Taking Care of Business

Mergers and acquisitions attorney Edward Powell of Guzman Law Group helps family-owned businesses close the deal with confidence.

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A boutique firm built on community, collaboration and trust, Guzman Law Group understands the unique consulting needs of closely held businesses. For 30 years, their team of professionals has skillfully guided local business clients on transactional matters, estate planning, litigation, intellectual property and more. They actively serve a variety of industries, providing a particular focus on aerospace and defense, health care, real estate and entertainment companies.

Since joining Guzman Law Group in 2014, Edward Powell, a corporate, securities and finance attorney, has helped build a first-rate mergers and acquisitions practice in the South Bay, drawing on the firm’s breadth of experience in formulating creative, efficient and solid solutions for clients.

“Often our clients are family-owned businesses that have grown to the size that a sale to a larger company or private equity firm is advisable,” says Ed. “We educate the client on the benefits and risks of the deal, balancing the monetary reward with potential future liabilities that the seller accepts as part of the deal, and make commercially reasonable suggestions to reach a successful closing. Our goal is to ensure that the client understands the terms and is comfortable with any compromises or risks present in the transaction documents.”

Ed began his legal career as a banking lawyer in the ’90s during a transformational time for financial institutions. This resulted in exposure to a great variety of acquisitions, financings and securities offerings involving companies of all industries and sizes.

“…formulating creative, efficient and solid solutions for our clients.”

“My representation of businesses draws upon this experience every day in formulating creative, efficient and solid solutions for our clients,” he shares. “I remain calm through negotiations, ensuring that parties remain cordial and satisfied with the outcome after the closing.”

For family-owned businesses where the next generation is—and will remain—involved in the business, establishing a succession plan is crucial to ensuring that the next generation is positioned to take over. Here, Guzman Law Group can help the family maintain continuity for the company’s customers and create a culture that aligns the interests of family members with the success of the enterprise.

“When the family decides to sell rather than continue the business in the family, it is fundamental to have all the family members aligned in the sale and to allow company management to speak with one voice to potential buyers,” explains Ed. “Any differences of opinion should be settled behind the scenes and ideally well in advance of the sale process.”

Sellers of mid-size businesses can often maximize the value of the enterprise by engaging an investment bank to run an auction process for the company. “We become involved early by prepping the company for sale, cleaning up the corporate books and ownership structure, and identifying contract and litigation issues to address,” notes Ed. “For auction sales, we prepare a data room with diligence materials and proposed transaction documents that interested bidders will review to inform their bids. The entire process is usually four to six months long. By running a competitive process, not only can you maximize the sale proceeds, but the deal terms themselves can be more reasonable than when entertaining only one offer.”

For Ed, practicing business law allows him to become an integral part of his client’s success. “Anticipating, acknowledging and addressing the interests of all the parties in a transaction not only protects my client’s legal interests, but also ensures that the business relationship is on sound footing and a positive experience for everyone.”