Cash is king. And the borrower is servant to the lender. Just saying. It's 
always better to just get it over with when you can. 

> On Mar 20, 2014, at 7:32 AM, "Hass, Douglas A." <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> You and I are on the same page here.
>  
> The short answer to those on this list:
>  
> If your business attorney or CPA is telling you “Always do cash deals” or 
> “Never use seller financing,” then thank them for their time and find someone 
> else to advise you who is comfortable advising sellers on a full range of 
> options, guiding them to the best ones, and is including the right 
> protections for you.
>  
>  
> The longer answer:
>  
> Here’s why we’re on the same page.  The first question is not “Is the offer 
> 100% cash?” but “Why am I selling?”  The second question is “What do I want 
> out of the sale?”  That’s what you’re doing below.
>  
> A couple people have expressed concern about getting the business back if 
> something goes wrong.  There are many ways to structure that deal so as to 
> greatly minimize the time or expense of getting the business back, as I’ve 
> mentioned elsewhere.
>  
> Your concern is getting out entirely.  There are many ways to structure that 
> deal.  100% cash is one way to do it.  Another that I mentioned during the 
> course of this is through an annuity (which you have the option of selling to 
> get cash or keeping to get the higher payments, according to your risk 
> tolerance).  You can do sweep accounts where the bank guarantees that you get 
> paid first as money comes in coupled with business insurance options.  The 
> deal structure that might work best for you will depend first on your goals 
> as a seller, second on your buyer, and finally on your risk tolerance.
>  
> Saying “I’ll only take 100% cash” is definitely an option, and sometimes the 
> best one, but it’s never the only one.  If you have an advisor locking you 
> into an all-cash deal, that’s a sign that he or she may not be the best 
> advisor for you.  I’ll even bet that they’re probably missing things even in 
> that all-cash deal they’re drawing up for you.
>  
> If anyone here on the list ever wants some confidential guidance on how to 
> structure a deal, language to put in an agreement, or about sales/purchases 
> generally, I’m happy to help share what I can and get you pointed to the 
> right advisor (attorney, CPA, whoever) to help (and I’ll be happy to 
> contribute to the employment piece of whatever deal you do).
>  
> Doug
>  
>  
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On 
> Behalf Of [email protected]
> Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 12:27 AM
> To: WISPA General List
> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP
>  
> I had a meeting a couple weeks ago with a company looking to buy us. They 
> have deep pockets and were looking at cash only deal. If I'm looking to sell, 
> it's obviously because I want to go in a different direction. The last thing 
> I'd want to do is go through the enter sale process only to have to take the 
> company back at a later date. Even if I was able to get my company back 
> immediately months later with zero customer loss, the time, effort and lost 
> growth just aren't worth the risk in my opinion.
>  
> 
> On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 5:09 PM, Hass, Douglas A. <[email protected]> wrote:
> Primary housing is a different deal altogether.  Unlike businesses, where you 
> can get immediate repossession, you often can’t with housing.
>  
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On 
> Behalf Of CBB - Jay Fuller
> Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 4:02 PM
> 
> To: WISPA General List
> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP
>  
> 
> Then why do people sell houses on owner financing ? 
> 
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone
> 
> ----- Reply message -----
> From: "Justin Wilson" <[email protected]>
> To: "WISPA General List" <[email protected]>
> Subject: [WISPA] Selling ISP
> Date: Wed, Mar 19, 2014 3:50 PM
> 
>  
>             Having been a part of a deal gone bad I recommend cash up front.  
> Once you hand over the keys it’s pretty hard to get it back.  If you have to 
> go to Litigation you are going to be spending money out of pocket for 
> attorneys.  I agree with Cameron.   Cash at closing. If you don’t do 100% 
> cash at closing you should be prepared to not see another dime if you do 
> anything else.
>  
>             I know ISPs who sold, got some money at closing, and then ended 
> up spending twice that money on attorney fees and still ended up with 
> nothing.  Selling a business should be like selling a high dollar item.  If I 
> was going to sell a car I sure wouldn’t sell it on contract.   Too many 
> things can go wrong.
>  
>             If I had 100% ownership in an ISP today and wanted to sell I 
> would take a hit on the overall price.  If then user couldn’t afford it and I 
> really needed to sell for whatever reason I would simply take a lower price.  
> Less stress that way.
>  
>             Justin
>  
>  
> --
> Justin Wilson <[email protected]> 
> MTCNA – CCNA – MTCRE – MTCWE - COMTRAIN
> Aol & Yahoo IM: j2sw
> http://www.mtin.net/blog – xISP News
> http://www.zigwireless.com – High Speed Internet Options
> http://www.thebrotherswisp.com – The Brothers Wisp
>  
>  
>  
> From: "Hass, Douglas A." <[email protected]>
> Reply-To: WISPA General List <[email protected]>
> Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 3:08 PM
> To: WISPA General List <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP
>  
> 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.
> Celebrating 20 Years | 1994-2014
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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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> Randy Cosby 
> InfoWest, Inc
> 435-674-0165 x 2010
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