Why Use Hahnbeck
You’ve built an incredible business.
When it is time to sell, you need a partner who understands your industry, has the right connections, and really cares about getting you the best possible result. Let us take care of this for you.
The leading Amazon and DTC online retail brands use Hahnbeck to sell for these reasons:
A materially better deal - in a sector where the closing price for the sale of a business can vary by 25% or more, having the right advisors to manage the process just makes sense
Extensive support from a great team. Investment bankers, chartered accountants, Amazon sellers and M&A professionals with > $2Bn in transaction experience are on our team. The largest Amazon sellers and leading DTC brands trust us with their exit
Actually closing the deal. Our focus is not on merely getting competing offers. Non-binding offers are worthless. Our focus is on all of the conditions that have to be in place to ensure that the deal closes at the offer price
Hahnbeck’s low fee pays for itself many times over. Don’t gamble on selling your business via any other method.
Get started today by emailing us at info@hahnbeck.com or completing our free valuation calculator. For more details about Hahnbeck read on.
The sale of your business is too important to
be handled flippantly.
Don’t gamble on flipping it via a service that gets paid by the buyers. And don’t just sell it directly to a buyer.
Buyers like both of these options because they get a cheaper deal. If you want the best result, use experts.
Not all advisors are equal. See what makes Hahnbeck different.
Non-Binding Offers Don’t Matter
Our focus is not on merely getting competing offers. Non-binding offers are worthless. Hahnbeck’s focus is on all of the conditions that have to be in place to ensure that the deal closes at the offer price.
Retrading is very common in the world of e-commerce (especially Amazon FBA) acquisitions. It’s very easy to make a non-binding offer and then, once the seller has signed an exclusivity agreement, calculate the real price, which is almost always lower. But retrading can be avoided.
There is a lot to this. Extensive knowledge of the buyers is critical: not all buyers are equal. Hahnbeck clients have the benefit of our extensive experience in this space and our in-depth knowledge of the buyers. Preparation is also vitally important - there is a lot that needs to be done before entering exclusivity to ensure that due diligence goes smoothly and there is no retrading. Without all of this in place, the seller is at an immense disadvantage during due diligence.
“Getting non-binding offers is easy. Closing the deal for the price you want is an entirely different matter.”
Deal Value Can Vary Enormously
Getting the best deal, as compared to just getting a sale, really matters.
In a sector where deal values can vary by more than 25% it makes sense to have experts on your side to manage the process properly. We’ve had clients with offers on the table before engaging us, and through our process we achieved a selling price 25% higher than the best previous offer. In other cases where existing offers are strong, it is a matter of truly testing the market to make sure the offer is the highest possible, improving it further, improving the terms, and putting everything in place to ensure the deal closes at the offer price.
We’ve always managed to achieve higher prices than the best offers our clients have had on the table before engaging us, while protecting their interests and providing extensive support along the way. In one case the result we achieved for the client was approximately double the value he thought was attainable.
So Why Use Hahnbeck?
Hahnbeck Are The Experts
You are exceptionally good at operating and growing e-commerce businesses: to get to where you are today you must have these skills. But we are specialists in selling them: it’s a different skillset. Let us take care of it for you.
We are are genuine specialists in this sector. We’re constantly in touch with hundreds of acquirers of e-commerce businesses at any one time, including the largest acquirers in the world. We will log into your Sellerboard or Seller Legend software and analyse your sales by ASIN, brand and geography. We will understand your e-commerce management accounts. We will restructure them to calculate your seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE) or contribution margin, in a way that demonstrates maximum value. We’ll identify every possible opportunity in your business, some of which you might not have even realised yourself.
We’ll simply get you a better result than you could achieve on your own.
As seen in
Our Team
The Hahnbeck team is the best in the business. Made up of investment bankers, Big Four chartered accountants, Amazon sellers and corporate finance professionals with more than $2Bn in transactions, our team is unsurpassed in the e-commerce M&A sector.
Global Presence
From our offices in the UK and North America we are leading transactions ranging from $4m to well over $100m across the United States, UK and Europe.
Industry Connections
Hahnbeck has been deeply connected within the Amazon aggregator M&A ecosystem since the start. In several cases Hahnbeck brought the aggregator firms the first ever Amazon FBA deals they worked on. We’ve made important connections for some of the firms and supported the growth of the sector. We know the senior people at many of the aggregators and we’re connected to all of them.
Reputation
What makes Hahnbeck the leading M&A firm in e-commerce?
A track record of closing Amazon FBA deals where:
Brokers had failed to find a buyer or close the deal
The owners had taken the business to market and failed to find a buyer
A track record of turning a “no” from a buyer into a “yes”, on many occasions
In one case this firm became the highest bidder and acquired the business
A track record of closing “difficult” sales:
Resellers
Amazon FBA businesses in categories that are not highly favoured
A track record of working with, and closing deals with, strategic buyers
These are not things we just talk about, or silly predictions about what we’re “going to do” in the future, like some brokers in this sector. These are things we have actually done.
Strategics & Private Equity
The acquirers of online retail businesses extend far beyond the Amazon aggregators. The larger the business the more important strategics and PE firms are to the sale.
