Vendor Story £117,900 Devon

This vendor first contacted Draper Hinks by going on our website and downloading our E:Book about how to sell a practice.  In it you will find that there are lots of helpful hints and tips that this vendor found to be very useful.  Knowing that he had requested the E:Book, I emailed him to see if he wanted to have a chat about his own situation and we booked a time to talk that was convenient to both of us.

He told me about his situation.  His clients were based in the central part of the country but he had moved to Devon for health reasons.  Three years ago he had to have two discs in his neck fused which severely impacted on his mobility.  Then two years later he had to have a brain tumour removed.  Luckily in both cases the surgery had been successful, but he decided it was time to move to the South West to start a new life.  He could not afford to sell his practice straight away hence the delay in contacting us.

We had a very good conversation.  His clients were used to dealing with him remotely, there had been no fall out from his recent move over a hundred miles away.  The clients were very loyal to him and they wanted to support him through his difficult times.

We sent our paperwork to him and he completed it very quickly, signing our proposal that gave us permission under GDPR to market his practice.   He also filled in our questionnaire with all the information we needed about the make up of his practice.  He was well enough to do this but did get very tired by the end of the day.  We were very sensitive to his energy levels and made sure we did not tire him out too much.  Bearing in mind you still have to run your practice while dealing with its sale, can be exhausting – even when you are fully fit.

With his permission given to us to market his fees, we sent out a mailer to potential purchasers.  We had a good response and were able to arrange a number of meetings for him on the Meeting Day.  He ended up talking to five prospective buyers, all of whom were keen to buy.  The fees for sale were manageable and the fact that the clients were used to dealing with the vendor remotely, meant there was no restriction as to where the buyer’s practice could be situated. In fact, this opportunity was over-subscribed and I think we could have sold it several times over!

Each meeting was done remotely by video, allowing the vendor to have a rest between each one.  There was a clear favourite after the meetings had been held.  Of the five buyers, three put in offers and of the three offers, one offer was accepted.

The buyer travelled down to meet the vendor to carry out the due diligence.  The buyer had bought before so knew what he was looking for during the due diligence, which meant that it didn’t take long to do.  Both the buyer and the vendor got on very well and communication was key.

The buyer had an existing contract that could be used, which was sent to the vendor.  The vendor did use a solicitor and some suggestions were made to revise the contract.  These were taken on by the buyer and the contract was amended accordingly.  This happened a couple more times before both parties were happy to proceed to completion.

The vendor agreed to work a hand over period for the buyer for a few months to help with the integration of the clients and thereby the retention.  Everything went very smoothly.  From the mailer going out marketing the practice to completion where the vendor had money in their bank account was only four months.  And yes, this is quick when selling an accountancy practice.  Both parties were happy.  We got a very big thank you from both the seller and the buyer for doing a good job.  We even got paid our brokerage fee so we were happy too!