One of the biggest and recurring problem with buy-sell agreements is their frequent failure to specify the role of life insurance proceeds. In the accompanying video, I provide a suggestion to solve the future valuation question.
Since the idea of a fixed price buy-sell agreement is appealing and conceptually simple, many companies employ it. The problem is that the parties seldom reset the prices in their fixed price agreements — a major problem in the current environment considering the value of many businesses changed under the new tax law. In this post, we consider the impact of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act on fixed price buy-sell agreements.
You find buy-sell agreements everywhere. The Memphis Grizzlies NBA franchise was recently in the news when minority franchise owners invoked the agreement. Read more about what type of buy-sell agreement is present and how this type of agreement operates.
One day a number of years ago, I received a call from an attorney. On that initial call, he told me about a bizarre buy-sell agreement process that was underway. The attorney represented a company. Based on a buy-sell agreement of some age, an option provided by the agreement had been triggered, and one of the companies had the right to acquire the company at its fair market value.
The pricing mechanism is that part of a buy-sell agreement that defines how the price for transactions triggered under it will be determined. There are three basic types of pricing mechanisms: Fixed price buy-sell agreements. The price at which transactions occur is set by agreement of the parties within some buy-sell agreements. The price is set […]
In a recent conversation with an author, lawyer and business transition planner, the topic of buy-sell agreements for companies that are 100% owned by a single shareholder came up. Nick Niemann, author of The Next Move for Business Owners, was talking about transition and exit planning when the broad topic of buy-sell agreements arose. I’m not sure who mentioned the subject first, but we both agreed that it is a very good idea for a company to have a buy-sell agreement with its shareholder, even if there is only a single owner.
Shotgun agreements are found in some buy-sell agreements, but we do not see them regularly. Often used to break deadlocks between owners, a shotgun buy-sell agreement is an agreement where, upon the occurrence of a trigger event, one party makes a determination of price and the other party chooses whether to buy or sell at the given price. While I don’t recommend this type of agreement, in this post, we discuss some of their common characteristics as well as their advantages and disadvantages.
The story in this post represents a composite from recent discussions with clients revolving around the question – “If a sale in the foreseeable future is a possibility, should you bother to be sure that your buy-sell agreement is in good working order?”
A recent post by Matt Crow, president of Mercer Capital, on our RIA blog, RIA Valuation Insights, gives me a reason to jump back in to posting here. In his recent post, “An All-Terrain Clause for your RIA’s Buy-Sell Agreement,” he addresses buy-sell agreement pricing provisions for a rapid, substantial change in company performance.
