Twenty Reasons to Sell with VR Mergers & Acquisitions (Hawaii)

VR is the #1 selling business brokerage and mergers and acquisitions advisory firm in the state of Hawaii.  We’ve summarized below twenty reasons the leading businesses in Hawaii, from $50K to $100MM in value and in every conceivable industry, choose VR over other brokers to sell their businesses.  (For those considering for sale by owner, please reviewing the discussion on the following page:  Should you sell your own business?)

1. Be Sure Selling is the Best Option
   We advise the vast majority of business owners that approach us that selling their company is not their best option. This may be surprising coming from a business intermediary, but it is true.  In many cases the owner is just burned out, and what is needed is a restructuring of the business and the owner’s role to reduce the owner’s stress and hours, while enhancing enjoyment and lifestyle.  In other cases, a value enhancement program is needed first, to position the business a future sale at a higher price, enabling the owner to achieve retirement objectives. Other options we help owners explore include: sale or gift to a family member, merger with a competitor, customer, or supplier, creation of internal succession plan, internal management buyout, outside management buy-in, solicitation of a new investor/partner (recapitalization), franchising, managed close down and liquidation. We are the only professionally advisory firm in Hawaii with services and expertise in all these areas.  From other business or commercial brokers you are likely to hear just one self interested recommendation:  sell.  If a fully informed owner makes the decision to sell, we are confident we can obtain a successful result that will achieve all the owner’s objectives.
   
2. Extraordinary Results
   Since 1979, VR Mergers & Acquisitions has sold more businesses in the world than anyone® - 67,500 and counting.  In Hawaii, VR has been the #1 selling business brokerage firm four years running.  We sell more than double the industry average percentage of businesses we represent.  We have sold businesses that are losing money, open only a few months or in declining industries.  We have sold business for far more than one would expect them to according to traditional financial or “comparable” analysis (although this is not usually possible).  Our firm commitment is to deliver value far in excess of our fees.
   
3. Statewide and Worldwide Reach
   We are the only business brokerage firm in Hawaii with offices and/or intermediaries on every major island in Hawaii.  We are the only local mergers and acquisitions advisory iorm with any presence on the mainland or internationally, and we have 115 offices worldwide.  Such reach is critical to offering the broadest marketing for sellers, and to providing the widest array of business choices for buyers.  By having the most buyers and sellers, we provide the most liquid market for our clients. 
   
   We have extensive databases, cultivated over 29 years in businesses, of all the major private equity investors and their investment criteria; US and foreign private companies, categorized by industry, with revenues from $100K to $1 billion; all US public companies; and major foreign public companies. 
   
   We have additional databases of more than 1,500 buyers who are explicitly looking to acquire businesses in Hawaii, immigration attorneys representing buyers in Hawaii, and all business and commercial brokers serving the Hawaii market, many of which subscribe to our new business opportunity email announcements.
   
4. Members of the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) and M&A Source
   The IBBA is the world’s largest organization of business intermediaries and a crucial networking and marketing vehicle for our business.  The M&A Source is the preeminent organization for professionals serving the Middle Market (organizations valued $1 – 300 million) mergers and acquisitions marketplace, including business intermediaries, financiers, private equity investors, corporation M&A directors, etc.  VR is the only business intermediary member of the M&A Source in Hawaii, and one of only a few IBBA members.
   
5. Largest and Most Skilled Team
   VR Hawaii has more intermediaries than all our Hawaii business intermediary competitors combined.  Virtually all of our intermediaries have owned and operated their own successful businesses, positioning them to understand the “product” they are selling as well as their buyer and seller clients.  Grif Frost, the managing director of our Big Island office, has himself started 40 businesses in the US and Hawaii. 
   VR, through its worldwide headquarters, offers the most comprehensive training program in the industry to its intermediaries.  In addition, VR has more IBBA Certified Business Intermediaries (CBIs) than all our Hawaii competitors combined.  This prestigious designation from the International Business Brokers Association is granted only to proven, experienced brokers that have passed rigorous exams and completed extensive educational courses on all aspects of business brokerage.  Our principal broker is the only IBBA certified Mergers and Acquisitions Master Intermediary (M&AMI) in Hawaii.  The M&AMI certification is awarded only to intermediaries who have demonstrated competence on middle market transactions ($1-300 million) and completed extensive advanced educational requirements.
   
