Typically for multi-million dollar deals there is a substantial (months or years) transition period for the seller to stay around to make sure employees and customers are comfortable and don’t leave. I typically spend some amount of time working with sellers and buyers to make sure expectations in this area are reasonable on both sides. But it typically ends up being months or years.
But not always. Last year I sold a company where the owner had a great “number two” person that could obviously bring continuity to the transaction, and the owner was able to immediately leave. And leave he did, taking an around-the-world trip with his family.
Then, interestingly enough, the very next deal involved a seller that had a health problem and he wanted to also leave immediately after the deal closed. And leave he did, moving a few states away to a drier climate.
A deal I’m working on right now is mixed. There are two owners and one wishes to leave immediately (and it looks like that will happen), while the other is somewhat younger and will stick around a number of years.
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