;

Transaction Support

ST Advisors is your trusted advocate during one of the most important events of your company’s life cycle. As veterans of dozens of transactions advising both buyers and sellers, we are uniquely qualified to be your M&A coach, advocating for the management team throughout the transaction process. With ST Advisors, you take each step confidently, bolstered by our commitment to honesty and transparency regarding value, suitors, timing, risks, and terms.

An M&A Coach You Can Trust

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.

Why Use ST Advisors?

  • Benefit from Our Experience | Our clients consistently praise our industry knowledge, strategic perspective, and differentiated ability to position their companies to both investors and potential acquirers. We have earned that recognition with hard work, a commitment to honesty and transparency, more than 25 years of healthcare-specific experience, and deep expertise in equity research, investment banking, and corporate strategy.
  • Conserve Your Valuable Time | The investment or acquisition process, no matter how well-run, is incredibly time-intensive. Partnering with ST Advisors saves you significant time and energy in each phase of the transaction process, allowing your management team to remain focused on running your business.
  • Gain a Staunch Ally | Bankers often have to satisfy multiple stakeholders. In addition to their clients, bankers may serve the interests of a universe of strategic buyers, or may seek to court financial sponsors. ST Advisors’ previous banking experience and relationships help ensure that the process is all about your business, and not the marketing needs of the bank — and that the accepted offer is in your best interest.
  • You Deserve “Strategic Truth” | Above all else, we value honesty, integrity, and transparency. ST Advisors is committed to giving you our best, most thoughtful, and honest advice. We take immense pride in the reputation for honesty and integrity that has earned us the cherished accolade of “trusted advisor.”
SERVICES

Working with ST Advisors is like having a close and trusted friend at the table to provide valuable insight and strategic advice.

Angie FranksCEO of Healthland (2010-2013)

Working with ST Advisors was essential in helping me plan what became a process for recapitalizing basys. They were integral in helping me to create a deal team, resulting in a successful recapitalization that exceeded expectations. Ben and Michelle were my trusted advisor / partners throughout the entire process, allowing me to focus on growing my business and greatly reducing the stress of finding a new investor. While I’d previously both sold a business as its CEO, and also worked as a senior PE investor, working with ST Advisors was a great decision for me and my company.

Jenny MorganCo-Owner and CEO of basys

ST Advisors’ knowledge of the industry, and their ability to moderate and serve as the voice of reason during a complex process, proved to be the key to making a difficult transaction come to fruition. Whether a transaction is small or big, experience is critical, and ST Advisors’ experience makes all the difference when it comes to bringing two organizations together.

Fran Loshin-TursoCEO of Defran Systems (1984–2012)
CASE STUDIES: