M&A Readiness
Post-Close
What happens after the LOI is signed and after the deal closes — integration planning, earnout management, working with a PE board, and preserving deal value through the transition.
16 articles
Founder Employment Agreement After a Sale: Duties, Authority, Severance, and Restrictions
A founder's post-close employment agreement can determine daily authority, compensation, termination economics, earnout control, and restrictive…
Customer Notice Strategy After Signing: Who to Tell, When, and What to Say
Customer communication after signing can protect revenue or create churn risk. Sellers need a tiered notice strategy that coordinates contract…
How to Build a Weekly Management Reporting Package That PE Buyers Will Recognize
PE firms run their portfolio companies on a specific reporting cadence, flash report, bridge analysis, variance commentary.
Technology System Integration After a Business Sale: ERP, CRM, and Payroll Transition Planning
What actually happens to your ERP, CRM, HR/payroll, and financial systems when a PE buyer takes over, timelines, costs, and what to document before…
What Happens to Your Brand and Culture After a PE Acquisition
The underexplored human dimension of PE ownership, how brands, cultures, and teams actually change in the 12 months after close, and what founders…
Add-On Acquisition Due Diligence: A Platform Company Perspective
Add-ons close at 1–3 turns below platform multiples, a $2M EBITDA target at 5x acquired into a 7x platform creates $4M in multiple arbitrage before a…
How to Work With a PE Board After the Close: What Founders Need to Know
The PE board is not like a family business advisory board or an independent board. Founders who miss that distinction often find themselves in…
Management Package Mechanics in PE-Backed Companies: Equity, Incentives, and Liquidity
The management package in a PE-backed company is more complex than founders expect. Understanding how rollover equity, option grants, hurdle rates,…
Value Creation Plans in PE Ownership: How to Build and Execute Against the Thesis
PE sponsors review VCP progress monthly, initiatives tracked in RAG format with owner and due date get resourced; initiatives without one get cut.
PE Reporting Requirements Post-Close: What Sponsors Expect Every Month
Once a PE firm closes, the reporting clock starts immediately. Building sponsor-grade reporting protects the relationship, earnout, and management…
Life After Close: Managing Your Earnout and the Post-Close Period
32% of earnouts are formally disputed. An earnout dispute that reaches arbitration costs $200–500K in legal fees per side, takes 12–24 months to…
Managing Your Team Through a Business Sale: What Retention Actually Requires
A single key manager departure during diligence on a $15M deal can trigger a $1M valuation reduction. A $100K stay bonus costs 90% less than the…
PE Ownership After the Close: What Founders Actually Experience in Year One
67% of founders describe PE ownership as more structured than expected. Founders who fight the reporting cadence in the first 90 days put their…
Post-Merger Integration: What Happens After You Sign
Over 50% of acquisitions fail to deliver expected value, most failures trace to the first 100 days, not the deal terms. Management team departures in…
Purchase Price Allocation After a Business Sale: What Founders Need to Understand
After a business sale closes, the purchase price is allocated across the assets the buyer acquired.
The Second Sale: What Rolled Founders Experience When Their PE Sponsor Exits
When a PE-backed company is sold again three to five years after the initial acquisition, founders who rolled equity face a fundamentally different…