We cornered former FourBridges client Jeff Johnson to see if he had anything good to say about working with us...

With the CIM in our back pocket, it’s time to take the owner out on the town for the “dating” phase. We first present an anonymous snapshot of our client, known as a “Teaser,” to interested suitors. Those that demonstrate serious interest and execute a Confidentiality Agreement will receive the Confidential Information Memorandum, which reveals the company’s identity and details about its history, operations, management, financials, etc (buyers still don’t get to meet our client, though).

Soon we will ask buyers to get more serious and submit an Indication of Interest (IOI). This is non-binding, non-exclusive and includes price, deal structure, and a few key terms. We select the top candidates and finally allow the buyers and seller to “mingle” during management visits. The relationship eventually becomes exclusive when the seller selects “the one” and we negotiate a Letter of Intent, which when signed is like the “engagement.”

With closing (“the marriage”) as the final step, other parties such as attorneys and accountants get involved to facilitate due diligence and ensure everything is in order. If all goes to plan, the transaction closes and the celebration begins. There is a Motown band, a cake, champagne, dancing, and the occasional inappropriate toast. Okay, we made up some of that; but we have seen inappropriate toasts before. And dancing. And champagne. And cake. Okay, they really are pretty similar…

As an investment bank with a Facebook page, YouTube page, LinkedIn page, and even a Twitter account, we are probably considered something of an anomaly amongst our peers. And so I guess we’re about to get a little more anomalous (we checked - it’s a word) as today marks the introduction of the newest weapon in our social media arsenal – a blog.

You’re probably asking yourself: “Why is FourBridges Capital bothering with social media? Isn’t that stuff for celebrities, teens, and brand managers at Coke?” Good question. And believe us – as finance guys, we were skeptical ourselves. However, given the “black box” nature of the mergers and acquisitions business, we decided that social media can be used to bring clarity and understanding where obscurity and complexity often prevail.

So we hope that you might find some interesting insights here that can be helpful to you, your client, your friends, etc. And if not, it’s still fun for us to periodically purge our brains onto the page.

So we hope you enjoy the blog. If you have feedback, questions, comments, concerns – give us a shout (423.266.7490) or e-mail us ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and tell us what’s on your mind.