Consider us your advocate through a capital raise, merger, or acquisition – some of the most important events in your company’s life cycle. We draw on our experience of shepherding both buyers and sellers through dozens of transactions to support and advise your management team throughout the transaction process. We’re by your side, from banker selection and process kick-off through diligence and closing, acting as your advocate and protecting you and your best interests. And our first commitment is to transparency and honesty in all matters, including value, suitors, timing, risks, and terms.

Phase I: Banker Selection

Running a business differs significantly from positioning it for a sale or capital raise, which means hiring the right deal team is one of the most critical decisions a company’s management can make to ensure a successful transaction. Selecting the right banker — including sorting endlessly through thick, glossy pitch books and devoting blocks of time to a virtual parade of presentations — can be a stressful experience. And while venture or private equity investors may provide helpful guidance, you may not be sure that their interests align with yours.

When you work with ST Advisors, you gain a dedicated M&A coach to guide you through the entire transaction process. We help you select the right investment banker, ensuring that you are matched with the best — a banker experienced in transactions like yours, one who’s committed to giving you the attention you deserve. ST Advisors also works closely with the deal team to co-advise throughout the transaction, maximizing your return while minimizing distractions from your number one job: running your business

• Preparation | ST Advisors initially prepares a focused, cogent business summary to share with candidate investment banks. The business summary levels the playing field, helps the bankers understand the opportunity, and builds their excitement. Working with you and your management team, we also identify and address potential issues well in advance of going to market. Our goal is to ensure that no surprises will appear down the road, potentially derailing a smooth and efficient transaction process.
• Banker Evaluation and Pre-Screening | With the business summary complete, ST Advisors communicates directly with potential bankers, pre-screening where appropriate. While we have worked — and maintain long-standing relationships — with most of the active bankers in the healthcare field, we also look outside our network to find the best banker for the job. Throughout this phase, we work to control the breadth of market exposure, minimizing pre-marketing buzz. Together with your board and management team, we evaluate the candidate firms, breaking down their proposed approach to the market, deal structure, and valuation. The result is realistic shared expectations achieved through clear and open communication.
• Banker Selection | ST Advisors leverages our extensive network of sector executives and investors to consult references beyond those provided by candidate banks. Our deep knowledge of the current market environment gives you an additional edge as you negotiate fees and engagement terms. Once the banker is on board, our industry presence (and the promise of future opportunities that represents) helps ensure that you will receive the attention both you and your transaction deserve.

Phase II: Company Process

The ST Advisors team has participated in numerous transactions in a variety of capacities, including research analyst, investment banker, and strategic advisor. We bring to bear the expertise, experience, and extensive network we’ve developed in these roles as you embark on the formal marketing process.

• Marketing Document Review | The effective communication of your company’s value proposition can mean the difference between success and failure for your transaction. Fortunately, ST Advisors excels at positioning complex stories for an audience of financial and strategic buyers. We review each document developed by the investment bank, and provide them — and you — with honest and meaningful feedback.
• Buyer List Creation | Working alongside the banker, ST Advisors assists with the development of a targeted list of potential buyers or investors, offering more than 25 years of industry relationships to complement those of the bank’s. We also help create and deliver the tailored, buyer-specific messages required in “outside the box” situations.
• Management Presentation Development | ST Advisors engages with your management team and bankers to develop an understandable, coherent, and highly compelling management presentation. We are with you as you rehearse, enhance, and deliver your presentation, providing you with guidance and insight to maximize the effectiveness of this critical document.

During the remainder of the process, ST Advisors continues to have a meaningful impact:

• Foresight | Every journey has its bumps, and every company encounters issues that may threaten to alarm a potential buyer or negatively affect valuation. ST Advisors can identify issues in advance, getting out ahead of problems and dealing with them before they turn into “deal breakers.”
• Ongoing Support and Advocacy | As the process unfolds, ST Advisors stays by your side, monitoring the bank’s progress against their stated objectives and holding them accountable to their commitments on both timing and valuation.
• “Getting to Yes” | Our reputation and broad network across the industry enable ST Advisors to play a unique ombudsman role during the transaction process. As an independent agent, unaffiliated with your banker (yet intimately familiar with your business and the market), we help the buyer and seller “get to yes.” Our success in this role is reflected not only in our history of successful transactions, but also in the acknowledgements we’ve received from clients and counterparties alike.

From beginning to end, ST Advisors is management’s advocate and trusted advisor, sharing our honest and unbiased opinions, assessments, and advice.