We are four months in on THIS deal and have made every payment. About two
years ago we did another albeit smaller deal ...made every payment on it too.
As a buyer...I guess I see this differently....
Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone
----- Reply message -----
From: "Cameron Crum" <[email protected]>
To: "WISPA General List" <[email protected]>
Subject: [WISPA] Selling ISP
Date: Wed, Mar 19, 2014 3:52 PM
Of course there are lots of ways to get money too, besides banks. When it comes
down to it, I don't care where the money comes from, as long as it isn't my
pocket.
The guy we ended up using was an attorney and cpa and had done nothing but put
together business sales of all kinds for the last 40 years. He had actually
just retired but came back to do our deal as a favor to one of our partners. He
said a strong majority of the seller financed deals ended with the sellers
seeing less than promised for one reason or another. What he told us was that
if you are going to finance it, don't expect to ever see anything past the down
payment. Treat the financed portion like an unexpected bonus. I followed Steve
Miller's advice, "Went ahead, took the money, and ran."
On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 3:39 PM, Hass, Douglas A. <[email protected]> wrote:
Next time you talk to the business attorney or accountant, ask them “How
many purchase agreements for ISPs, telecom companies, and Internet/web
properties have
you negotiated?”
I’ll bet you a beer at the next WISPA show that the answer is either
“None” or “1”
Doug
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 3:16 PM
To: WISPA General List
Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP
Every business attorney and accountant has told me the same thing, cash only.
On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 4:09 PM, Cameron Crum <[email protected]> wrote:
Doug,
The problem I see with that is that you will most likely have to take the other
party to court to enforce the terms of your agreement if one of the terms is
breached. It could take months or even years to get a final judgement at which
time there may be nothing left. This may be good advice for a non-wisp
business, but in the fast paced world of broadband, customers will likely flee
before a resolution is reached. If the buyer is left insolvent, you are left
with nothing, and may be on the
hook for all your own legal fees. I talked to three different business
attorneys and they all told me to run from any seller financed deal regardless
of who the buyer was. Again, if the buyer can't get financing on their own, are
they a good buyer?
On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 2:55 PM, Hass, Douglas A. <[email protected]> wrote:
Of course! You have to have a willing seller and buyer to start. My point is
that setting preconditions
before you get started (as a buyer or as a seller) unnecessarily limits what
you ultimately would be able to do. Don’t take options off the table
until you have a specific deal to consider. Then is the time to say
“I’m only taking cash” or “I’ll finance,
but only with X, Y, and Z terms that protect me.”
Doug
From:
[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of CBB - Jay Fuller
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 2:53 PM
To: WISPA General List
Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP
Depends on how bad you want to sell ...we don't always want to buy.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone
----- Reply message -----
From: "Hass, Douglas A." <[email protected]>
To: "WISPA General List" <[email protected]>
Subject: [WISPA] Selling ISP
Date: Wed, Mar 19, 2014 2:08 PM
Cameron—
There’s lots of ways to structure the deal so that you’re
protected, even if the buyer is a complete
imbecile and even if the buyer doesn’t have cash up front. If you want
to sell or if you want to buy, don’t let the all-cash restriction prevent
you from making a deal. If you end up in court chasing payments from the
buyer, then you likely didn’t draft
your agreement carefully enough given your tolerance for risk (of course, your
due diligence should be telling you whether the buyer is an imbecile, and that
information should inform what kind of deal you’re willing to accept).
To categorically reject buyers who don’t have 100% cash to hand you at
closing might mean leaving
money on the table or more flexible terms from someone who can put together a
more attractive end package. In that sense, it works like selling real estate.
The all-cash offer isn’t always your best one.
To Randy’s point--Jab has undergone a major shakeup at the top. Many of
the senior executive staff
have departed in the last few months. That might account for some of the
quietness. I don’t have any inside information, just what I learned
trying to round up potential panelists and speakers for WISPAmerica.
Doug
From:
[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Cameron Crum
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 1:45 PM
To: WISPA General List
Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP
The seller is not a bank. Why should they take on all the risk? What happens if
the buyer is a complete imbecile and runs the network into the ground and
defaults on payments? Now
you are in court suing for money you will most likely never see, and even if
you retake possession of the network, it may be in shambles or most of your
customers have left. We walked away from a couple of buyers who would not pony
up the cash. I'd say as
one who sold a wisp, if the buyer can't afford it, or can't arrange their own
financing, you don't want to sell.
On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 1:39 PM, Mike Hammett <[email protected]> wrote:
There's many more buyers out there.
-----
Mike Hammett
Intelligent Computing Solutions
http://www.ics-il.com
From:
"Randy Cosby" <[email protected]>
To: "WISPA General List" <[email protected]>
Sent:
Wednesday, March 19, 2014 11:00:34 AM
Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP
Is anyone actually buying right now? I haven't heard much about the big buyer
(Jab) lately.
On 3/19/2014 9:49 AM, CBB - Jay Fuller wrote:
The going rate, we've seen (and has been discussed here many times), is about
1.5x annual revenue
Douglas A. Hass
Associate
312.786.6502
[email protected]
Franczek Radelet P.C.
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----- Original Message -----
From:
Eagle One Wireless
To:
'WISPA General List'
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 10:33
AM
Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP
We priced ours at 2.5x gross revenue. We had about 10 companies contact us.
I would say 5 were serious but they wanted us to finance it so we decided
not to sell.
Thanks,
Kevin Melson
Eagle One Wireless
1505 Hwy 72 E
Corinth, MS 38834
662-287-1722
[email protected]
www.e1w.com
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Ryan Morgan
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 10:30 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [WISPA] Selling ISP
What is the current rate for selling your ISP! I would like to sell, for
health reasons.
Thanks for your help!
Jean
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