Vendor Story £257,000 Leicestershire

I met with this couple several years prior to them wanting to sell their practice.  In fact, our paths crossed when they were looking to buy some fees.  I attended the Meeting Day where the vendor had several appointments to meet with potential buyers.  I thought then that they were a lovely couple looking to grow their practice by buying local.  Unfortunately, their offer was not accepted so they chose to concentrate on growing their practice organically instead.

It came as a surprise when, a few years later, they contacted me to say they had had enough of running their accountancy practice and wanted to sell to enjoy life together through retirement.  They were based in the countryside and worked from home.

They lived quite local to my office and wanted to see me in person, so we booked a convenient time that suited all of us.  It was lovely to see them again after a few years.  After sorting out cups of tea, we settled into the meeting and it was then that I was told that the wife had been diagnosed with gastric oesophageal cancer and her prognosis was 9 – 12 months.

Several things happened when I was given this news:-

• I became much more focussed on getting the practice on the market as soon as possible.
• I wanted the couple to know that the team and I would support them in every way.
• No Zoom meetings with potential buyers would happen without me hosting them.
• No buyer would be aware of the vendor’s condition to take advantage of the situation until post due diligence.
• Speed was of the essence.

This was not the first time we had been in this situation.  When faced with this scenario, you have to be very careful to be understanding and empathetic but at the same time you have to push hard to get a result as quickly as possible.  It can put the broker in a very difficult position.  However, through discussions we were able to agree on what the priorities were and at the same time made sure to address the concerns of both vendors who were in an understandably emotional state.

Each were interdependent on each other with regards the running of the practice.  The husband did a lot of the accounting work and his wife ran the practice.  Both roles combined was too much for one person to manage.

We marketed the practice straight away and had a number of people interested in buying it.  We organised Zoom meetings, for the vendors to meet the prospective buyers.  Only one Zoom call could be organised per day due to the wife’s condition.  Every Zoom call was hosted by me.  The vendors had to lean on me for direction, knowledge, experience and managing the process.

In the end we had four firm offers.  The vendors chose the offer from the buyer that they liked the most, who they felt they had the most in common with.  The buyer put in an offer based on the current prevailing market value of the practice and was not told until after the due diligence of the terminal nature of the wife’s illness.  There was a small readjustment in the offer after the medical news was shared, taking into account the fact that there would be a very limited handover post sale.

All parties worked hard to complete the deal.  It was made difficult by the regular and last minute visits and stays in hospital for the wife.  But everyone was understanding of the situation.  The buyer kept on the staff and the office so there was minimal disruption post sale.  Of course, it is very upsetting when dealing with a sale like this, but we are very professional and were on a mission to get the best deal done for both parties.  Everyone pulled together.  Even the solicitors were highly praised for their contribution in getting the deal over the line!

We were very upset when the husband messaged just a month later to say that his wife had died the night before. I like to think we had some part in helping this couple sort out their practice while they could still deal with these matters.

We did our bit and we did our best, can’t say more than that.