
I recently completed my 309th corporate finance transaction. Three of those have involved a personal investment. I admit that, in order to maximise value on a deal, some sort of deferment of the consideration is required (often on an earn-out basis) but the fact is that everyday is like walking across hot coals – painful, depressing and only sometimes worth it. In my own case, it wasn’t just working for someone else or the change of working practices. No, it was the little things like changing suppliers who had been lifelong contacts, changing fonts and presentation styles, changing meeting processes from informal to structured or vice versa. Okay, I lived with this (I had to) but I counted the days, if not the hours and minutes, to exit. If you have no choice but to stay on, consider the following: * Is the difference in the consideration worth the pain? * Have you got a watertight contract, with some parachute options if you need them? * Are all parties 110 per cent clear on what’s expected from them and have legally committed to such unequivocally?
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