Please contact us at office@mfecapital.co.uk if you cannot find an answer to your question.
We are currently most interested in:
Light/medium Engineering (Precision Components, Machinery, Tooling)
Precision Engineering and Fabrication
Manufacturing businesses (Motors, Generators, etc.)
Engineering Services
Chemical Manufacturing (Adhesives, Sealants, Lubricants, Chemical formulation)
We are particularly interested in companies based in the following areas:
East Midlands
West Midlands
South West
East Anglia
South Yorkshire
(If your business is located outside of these areas please do contact us anyway - we might still be interested in investing or a full or partial purchase)
Our normal turnover range is between £1m and £2.5m annually, although we frequently look at businesses with a turnover of £700,000+ for well-run companies with a consistent trading history and strong management. Profitability levels should be in line with industry standards, although we do appreciate that many companies suffered a downturn during the COVID period and are still recovering.
It depends on whether it's a Share sale or an Asset sale. A Share sale will take at least 8 weeks, and 12 weeks is more typical. An Asset sale doesn't take as long - usually between 4 and 8 weeks. That's because with an Asset sale we are simply buying something that the company owns (an Asset), rather than the company itself (the Shares). In a Share sale, the main reason for the extra time is because of Due Diligence and the Legal process. As you would expect, the legal fees for a Share sale are higher than for an Asset sale.
We will always consider the seller's personal circumstances when making an offer - such as illness, retirement, etc. In most cases the handover period will be between 6 and 24 weeks. During this period you (the seller) would not need to be in the business on a day-to-day basis, this would be agreed beforehand.
It is standard practice for the Seller and the Buyer to be responsible for their own legal fees. If you are instructing a solicitor for the sale of your business we strongly recommend that you do so on a fixed-fee basis. Otherwise, you risk a very large legal bill when your company has been sold!
It's understandable that any seller would want the sale of their business to be confidential until all of the contracts have been signed.
Firstly, we are happy to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to keep all negotiations strictly private.
Secondly, if we arrange a visit to your business premises we can either do so under the guise of a professional assessor (such as an insurance agent) or we can visit outside regular working hours, such as evenings or weekends.
Thirdly, we will ensure that during the Due Diligence process none of the professionals engaged in the sale process (such as accountants or solicitors) will make contact with any other members of your staff, unless authorised by you.
Finally, when all of the contracts have been signed we will introduce ourselves to your staff with your agreement and with you present to complete the handover.
No.
We appreciate that you have built a legacy and we have no intention of destroying that. We can even have a clause written into the sale of your business that ensures we keep the trading name.
Likewise, we do not buy businesses with the intention of making any staff members redundant. If anything, we would prefer to promote from within your existing group of employees into more senior positions, and then recruit new employees to replace them.
We respect the success you have made of your company and we always seek a smooth transition so that you can continue to be proud of your achievements.