Prepare the ownership transition
A family business can face a leadership transition before its owners have agreed what succession means. Some family members may want operating roles, others an income or a route to sell. Management needs to know who will make decisions while those questions are resolved.
Third Acre Advisory helps owners examine these expectations and set out the choices that need agreement. We distinguish ownership, management and family responsibilities, then prepare a decision agenda with the people who hold those responsibilities.
Ownership and employment do not have to move on the same date. A successor may take responsibility for a business unit while the current owner retains a defined approval role. Equally, a family member can remain an informed shareholder without taking an executive position. The transition plan needs to say which role is changing and how the business will recognize that change.
We examine practical readiness with the people involved. That can mean comparing the proposed role with the decisions it carries, identifying work the outgoing leader still handles personally, and agreeing how the successor will be supported. Personal financial needs are recorded separately from the operating budget, so a discussion about income does not quietly become a decision about management authority.
- Ownership objectivesA record of participation, income, control and transfer priorities across the owners involved.
- Successor responsibilitiesA practical outline of the roles, preparation and decisions involved in a leadership or ownership transition.
- Advisor questionsA coordinated brief for appointed attorneys, tax advisors and other specialists. They determine the legal and tax treatment of any proposed arrangement.
Examine a business separation
Separating a division or operating company requires a clear view of what the businesses share. Systems, people, facilities, financing and customer commitments may depend on arrangements that are not visible in an organization chart.
We map these dependencies with management and identify which decisions owners need to make before a separation can proceed. The work can produce a separation brief, a responsibility map and an agenda for transitional services. Legal documents, tax treatment and transaction execution belong with the appointed specialists.
A shared function needs more than a proposed allocation of cost. If one business currently employs the finance team, the other needs a route to month-end information after separation. A common warehouse raises questions about access, stock records and responsibility for customer orders. These connections can change the sequence of the transaction even when the ownership split appears straightforward.
The review distinguishes the arrangement needed on the first day from the intended long-term position. Temporary support has an owner, a review point and an exit condition. Management can then compare the cost of continued sharing with the work required to operate independently.
- Shared servicesWhich systems, facilities and support functions would need to continue, change or be replaced.
- Decision responsibilitiesWho can approve the proposed changes and who must provide the operating information.
- Transition agendaThe unresolved questions, dependencies and specialist work needed before implementation.
Agree what outside capital must support
Owners considering outside capital need to understand more than the amount available. A proposed investment can change decision rights, reporting expectations, future distributions and the choices available to the next generation.
We help owners state their objectives and compare the governance implications of the options under consideration. The assignment can examine where control matters, what liquidity is needed and how a proposed holding period fits the business. We do not promise access to investors, financing terms or investment returns.
The owners may agree that the business needs capital while disagreeing about what they are willing to change. One owner may prioritize a distribution; another may want funds left in the company for equipment or expansion. We set those objectives alongside the business plan before comparing proposals.
Particular attention goes to decisions that would be harder to reverse: investor consent over a major purchase, restrictions on distributions, information rights and the route for a future transfer. The advisory discussion identifies the owners’ priorities. Appointed counsel and financial advisors explain the meaning and financial effect of the proposed terms.
- Control prioritiesThe decisions owners want to retain and the questions that require negotiation or specialist advice.
- Income and reinvestmentA shared view of owner liquidity needs and the resources required by the business.
- Future decisionsQuestions about transfers, new owners and eventual exit that should be addressed before terms are agreed.
Give the board a defined job
A board or advisory council needs a role that owners and management both understand. Its agenda should distinguish oversight and reserved decisions from the work executives carry out each day.
We review current responsibilities, information and meeting routines. The resulting governance brief can describe the skills needed around the table, the matters requiring approval and the reporting used to support those decisions. Formal authority and appointments remain subject to the business’s governing documents and applicable advice.
The board’s remit should be tested against real decisions from the business. A proposed plant investment, an executive appointment and a distribution request may need different information and different participation. That test makes gaps in the current arrangement easier to see than a general debate about what a board should do.
The resulting brief can distinguish recurring oversight from exceptional approvals. It also identifies how management raises an issue between meetings and what the chair needs before asking members to consider it. Those working arrangements are reviewed against the company’s actual governing documents.
- Role and compositionA skills and responsibility map for the board, chair and any advisory council.
- Information and meetingsAn agenda, reporting requirements and follow-up responsibilities suited to the decisions being made.
- Regular reviewA way to revisit whether the governance arrangements remain useful as ownership and the business change.