Episode 26 · 2020-06-28 · 29:34 · Original in Finnish
The Exit Process and M&A | Tero Nummenpää | Neuvottelija 26
Originally published as “#neuvottelijat 26 - EXIT-prosessi ja yrityskaupat (Tero Nummenpää)”
Tero Nummenpää, chairman of Translink International, and Sami Miettinen open up how a founder-owned company worth between ten and fifty million euros actually gets sold. The episode contrasts the heavy two-stage auction with a lighter model that nails the main terms already at the letter-of-intent stage, and explains why the depth of the sales material determines how high a buyer will bid. The discussion covers the difference between industrial and financial buyers, the role of the shareholders' agreement, the kickoff workshop question about hidden problems, and a fee model weighted to success. It closes on the pandemic's effect on cross-border processes, virtual due diligence rooms and complex consideration structures.
Watch and listen
Key moments
- 00:00 — Matias Mäenpää the EXIT book and selling Pappila Penkkala to Visma
- 02:00 — Tero's route from industrial engineering to investment banking
- 04:00 — The pandemic across thirty countries: China South Africa Latin America
- 06:00 — Technology and e-commerce deals closed during the pandemic
- 08:00 — The two-stage auction versus a lighter letter-of-intent model
- 10:00 — Growth and profitability are what break in due diligence; close fast
- 12:00 — Industrial versus financial buyers; the shareholders' agreement
- 14:00 — The kickoff workshop question about hidden problems
- 16:00 — From physical to virtual negotiation; Teams speeds it up
- 18:00 — Physical data rooms in the 2000s and Slack as a client workspace
- 20:00 — The fee model: success fee kicker and discretionary fee
- 22:00 — Advising the buyer and splitting the synergies
- 24:00 — Pro Farm: seventy advisers opposite and the earnout structures
- 26:00 — Nordic arbitration versus American courts
- 28:00 — What the job demands: negotiation skill and reading the other side
Summary
Tero Nummenpää, chairman of Translink International, and Sami Miettinen open up how a founder-owned company worth between ten and fifty million euros actually gets sold. The episode contrasts the heavy two-stage auction with a lighter model that nails the main terms already at the letter-of-intent stage, and explains why the depth of the sales material determines how high a buyer will bid. The discussion covers the difference between industrial and financial buyers, the role of the shareholders’ agreement, the kickoff workshop question about hidden problems, and a fee model weighted to success. It closes on the pandemic’s effect on cross-border processes, virtual due diligence rooms and complex consideration structures.
Chapters
- 00:00 — Matias Mäenpää the EXIT book and selling Pappila Penkkala to Visma
- 02:00 — Tero’s route from industrial engineering to investment banking
- 04:00 — The pandemic across thirty countries: China South Africa Latin America
- 06:00 — Technology and e-commerce deals closed during the pandemic
- 08:00 — The two-stage auction versus a lighter letter-of-intent model
- 10:00 — Growth and profitability are what break in due diligence; close fast
- 12:00 — Industrial versus financial buyers; the shareholders’ agreement
- 14:00 — The kickoff workshop question about hidden problems
- 16:00 — From physical to virtual negotiation; Teams speeds it up
- 18:00 — Physical data rooms in the 2000s and Slack as a client workspace
- 20:00 — The fee model: success fee kicker and discretionary fee
- 22:00 — Advising the buyer and splitting the synergies
- 24:00 — Pro Farm: seventy advisers opposite and the earnout structures
- 26:00 — Nordic arbitration versus American courts
- 28:00 — What the job demands: negotiation skill and reading the other side
Watch
The recording lives on the Neuvottelija channel: #neuvottelijat 26 - EXIT-prosessi ja yrityskaupat (Tero Nummenpää). A Finnish edition of this episode is published at www.neuvottelija.fi.
Go deeper
Explore the ideas in depth
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Nordic SaaS Valuation & M&A: How AI Reprices Software Companies
How software companies in the Nordics are valued and sold as AI moves inference into the cost of goods sold — where multiples stand in mid-2026, the metrics that get repriced, why vertical SaaS defends its premium, AI due diligence, and the shift from seats to outcomes. Grounded in Translink's SaaS valuation work and Neuvottelija conversations.
Private equity in Finland: active ownership, growth and AI-assisted investor relations
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People and topics
Guests: Tero Nummenpää
Topics: M&A & Exits
