S Mark Alton

Selling a business is complicated. On the one hand, the owner is trying to realize the greatest potential for the business monetarily as well as strategically both of which will impact the owner and the employees. Not only does the business owner have to learn and evaluate his/her strategic business alternatives but also is tasked with learning and planning for his/her current and /or potential beneficiaries simultaneously. Oftentimes, the immediacy of the strategic deal overwhelms and usurps any thought of personal planning. It is for this latter reason that the sooner a business owner begins learning about financial as well as tax, trust and estate planning strategies the better as it should afford confidence and flexibility.



The coordination and management of the owner's corporate and personal advisors and consultants is critical. To determine the true integrated value of a company to the owner, all of the professionals consulting with the owner must understand how their advice and decisions may impact others' advice and decisions. The owner should have two "teams" of consultants, one for the company and one for him/herself. The company should have an investment banker consulting on the transaction working in concert with corporate counsel and accountant. The owner should have a financial advisor consulting on the planning in light of the transaction in concert with individual trust, tax and estate counsel and accountant. The cooperation between the investment banker and the financial advisor coordinating and managing the respective teams of professional advisors is paramount for the owner to achieve the most advantageous outcome.

In short, the investment banker working with the team of corporate consultants may influence the degree to which money goes to the acquiring and receiving companies as well as to the government via taxes. The financial advisor working with the team of personal consultants may influence the degree to which money goes to the owner's family, charity and the government via taxes.

Exiting your business is a highly complex, often emotionally draining, process involving countless details.  We are here to assist you in preparing both you and your company for the transition, and to provide ongoing support following the transition.  We can work with you and your key executives and advisors to help prepare your company for sale, avoid potential pitfalls, analyze your options and connect you with a Morgan Stanley investment banker or external affiliate.  Throughout this process, we will ensure that the resources and intellectual capital of Morgan Stanley are made available to address your needs, personalizing your access with the highest level of service and attention. 

As your Family Wealth Director, we are available to work with you and your other advisors to identify and structure an exit strategy consistent with your business and personal financial goals:

Intra-family sales and transfers
Sales to Financial or Strategic Acquirers
Corporate Recapitalizations
Mergers and Acquisitions
Sales to Private Equity or Venture Capital Groups
Sales to Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP)
Initial Public Offerings (IPO)
Stock Option and Executive Compensation
Concentrated Stock Positions

For many ultra-high-net-worth families, the most difficult wealth planning challenges they face relate not to their financial capital, but to their human capital. For these clients, the most daunting issues are those that concern the impact that wealth has on their families.. They may worry that their wealth will diminish, not enhance, the quality of their descendants' lives by stifling ambition, initiative and accomplishment.

These families may fear that:

Their family will become overly dependent on inherited wealth.
Their family business will be damaged by family conflict.
The wealth management structures they created will be dismantled by beneficiaries.
Their philanthropic vision or other legacy will not be fulfilled.
Family members will fight over wealth, power or control.
Their wealth will lead descendants to engage in self-destructive behaviors.



Our Family Governance & Wealth Education Group helps ultra high net worth families work to preserve their shared values and create an enduring family legacy, making it more likely that descendants will lead meaningful, fulfilled and engaged lives.

These engagements include:

Creating family governance structures and documents: family mission statement, family constitution and bylaws, family council, etc.
Facilitating effective communication: family meetings and retreats and addressing communication challenges
Consulting on family dynamics and legacy planning: intergenerational wealth transfer, family conflict, integrating shared values into estate planning and wealth management vehicles
Creating wealth preservation strategies: protecting the integrity of family wealth management structures, addressing the challenges of the deeply troubled family, family wealth and business succession plans