Initial Offers and the Letter-of-Intent

Don’t get sucked into spending much time with a prospective buyer, and especially lengthy visits, without an indication of what they will pay.  Typically this indication comes in what is called an Indication of Interest (IOI) or Expression of Interest. We’ll discuss what the IOI should cover and we’ll walk through some real-life IOIs, both from private equity and strategic buyers.

After the IOIs, calls and management meetings, its time for the more formal letter of intent (LOI). We’ll discuss the detailed terms that should be in the LOI, and what is and isn’t binding in the agreement. We’ll look at real-world LOIs from both PE and strategic buyers.