Preserving Asset Value in Acquisitions
When
you acquire a company in today’s market a significant part of the asset
value is in the people.
This
is especially the case when the product is technology and always the case
when it is software. Your
product is in their heads.
The
Hamer Group has many years experience in the personnel and organizational
issues related to acquisitions.
We
can assist by reviewing your plan, or developing one with you and then
helping you implement it.
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| The Case of
the Disappearing Assets In every technology
based company for which we've been the assignees, much of the assets have
been intangibles, goodwill, software, licenses, and such. A great
deal of the value of these assets depends on the people who designed,
documented and maintained them.
As in so many of these
situations, once there are significant problems in the company, the word
spreads quickly to headhunters and competitors who target the best of the technical
talent.
As the company's
position deteriorates and conditions become worse, productivity falls off
markedly as employees become more preoccupied with the uncertainties of their own circumstances.
By the time we
intervene many of the key technical people have already interviewed with
competitors, some probably have offers.
In almost every case
the threat to the company's assets presented by loss of technical people
is exacerbated by the state of engineering and product
documentation. Even in the best run companies, engineering and
production documentation is
always a struggle. In a company fighting for its life this documentation
nearly always
takes a back seat.
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Finally there is always
the risk of damage to products, customers, facilities from disaffected
employees.
This presents a
significant problem to potential buyers because so much of the assets are
in the technical people who design and develop the product and who will be
needed to continue to develop and support it.
Whether
or not we are involved in the Assignment, we have worked as consultants to management
to ensure that these assets are preserved.
It makes sense, both for
management and for the affected employees.
Our services include a
comprehensive and pro-active approach to ensuring that the buyer has the
best chance of retaining the key people and that the acquisition happens
with the least disruption and down time.
We will be pleased to
review these services and how they can help.
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