Business Sale Negotiations Without Losing the Client’s Goal with Christian Brandt (Ep. 20)
Selling or buying a business can turn into a contest between advisors, attorneys, and competing priorities. How do you keep pressure, risk, and ego from taking control of the deal?
In this episode, James Knapp speaks with Christian Brandt, Partner at Hellner Brandt, about M&A negotiations and the role advisors play when business owners face major decisions. Christian explains why the client’s objective should remain central, how buyers and sellers respond to deal pressure, and why knowing when to say no can move negotiations forward. They also explore deal delays, risk, advisor ego, difficult compromises, and the value of giving clients a clear recommendation when uncertainty is high.
Christian discusses:
- Why advisors can create problems when winning the negotiation becomes more important than the client’s objective
- How buyers and sellers experience pressure differently when timing, money, and control collide during a business sale
- Why a firm no can be an effective response when the other side introduces unreasonable terms into a negotiation
- How preparing business owners for delays, frustration, and compromise can make difficult M&A decisions easier to process
- Why identifying risks isn’t enough when a client needs a clear recommendation about what they should do next
- And more!
Connect with us!
- Boyum Wealth Architects
- LinkedIn: James Knapp, CFP®
- LinkedIn: Boyum Wealth Architects
- info@boyumwa.com
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- 651-289-6444
Connect with Christian Brandt:
About Our Guest:
Christian is proud to be a founding member of Hellner Brandt. This venture represents the summit of Christian’s career as a business and transactional lawyer, litigator, and risk-management executive. Christian’s experience features tenures in both the traditional law-firm setting and in-house as an executive and general counsel for a multi-billion-dollar corporation. Having walked in his clients’ shoes, Christian understands the delicate balance between legal issues and business objectives and practicalities. As a partner to his clients, Christian prioritizes building lasting relationships, doing the right thing no matter what, and clearly understanding client objectives to ensure adding meaningful value.
Christian received his J.D. from Hamline University School of Law and is a proud graduate of Marquette University.
Christian is an NYT Crossword nerd, and firmly believes all things lead back to an episode of Seinfeld.
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