10x Launches Beta of Merger & Acquisition Transaction Structuring and Tax Calculator SAAS

CHICAGO - July 13, 2015 - PRLog -- 10x Market, LLC (“10x”) today announced the successful private beta launch of its 10x Calculator, a proprietary cloud-based expert workflow system that helps owner-operators and their advisors estimate after-tax proceeds and transaction tax benefits under all available M&A transaction structures in about 15 minutes. Over 250 investment banks and other M&A advisory firms have already signed up for this software-as-a-service for beta testing.

“Our goal is to help owner-operators and their advisors make more informed decisions when they are negotiating purchase price,” said David Lee, CEO and co-founder of 10x. “The problem is that too many sellers are negotiating purchase price in the dark, especially in lower-middle market M&A deals. We believe the 10x Calculator solves this problem by giving them the answers they need quickly, step by step.”

The line items that make up M&A purchase price involve esoteric concepts like equity value, taxes, transaction tax benefits and a menu of transaction structures that varies depending on how a business is organized. Yet, each concept affects a seller’s net proceeds on a dollar-for-dollar basis, so they’re all fundamentally important. Most brokers can help sellers generally navigate from enterprise value to equity value, but the rest of the line items need to be pieced together by seasoned lawyers and accountants that specialize in M&A.

The conundrum is that sellers typically engage the lawyers and accountants only after they have agreed to the purchase price and signed a letter of intent (“LOI”). That is, they don’t hire the very experts that can help them understand and negotiate substantial components of purchase price until after they have already agreed to it. Laser-focus and speed are critical when trying to sign up an LOI; prevailing perceptions of lawyers and accountants as creating noise and killing momentum work to keep them on the sidelines until there is first a deal in hand. The result, unfortunately, is that substantial pieces of purchase price remain in the proverbial “black box” for many sellers until it’s too late.

10x solves this problem. “We equip the brokers,” explained Arnie Choi, COO and co-founder of 10x. “10X Calculator walks the sellers and their advisors through every line item of purchase price, and generates a customized report in about 15 minutes that answers these crucial questions. Once the sellers recognize the importance of the related issues, we also connect them with vetted M&A lawyers and accountants.”

The solution is resonating with the M&A broker community. In three months of private beta testing, over 250 unique investment banks and other M&A advisory firms have signed up for the beta program, and the reviews are glowing. "After running just two deals through the calculator, it’s become an essential part of our toolbox for negotiations, in considering transaction structuring alternatives and educating my clients on their bottom line,” remarked Doreen Morgan, Managing Director and owner of Sunbelt Business Brokers - Atlanta. Andrew Kim, General Counsel and SVP of Corporate Development for NETGEAR, added, “I have no doubt that this will become an essential tool for anyone having anything to do with M&A transactions."

About 10x: 10x leverages top-tier expertise and the latest technology in order to democratize M&A.