6. Unmatched International Marketing
   We are the only mergers and acquisitions advisory firm in the entire United States that markets its businesses in more than two languages.  We market in four – English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin).  We have agents who speak these languages, have translated and search engine optimized portions of our web site in these languages, and translate our advertisements for businesses appropriate for immigrant investors from these countries into these languages.  In Hawaii’s diverse ethnic and cultural environment, these capabilities are essential to serving buyers and sellers properly.  With the continued decline in the dollar, overseas investors are playing an increasingly large role in business acquisitions throughout the US, further enhancing this need. 
   
7. Security Transaction Capabilities   
   VR has the only business intermediary in the state of Hawaii (Steve Abdalla, President & Principal Broker) who is licensed to effect securities transactions (e.g., sale of corporate stock or LLC membership interest), through Burch & Company, our affiliated FINRA/ SIPC registered broker dealer.  In many cases, especially for the sale of C-corps, the sale of securities can offer significant tax savings for the seller.  In other instances, the selling entity may have vital assets such as licenses, permits, contracts, or leases that are difficult or impossible to transfer through an asset sale.  Finally, certain types of transactions that can be highly advantageous for a seller (e.g., recapitalizations, sale of minority interest, certain types of mergers) require a securities licensed professional to broker the transaction.  When a securities sale is effected through an unlicensed broker, it puts the seller and broker at enormous legal and financial risk.
   
8. Exceptional Professionalism and Rigor in all our Systems   
   Over the course of selling 67,500 businesses, VR has developed extraordinarily detailed, systematic and proven systems for all aspects of the business sales process, from strategies for positioning a business for sale in 3-5 years, to checklists and procedures for ensuring a successful close.  The Hawaii office of VR has made significant enhancements to these systems, as recognized by VR Worldwide when it named our Principal Broker as the Most Valuable Intermediary in the worldwide VR network for 2006, for extraordinary contributions to the company.
   
9. Rigorous Protection of Confidentiality
   We understand that protecting seller confidentiality is absolutely imperative.  Many businesses can be severely damaged by mere rumors that the business is for sale, should these rumors circulate to employees, customers, suppliers or competitors.  The leaking of sensitive information, such as financials, customer lists, marketing strategies, etc. could cause further damage.  Commercial real estate companies, who advertise their properties openly for all to see, and some business intermediaries, are ill informed on the rigorous and detailed procedures necessary to protect confidentiality.  A few examples:  We carefully scrutinize all public marketing materials to ensure they are sufficiently disguised to reveal nothing that could be used to identify your business, and screen prospective buyers thoroughly to ascertain their resources and motivations.  We create a highly customized marketing plan for each client that reflects and manages their confidentially concerns.  We frequently market exclusively to buyers who are “off island”, leveraging our mainland and international networks, to drastically reduce the chance any Hawaii resident will learn of the sale.  It is difficult for competing firms with no presence outside of Hawaii to offer such a service.  Note that many of our seller clients, particular larger businesses, never appear on this web site, or anywhere on the Internet or in any other public media, and are marketed exclusively on a direct marketing and sales basis to targeted buyers.
   
10. Value Enhancement Advice
    We are the only mergers and acquisitions advisory firm in Hawaii that works with clients before the sale to increase business value and enhance the owner’s lifestyle, and fully position the business for future sale at the best possible price and terms.  Sometimes we can recommend quick fixes that can rapidly increase value, while in other cases we may consult with businesses for years to fully prepare them for sale.  For more detail, read about our Strategic Consulting Services.
    
11. Understanding of Advanced Deal Structures and Tax Strategies
    It is not an accident there are 100 times as many real estate agents as business intermediaries in the US, and that the average age of a business intermediary nationwide is 54 years old.  Business sale transactions, particularly of larger enterprises, are exceedingly complex ones. Mastering the financial, legal and tax aspects of business sales takes years of active experience and a commitment to continuing education on evolving laws and regulations.  Knowledge of advanced deal structures and tax strategies can have a profound impact on the net value received by the seller.  The vast majority of business intermediaries in Hawaii, and virtually all real estate brokers, have little experience and education regarding these strategies.  VR is unique in Hawaii in our continuing commitment to educate our team on these cutting edge techniques. 
    
