This is something that few sellers keep in mind. You sell a company to make a good return on an investment that has been made with time, money and personal stress. Whatever the main parameters are for calculating its value, you should look for additional synergy -on part of the buyer- to raise the total perceived value.
I will try to give you an example. If an Internet company wants to sell at 100 million Euros or more, it has to demonstrate that, by its leadership, number of users, growing income, it is a great buy. A financial investor only analyzes this type of parameters -using whatever system- however, an industrial investor could be ready to pay much more, not for what it is worth, but for what he would be capable of making out of the company. Whether he achieves this or not later is another story.
If I am a leader in Germany in any sector and, with an entrance into the stock market, I can finance the purchase of my counterparts in Spain and Italy, the price I am willing to pay would be more than what a financial investor would pay. They only take into account the REAL value of every company.
Something that, financially, cannot be worth more than 100, strategically can be worth 300. Therefore, it is so important to take time to think about who is in a condition to take the most advantage of your clients -offering them good services or selling them something very good- in a way that would make him ready to pay more than what your company is currently worth, from a financial perspective.
This also happens off-line, only the multiples are not related.
Translated by Babelic.com
