you to line up a business that fits.

If you want to work together on a deal, we would love to see what you are working on and see how we can help you . Reach out to us.

Phone – (800) 773-1523

Email – acquisitions@Jarbly.com

Leader in Acquisitions with Expertise in Representing Sellers & Buyers on Deals

Jarbly is a leader in acquisitions with expertise in helping with listings, negotiations, LOI's, asset purchases, company purchases, and real estate purchases. JARBLY has access to high net worth individuals if you are on the sell-side and businesses that may be of interest to you if you are on the buy-side.

Contact Us

Phone: (800) 773-1523
Email: acquisitions@jarbly.com

About Jarbly

JARBLY’s focus is on acquisitions, predominantly businesses with valuable assets and cash flow. As JARBLY has been heavily involved in the digital space including its own ventures for a decade with servicing hundreds of clients around the world, it is very well versed with understanding technical aspects of a deal including value proposition, product offerings, marketing, metrics, ROI, moats, and value-add initiatives. JARBLY has the ability to take advantage of all aspects of a business deal, and is very creative with structure to help bring in partners or plan a strategic exit. JARBLY has helped brands cultivate business related and real estate opportunities that are ripe for acquisition by helping buyers and sellers get what they are seeking from a deal.

Whether it comes to selling your business, acquiring one or forging a partnership opportunity, we understand deals and where the maximal value in a transaction is. Our bread and butter is to provide a win for our clients. We have the unique and uncanny ability to leverage our network and our sources of distribution to go out to the public to position your assets for a maximum sale. We draft and prepare materials such as prospectuses, Confidential Information Memorandums, and high quality Value Proposition Decks which convey a message of value to attract high quality offers in the shortest time possible.

JARBLY looks forward to working with you on your next acquisition, digital exit, partnership, or real estate opportunity including both commercial and high end residential properties with high end service from a qualified team of passionate individuals that help you secure the deal.

We know how to curate high quality listings and attract high net worth individuals interested in your deal.

We know how to generate traction on a listing through means of marketing openly or discretely, and we have thousands of high net worth individuals who we have developed relationships with to draw interest on a daily basis. While many firms focus on creating barriers to sell your business out of fear of wasting time, we have protocols in place to get as many offers as possible to help drive up the valuation and the proceeds. On the flip side, we know how to structure deals creatively for our buyers to help them feel secure.

Please take a look at our process to get a sneak peak into how we help our buyers and sellers maximize the deal.

Is There Good Reason to Walk Away from a Deal?