12. Broadest Industry Experience
    While the vast majority of success factors in selling a business are common across industries, in certain sectors and in select aspects of the selling process, it is valuable to have industry knowledge and contacts. VR has sold businesses in virtually every business sector in Hawaii, and its team of professionals has personal experience in dozens of other industries, positioning us to understand the unique industry dynamics facing each of our clients.
    
13. Mainland Investment Banking Relationships
    VR Hawaii has established relationships with several of the leading mainland based middle market intermediaries to provide investment banking services to larger Hawaii corporations. These companies have offices located in major cities throughout the mainland and in international markets, and handle transactions in virtually every industry imaginable, and some in fact are industry specialists. As a rule, these firms focus on businesses with enterprise values exceeding $5-10 million dollars, and up to $300 million in value.
    Most mainland based brokers and intermediaries understand very little about Hawaii’s unique business environment, don’t have any connections or presence here, and their buyer contacts generally have no interest in Hawaii’s market, which they perceive as small and isolated.  So they are ill positioned to sell Hawaii firms on their own.  However, by partnering with such firms, we add their mainland connections and expertise in larger transactions to our local resources and knowledge to deliver superior investing banking services to middle market Hawaii businesses.
14. Real Estate Licensed
    While obviously there is no shortage of licensed general real estate companies in Hawaii, there are quite a few unlicensed business brokerage firms from the mainland who periodically represent Hawaii based businesses.  These companies are operating illegally, and putting their clients at great risk, as using an unlicensed broker can provide grounds for the rescission of a business transaction.  In addition, their lack of presence in Hawaii, and insufficient understanding of Hawaii’s unique business climate and style, put them at a substantial disadvantage in servicing Hawaii clients.
    
15. Most Comprehensive, Sophisticated Marketing
    VR offers its seller clients the most comprehensive and sophisticated marketing program in our industry.  We have the most extensive selling network, largest team of brokers and most extensive international reach, as noted above.  In addition, the selling memoranda we prepare for clients are far more sophisticated and detailed than those offered by our local and mainland competitors, particularly real estate firms.  (We invite you to meet with us and others and compare.)  We are the only mergers and acquisitions advisory firm in Hawaii that markets via buyer seminars (including webinars) and digital video disks to maximize the impact of client presentations.  Our web site is considerably more advanced than those of other local brokers, and as has been search engine optimized in four languages.
    
16. Affiliations and Partnerships
    We have established marketing affiliations and partnerships with many of Hawaii’s and the mainland’s leading companies, to further enhance our capabilities and client results.  We work with mainland business intermediaries who are specialists in a particular industry (e.g., Medical Practice Brokers) to provide the most comprehensive and professional representation possible for clients.  We have partnered with Carlsmith Ball, Accuity LLP, Morgan Stanley, EN Kemp & Associates, and Guardian Escrow and others to provide value added seminars to Hawaii business owners.  
    
17. Member, Hawaii Better Business Bureau
    To our continued surprise, we are the only mergers and acquisitions advisory firm in Hawaii that is a member of the Hawaii Better Business Bureau.  We firmly believe in the BBB’s mission: to be the leader in advancing marketplace trust. BBB accomplishes this mission by 1) Creating a community of trustworthy businesses; 2) Setting standards for marketplace trust; 3) Encouraging and supporting best practices; 4) Celebrating marketplace role models, and; 5) Denouncing substandard marketplace behavior. 
    
18. Hundreds of Satisfied Hawaii Clients
    We have hundreds of satisfied buyer and seller clients in Hawaii.  Read our testimonials to see a representative sample.
    
19. Professional Offices
    VR is the only Hawaii business sales specialist that has bothered to make the most basic of investments – a professional office.  We have offices in Honolulu, Hilo and Kahului.  Our competitors work from their homes, not a professional environment to sell a business, and illustrative of their lack of commitment to the profession.
20. Business Principles
    VR Hawaii was founded on, and all our people live by ten key business principles that are the foundation of our success.  While at first glance this may appear to be a “fuzzy” reason to engage our company, we adamantly believe these principles have been at the heart of our success in Hawaii.  We adhere to the strict code of ethics of the International Business Brokers Association.

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