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SOCIETEX advises you on all the stages of your project

Transfer

Transferring an SME is a crucial moment in the lives of business managers/shareholders. We need to truly understand their expectations and the issues at stake in order for the transfer operation to be a success both from a human and financial point view.

The long experience of SOCIETEX’s team, which comprises former entrepreneurs and business owners, enables us to fully meet the expectations of transferors by building relations based on proximity and sharing.

We also advise businesses – including Groups – in transferring non-strategic assets (spin-offs and carve-outs).

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1/ Strategic & financial analysis

We define your professional, asset and personal objectives together. Next, we analyse your company, with your active cooperation, to highlight the strengths of your business model and your assets. We then finalise this first step by drafting a presentation file.

2/ Searching for & approaching counterparts

We jointly select the potential buyers, whether based in France or abroad, according to your sales targets. We introduce the counterparts suiting your targets to you through our networks and the expertise of our sectoral specialists.

3/ Negotiation

Together, we select the potential buyers who have demonstrated their interest for your company. We set up a competitive process with the interested businesses and funds. Once the indicative offers submitted, we negotiate with the selected buyer.

4/ Finalisation & completion of the transfer

In compliance with the reverse planning, we lead all the councils involved in the transfer project until the signature of the deeds finalising the transaction.

Acquisition

SOCIETEX is one of the French leaders on the small and midcap transactions market.

Our success is widely based on operations valued between €3M and €50M.

We offer all types of actors (SMEs, listed groups, financial investors and natural persons) optimum support in their external growth projects on the small and midcap market, both in France and abroad.

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1/ Identification of potential targets

We start by defining your specific project and objectives with you. We then determine together your main acquisition criteria: type of activity, location, company size, return on investment, etc.

2/ Approaching the targets

Relying on our networks and sectoral experts, we contact the targeted companies and their counsels to find out more about their main characteristics. Our aim is to present you with a comprehensive file to better qualify each of our targets.

 3/ Overview & decision

We draw up overview documents to help you better understand the qualified targets contacted. You will then decide how to pursue your project after discussion with your dedicated SOCIETEX expert.

4/ Negotiation

We organise several meetings with the seller and their counsels to measure the feasibility of the operation, in close cooperation with you. After receiving your approval, we establish the various steps of the potential acquisition.

5/ Offer

If you wish to make an offer, we help you value the target and draft the letter of intent. We also act as an intermediary when negotiating the letter of intent with the seller and their counsels.

6/ Finalisation

We coordinate the different counsels involved in the project until the signature of the deeds formalising the successful acquisition.

Fund-raising

In order to finance your organic or external growth, you often need to raise additional own funds in addition to bank loans.

In order to maximise your chances of success, SOCIETEX assists you with your fund-raising activities by helping you present a clear positioning and well-argued business plan, realistic yet ambitious, which will then be presented to investment capital players.

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We conduct these operations with a concern to meet your expectations, in particular by limiting the dilution of existing shareholders.

  • draft a presentation file for potential investors with your cooperation
  • select investors together
  • organise meetings with the selected investors
  • set up a data room to enable the targeted investors to study the file
  • analyse the investors’ offers to present their assets and areas for improvement
  • help you select the investor(s) for this fund raising operation
  • coordinate the different actors to complete the operation

LBO/OBO/MBI Operations

SOCIETEX advises you in your fund raisers for LBO, OBO and MBI business transfers. Our knowledge of Private Equity funds, family offices, debt funds and banks enables us to offer you a personalised service for this type of operation.

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Our team masters the different processes to be implemented to meet the requirements for these operations:

  • drafting of a presentation file on your company for the funds and banks with your cooperation, which details the financial package considered and its relevance to be able to meet the scheduled bank debt repayments
  • selection of Private Equity or debt funds, and banks together
  • organisation of meetings with the funds and banks to introduce your company and the financial package
  • analysis of the offers received from banks, debt funds and Private Equity funds
  • selection of the funds and banks after discussion with our team
  • completion of the operation where we coordinate the work of all the counsels, in particular for the senior debt contract, the management package and the shareholders’ agreement

Special situations

SOCIETEX conducts missions pertaining to special situations. These missions are not only limited to legal and preventive procedures for struggling businesses.

These are specific missions due to complex situations for reasons both internal and external to the company concerned. These situations may have a significant impact on the company’s value, call into question its durability and have serious consequences on shareholders’ assets.

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A business’s financial difficulties can be treated preventively, before any receivership or liquidation proceedings are initiated. Objective difficulties must then be identified. It is also necessary to establish a targeted action plan along with a cash flow forecast. Moreover, adopting new strategic decisions most often requires searching for debt and equity financial resources.

If the company’s situation is even more degraded than stated above, it may entail the implementation of a partial or total disposal of activity plan. To this end, applying the prevention procedures for struggling companies (ad hoc mandate, conciliation, pre-packaged transfer) is the suitable method to implement a restructuring plan.

  • Failing LBOs with an unbalanced financial structure making it impossible to meet repayments leading to the breach of agreements.
  • Group subsidiary carve-outs linked to the transfer of non-strategic assets or operational risks too complex to manage (legal, CSR, image, etc.)
  • Family conflicts within a company or group due to disagreements on the company’s strategic development or non-compatible financial interests among the parties.
  • The family transfer of businesses, where the new governance needs to be organised, as well as help provided to implement steering tools and modify the scope of activities between the professional and private domains

Our team conducts these missions confidentially, with a constant concern to provide concrete solutions to resolve the issues with which you are faced.

The complementary experience of our partners, most of whom have owned businesses, is an asset for this type of mission.

Valuation

SOCIETEX VALUATION ADVISORY is the entity dedicated to conducting valuation missions for all types of assets (shares, membership shares, material assets, brands, patents) in the context of a transfer, negotiation, independent expert assessment, etc.

Our experience is based on over 6,000 valuations as well as on the development of our own valuation method adapted to SMEs, mid-caps, large groups and their subsidiaries. This enables us to deliver results that serve as a reference and reflect the reality of the market.

Thus, we act as independent experts for all types of businesses.

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Independent experts are needed in various contexts, the most common of which are the following :

  • The shareholders want to know the value of their company post Covid-19 to take strategic decisions
  • The shareholders want to know the value of their company or group in view of a transfer
  • The shareholders want to determine the exchange parity among two groups or companies in the context of a merger operation
  • The family shareholders want to value their company or Group in the context of a family transfer or to determine the company’s value
  • A divorce or change in marital status requires a valuation of the company to implement these legal changes. It enables the different stakeholders to better understand the actual financial issues
  • The exit of a minority shareholder often leads to complex and even conflictual situations. A valuation conducted by an independent expert is the means to assess objectively and serenely the value of the minority share
  • The implementation of a management package leads to the valuation of the company or group and of the special advantages granted to the managers.