Â
We all know how it works...
If you really want to buy something, you'll find a way to justify the purchase.
Â
The same is true when selling.
If you're determined to sell, you'll find reasons why it makes sense.
Â
This is where valuation becomes so important.
It slows everything down.
Â
V...
Â
Wondering when to sell your bank?
It's the question every bank CEO eventually faces.
Â
The best advice I know comes from NYU Finance professor Aswath Damodaran and his famous story about lemmings.
This simple story perfectly captures why so many bank sales happen at exactly the wrong time.
 ...
Every bank sale is unique, just like the bank itself and the leaders who built it.
But I've found that successful bank sales follow a pattern.
Â
This pattern matches what author Bo Burlingham describes in his book "Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top."
Â
Burlingham f...
Â
Let's talk about something every bank CEO struggles with when considering a sale: the mental shift from being a builder to being a seller.
Â
Here's what typically happens in your mind:
Â
"Here's my bank. What will you give me for it?"
Â
Simple, right? You've built something valuable, now it...
Â
The deal closed.
There are a whole host of emotions.
How do you celebrate?
And, with whom?
Â
Management Team
It’s important to celebrate this milestone with your team and to affirm their transformation into the value-driven leaders they have become.
Sadly, many leaders are so competitive w...
Â
The deal closed.
The bank you were CEO of, and the holding company (if applicable) no longer exist.
Â
The duties you had related to the distribution of the merger consideration will remain until they have been fully disbursed.
Â
Employees and customers begin to look beyond your authority to ...
Â
In addition to the organic customer calling that has taken place since the announcement, you will have a customer calling blitz as well.
That is a concentrated effort to go to the customer’s place of business for a face- to-face meeting.
The goal of the calling blitz is to make certain you can ...
Â
The deal has closed, the signs have changed, and as you can imagine, the shareholders are interested in when they receive the merger consideration.
Â
When selling a home, the documents get signed and the keys are exchanged for the sales proceeds.
Â
This transaction isn’t that simple, so commu...
Â
You’ve closed on the merger.
Legal counsel has communicated that everything is done.
Documents have been exchanged, and the deal has closed.
Â
The paying agent has the funds for distributing the cash merger consideration when shares are surrendered, according to the instructions the sharehold...
Â
When the announcement for the definitive agreement signing is made, you can only estimate when the closing will be because things like the regulatory approval timing are not in your control.
So, your communication of the closing is typically within a range of a business quarter.
Â
Because of t...
Â
Regulatory approval is managed by the buyer.
Â
If an application is “informationally complete,” it is supposed to be approved 91 days after filing by statute.
Â
The process could be delayed by information requests from the regulators pushing the “informationally complete” clock.
Â
Fortunate...
Â
Legal counsel should guide you through the process of calling a special meeting of the shareholders for the purpose of voting on the merger.
Your corporate documents should spell this all out.
Let your legal counsel review them and guide you to ensure things are done in accordance with those do...