Strategic buyers (businesses in the same or similar industries to our client) often stand to make the most from the acquisition and can therefore afford to pay more than any other type of buyer. Identifying and connecting with the right people at these firms is critical to the process.
Private Equity firms are increasingly interested in the online retail space and are investing heavily across the sector. We’re connected to all of the main PE firms in the consumer space as well as a number of family offices and other private equity vehicles.
Free Valuation
The best starting point is always an accurate valuation. We are very happy to have detailed, no-obligation discussions with any e-commerce business owner who would like to know what their business is worth, whether it is for an immediate sale, a sale in future, or just for information. A useful starting point is the simple valuation calculator on our website, or you can of course just contact us by phone (+44 203 669 1654) or email (info@hahnbeck.com) and we will be happy to help.
Track Record
Our results speak for themselves. Hahnbeck consistently achieves above-market results for its clients.
Clients have come to us with strong offers already on the table and we have, through our process:
Found the true highest price in the market (significantly higher than their existing offers)
With optimal terms
While protecting our client’s interests in other ways
And closing the deal without retrading
We find that most of the discourse from brokers is around point 1 above. But points 2, 3 and 4 are absolutely critical. Without these, point 1 is meaningless.
Selected Hahnbeck Client Testimonials:
Perhaps even more importantly, our happy clients are a testament to our work. Besides getting them the best possible financial result, they tell us that they really valued our support, our availability, our ideas and our tireless effort throughout the process. We are extremely grateful and humbled by the fact that our former clients are passionate advocates for Hahnbeck. The following are brief excerpts - see our Testimonials page for the full reviews.
“I would highly recommend Hahnbeck to anyone looking to sell their e-commerce business, whether it is just Amazon or their own website, or both.
They have the knowledge, expertise and contacts to get you the best deal and make the process as smooth as possible.
Thank you Tal & the rest of the Hahnbeck team.”
— David Fannin, owner of an outstanding Amazon FBA & DTC business
“Hahnbeck quite literally obtained multiple offers that were about double what I would have expected to achieve going at it alone.
Not only that, but working with Hahnbeck meant I had someone to lean on during the process... To anyone considering selling their FBA business,
while it might seem tempting to contact the aggregators directly, doing so leaves serious money on the table.”
— Jordan, owner of a successful US based Amazon business
“I was unsure of which broker to use to sell my Amazon FBA private label business, but I’m really glad I chose Hahnbeck.
They handled the sale process very well and within three weeks I had offers from 9 different buyers, from the UK, Europe, the USA and Canada...
I will have no hesitation in using Hahnbeck again in future. Not only are they very professional, their fees are also very reasonable.”
— Mansour Malik, owner of a large UK based Amazon FBA business
Our Strengths
The Business Case
We invest a lot of time into understanding our clients’ businesses, to really identify what makes them great acquisitions. Although e-commerce businesses share similarities, each business is unique. Key to this process is learning from the business owner, to develop a thorough understanding of the company’s strengths and its best opportunities. Using business methodologies and our experience in the market, we appraise the business from the buyer’s perspective, allowing us to build a very strong business case. Often during this process we can identify areas where quick improvements or adjustments can add value before taking the business to market.
With experienced corporate finance professionals (including chartered accountants) on staff, we are able to optimise our clients’ financials to develop an SDE (seller’s discretionary earnings) that is optimal and defensible. More complex analysis (carve-outs, forecasts and more) are possible too.
Once we have developed a thorough business case for the acquisition, focusing on the company’s key strengths and the opportunities for each type of acquirer, we create very high quality presentation materials designed to convey the opportunity to buyers in the most compelling way. These are bespoke to each business and each client.
Speed
In cases where time is of the essence we are able to move very quickly. We’ve had everything in place to bring a business to market in one week on occasions like this in the past.
Honesty & Confidentiality
Hahnbeck is a breath of fresh air in an industry that is sometimes over-hyped and sadly is not always populated by good actors. At Hahnbeck we hold the highest standards of professionalism and we’re always straight with our clients. Confidentiality is also critical and we maintain the highest standards of discretion.
Negotiation
Our process finds the best buyer and the best deal for each of our clients. But negotiation is about much more than the LOI - it starts much earlier, positioning our clients optimally to have a strong hand in negotiations. And our support continues through due diligence to negotiating the commercial terms of
the final (binding) agreements.
Results
Ultimately it all leads to this. Hahnbeck simply attains the best results for its clients.
For a free initial consultation just email us at info@hahnbeck.com, call us on +44 203 669 1654.
Pricing
Our 5% fee pays for itself many times over. Don’t be tempted to gamble on the sale of your business through a “no broker fee” site
where the buyer pays the fees. By not handling the process optimally the cost to you will likely be in the region of 25% or more.
If you’re thinking of using one of these services, speak to us first. You’ll be glad you did.
Hahnbeck’s fee is a very reasonable 5% of the consideration at closing. You can see some examples of how our pricing works on our pricing page.
“Note: if you’re thinking of using a service where the broker is paid by the buyers (so you save the broker fee), speak to us first.
You’ll save 5% but most likely miss out on 25% or more with these services. We will be able to find a better solution for you.”
For a free initial consultation just email us at info@hahnbeck.com, call us on +44 203 669 1654, or click the button below: