CFO Techniques: A Hands-On Guide to Keeping Your Business Solvent and Successful

Exit Strategies

With the possible exception of blue chips,¹ practically all companies, whether private or public, at one point or another undergo strategic transformations that alter the entity in a cardinal manner. There are numerous possibilities for changes to occur in companies with publicly traded stocks. There are hostile takeovers. Stockholders vote for mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, and divestitures every day. For one reason or another, public stock may lose its value and a company dissolves or gets privatized through equity buyouts.

For the current owners of a small, privately held company, some sort of a getaway plan is simply ...