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As a general guideline, we consider the following acquisition criteria when evaluating a business to join our auto and dealership portfolio:

• Technology: Companies who offer one or more solutions specifically for automotive companies and/or dealerships
• Company size: We’ve found success with companies of any size and scale
• Geography: Our automotive portfolio has presence in seven countries and we’re looking to expand that footprint
  
• Priorities: Your customers and your employees

We are happy to work directly with you, with your broker or a consultant acting on your behalf.

If you are considering selling your business without a broker, here are some strategies to help you successfully navigate the M&A process.

With over 170 acquisitions to date, we put together The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Software Company to educate first time sellers on what to expect. This detailed handbook walks you through the entire selling and acquisition process. It includes:

• How to improve your company’s valuation
• A detailed, step-by-step guide on the M&A process
• Sample checklists of documents and information needed
• What happens during and after the finalizing of the sale

Whether you’re just exploring your options or strongly considering selling, we recommend this guide to help you navigate your M&A journey.

The due diligence process involves both the buyer and seller validating assumptions about their relationship moving forward. During the process, financial, legal, and operational aspects of your company are reviewed.

In our experience of managing over 150 acquisitions to date, we’ve been able to develop a checklist to manage the compilation and prioritization of documents. It generally includes:

• Financial statements: Historical, year to date, and forecasted
• Market information: Market analysis, competitive landscape, and SWOT analysis
• Commercial data: Pricing and revenue model, sales pipeline, product analysis, and customer analysis
• Legal: Supplier agreements, customer agreements, any historic, current or potential claims, disputes, litigation, etc.
• Intellectual property: Patents, trademarks, NDAs and non-compete agreements, R&D agreements, etc.

View a sample checklist and deep dive into due diligence here

A carve out divests non-strategic parts of an organization or a piece of a non-core business to a suitable buyer. This may be the most desirable option for sellers for a variety of reasons: raise capital for other initiatives, reduce costs and dedicate resources to other products, or streamline organizational complexity.

We’ve overseen several carve out acquisitions as listed here.

A tuck-in refers to, post-acquisition, a company or product being strategically joined with another company. Tuck-ins are mutually beneficial to both parties: they provide additional development resources, a broader market knowledge pool and—most importantly—creates additional value to customers.