We are in the 11th hour of purchasing a small business. Throughout the due diligence process the seller has been hyper-paranoid about his employees (whom are in their 60s and 70s) catching wind of the sale, so we have had to access the property only after business hours. Even after the Purchase Agreement has been signed he is STILL very squirrely about his employees finding out. (1) is this normal? (2) any obvious red flags?
Note: seller is hands-off and remote. Employees operate the day-to-day.
This is a big red flag for me. Unless you have a plan to operate the business when all new employees, it could be a big problem. Perhaps they are all planning to retire shortly, and that’s why he is selling? How can you buy a business that is to be operated by people who have not even met, let alone interviewed? If a purchase agreement has been signed, then all the more reason why you should be able to interview them. If it isn’t already too late.