Advice From an Emmy Award-winning Entrepreneur
Business Transitions Forum
With only one week away from BTF Vancouver, we continue to spotlight the profiles of amazing business owners who will be sharing their experiences on stage.
This time we spoke with Delna Bhesania, CEO & Co-Founder of Bardel Entertainment, who will be sharing her journey next week.
Delna is an Emmy Award-winning Executive Producer and CEO with a passion for startups and growing high performing businesses.
BTF: Please provide a brief overview of your transaction
Delna: We were a privately held Animation company that sold 100% of its shares over a three-year term to a privately held Italian company. Even though the Italian company was privately held, they had sold 30% of their company to a major US conglomerate, which had a voice in the transaction.
BTF: What single factor made your company attractive to acquirers?
Delna: Our blue-chip clients and our EBITDA.
BTF: What was the hardest part of selling your business?
Delna: The hardest part was finding the right person to represent us to sell the business.
BTF: Name a few specific things that you or your advisory team did to increase the proceeds/improve the outcome of the transaction?
Delna: First, accounting. Its all about the numbers and accountants, a lot of them, and having a good CFO that can fight for your numbers and knows how to best represent them. And secondly, a good M&A lawyer.
BTF: What element of the process of selling did you find most surprising/unexpected?
Delna: Because our business was categorized as a culture industry and we were selling to a foreign buyer, we had to get Heritage Canada’s approval. Which was a process and involved negotiating points with them that became part of the sale, as the buyers’ obligations.
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