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Total advice for Jo and Johan who wanted to sell their roofing business

Wouter Wellens

After nearly two decades of hard work, Jo and Johan de Brabander decided to pursue their lifelong dream. The couple bought rental property in Spain and put their successful roofing business in Belgium on the market. Corporate finance advisor Wouter guided Jo and Johan from A to Z during the sale of their business and consulted with other advisors where necessary.

Helping you be smart in business

Our clients are passionate entrepreneurs. They are all on an inspiring journey, with SBB at their side. In 'Helping you be smart in business', our clients talk about their experience, and we explore the deeper meaning of #helping you be #smart #in business.

#Helping you be

Johan: "We had relied on SBB for our bookkeeping for years, but our collaboration intensified when we decided to put our business on the market. Our SBB accountant involved the SBB advisory team for this purpose. As a corporate finance advisor, Wouter was our dedicated point of contact throughout the process. That gave us peace of mind and confidence, especially when things were not looking so good."

"For instance, Jo and I had initially found a buyer ourselves, but the party in question broke the deal off a few weeks later. Wouter then started to look for new potential buyers himself and screened them thoroughly with background and solvency checks before introducing them to us. This saved us a lot of time and stress. We eventually found two ambitious young men who were looking for an interesting acquisition."

Did you know that ...

this type of acquisition is a so-called 'share deal'? Wouter Wellens, corporate finance advisor at SBB: "In a share deal, the seller or transferor sells the company's shares. As such, the buyer acquires the entire company – with all its assets and debts. On the other hand, in an 'asset deal', the company is the seller and only (one or more) parts of the company are sold.  These are two very different situations for the seller and buyer, legally and from a tax point of view. 

#Smart

Jo: "At the beginning of the acquisition process, we had absolutely no idea how much our business was worth. But thanks to Wouter's comprehensive financial analysis and valuation, we quickly knew what price was realistic and how the sale would proceed."

"Wouter could also turn to his fellow advisors with specific questions. A major benefit! For example, he involved a legal advisor to draw up the various contracts, a VAT advisor when a VAT revision was needed, tax experts to remove cash surpluses from the company, and so on. Our previous accountant never provided this level of support."

"In addition, the fact that Wouter was also able to contact Spanish tax specialists through an international network which SBB belongs to, proved to be a huge lifesaver. We discovered that it was better not to move to Spain immediately, otherwise we would have to pay 25% extra taxes as residents of Spain on the sale of our company in Belgium. This is just one example of the issues we could never have foreseen without Wouter and SBB."

Did you know that ... 

an acquisition process at SBB consists of a number of standard phases, each involving financial, legal and tax aspects? Wouter Wellens, corporate finance advisor at SBB: "A phase must be completed before you can start the next one. So an acquisition always takes several months. Having all the expertise of our advisors under one roof means you don't lose precious time."

#In Business

Johan: “Running a business is a passion. It's a passion you are born with it. On the other hand, it's also a matter of hard work. Fortunately, we never had to worry. Our SBB accountant had always been at our disposal in the past, and during the acquisition process, Wouter and his fellow advisors were always ready to answer our questions."

"Now that the acquisition has been successfully completed, we can leave for Spain with peace of mind. We still have some work to do in Spain: the apartments are in good condition but need a refresh. Once that is out of the way, we can rent them out and also start enjoying the Spanish sun and hospitality. Our children are looking forward to moving with us."

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