When you work with Ascend to prepare for and take your company to market, you get an experienced and well rounded team: both in our functional expertise in finance, operations, sales and marketing, as well as our experience as business owners, C-level executives, bankers, CPAs, investment bankers and trusted advisors to business owners. We also draw on the industry specific expertise of our advisory board and advisor network which are ex-CEO's, CIO's, Strategists, Analysts and Top Sales Executives from Fortune 500 companies.

We will know your business like no other advisor - Whether we are working with you to build value over time to prepare for an M&A transaction or going straight to market, our backgrounds and approach allow Ascend to go deeper in order to understand your business and its market opportunities. We have worked with hundreds of companies and draw from these experiences to dig in and learn the dynamics of your business to understand what makes it tick and where the opportunities and issues lie.

We find the right buyer no matter where they are - Today's M&A market is truly global. Your perfect buyer could be right next door…or 12,000 miles away. Ascend has international reach through its team member Blue Corporate Finance, which is one of the leading middle market investment banking firms in Europe. This relationship allows us to provide a cross-border reach, essential local market knowledge, and access to investor and buyer candidates throughout the world.

We leverage this deep knowledge and understanding of your company and the M&A marketplace to:

• Uncover the opportunities that most bankers won't see - Our vast experience and expertise allows us to apply best of breed practices to unlock hidden value. These include valuation arbitrage on acquisitions, management team incentives, financial fundamentals and operating efficiencies, working capital minimization, tax structuring and planning, positioning for maximum add-backs, strategic opportunities, and leveraging brands and intellectual property allowing for significantly increased valuations, whether you're going to market today or building value for tomorrow.

• Strategically position your company - Understanding where your company fits in the marketplace is crucial to finding the right buyers who will reap the greatest benefit. We are experts at identifying the growth opportunities available to the buyers - typically this means varying the positioning to address each buyers needs.

• Negotiate the best deal for you - Negotiation is an art and is fluid throughout the entire transaction. The ability to react quickly to recognize opportunities, questions, and issues without depending on outside advisors/experts is imperative in order to achieve maximum results. Our personality, approach, background, and business acumen blended with our unique financial and investment banking skills allows us to accomplish this second to none.

• Closing the deal you've agreed to - Once an offer is accepted, there are a number of areas that can bleed value. The due diligence process, escrows, reps & warranties, and other contingent liabilities are minefields for the unprepared. Ascend helps you safeguard your deal prior to going to market and throughout the process by identifying, addressing and rectifying issues early on so there are no surprises. Additionally, our disciplined, hands-on approach to transaction management keeps everyone on track toward a successful completion, allowing you to stay focused on running the business.

What do the Ascend attributes mean to you? As a result, through our rich and unique blend of experience and expertise coupled with our financial and investment banking knowledge, we are able deliver the greatest value, with the most favorable terms, in the most efficient tax manner to achieve your objectives.