Because company sales are time-consuming, complex affairs with plenty of pitfalls, where good preparation and competition are the keys to success. So it helps to have an experienced guide to the terrain - someone who's been over the course many times before and can get the process underway quickly and confidentially.
There's a great deal to do:
- Ensuring that the best buyers are in the frame
- Preparing persuasive marketing materials
- Liaising with potential buyers
- Anticipating their questions and concerns
- Managing the process and coaxing bidders to their limits
No management team has time to handle all that and keep the business running smoothly.
And when it comes to negotiations, a good financial advisor is worth his weight in gold:
- Keeping track of the value-issues
- Watching the critical commercial points in the contract
- Acting as go-between and parrying the moves of sophisticated buyers
Because there is an inescapably adversarial dimension to any company sale process, however gentlemanly it might appear, it's worth having a good financial bodyguard to protect and advance your interests. | 
