Resource Center 
For Buying or Selling a Business in Florida
Crowne Atlantic's ultimate goal is to match every buyer to a Florida business for sale that meets their needs, motivations, and financial backings. Our years of experience also allows us to offer valuable advice on a variety of topics, such as what types of industries are good for our buyers to enter, whether a business for sale is priced reasonably, or if the market outlook for a particular business is moving in the right direction.
In addition to knowing the local market, we search nationwide for businesses that meet our clients' needs. As a well-connected firm, our buyers are also the first to hear about a Florida business for sale or an Orlando business for sale. Once the right business is found, you can trust Crowne Atlantic to help structure and negotiate a deal, find financing, provide documentation, and help close the deal.
Here, we've quickly outlined our own internal process for your reference.
>> Crowne Atlantic Properties, LLC Process for Buyers
>> Crowne Atlantic Properties, LLC Process for Sellers
>> Information for Noncitizens
Crowne Atlantic Properties, LLC Process for Buyers - Back To Top
Buyer Motivations
Our main focus when we meet buyers is to find out what their interests are, what their past working and business experiences have been, and what businesses or acquisitions they might be looking for. We can also help counsel new buyers on available businesses in Florida they may not have considered or counsel them on businesses for which they would be best suited.
Buyer Confidentiality
Our buyers' motivations and financials are kept strictly confidential. In addition, buyers are required to keep all the details of a business for sale 100% confidential.
Showing/Tour
After reviewing the quick financials and details of a business, we take the buyer to see the business and meet with the owner.
Offer to Purchase
Crowne Atlantic develops letters of intent, contracts for purchase, and will give buyers additional advice on additional items and terms to ask for. We then present each offer to the seller.
Offer Acceptance
The seller accepts the buyer's offer.
Due Diligence
This period comes after a seller accepts a buyer's offer, and the buyer has the authority to inspect all the financial information and details of the business. As an added service, Crowne Atlantic can help buyers find attorneys and accountants to help with document review as needed.
Crowne Atlantic Properties, LLC Process for Sellers - Back To Top
Valuation
When placing a monetary value on any business, we use nationwide comparables and up to four methods of valuation to find an optimal market value.
Confidentiality
All buyers are screened to ensure they are financially qualified before they sign the confidentiality agreement.
Needs of the Seller
Crowne Atlantic fully assesses your needs and assures that confidential information which must be kept confidential remains confidential.
Marketing the Business
We market the seller's business on a worldwide level through multiple listing systems and through our extensive contact networks of attorneys, financial planners, business brokers, realtors, and former clients.
Showing the Business
We screen buyers to determine their qualifications and motivations. We then tour the business and introduce them to the owner.
Offer Presentation and Acceptance
We work with buyers and assist them in the offer-making process. The offer is then presented to the seller, and we act as mediators in setting the terms of the business purchase, property purchase, or the assignment of a lease.
Due Diligence
Once a buyer's offer is accepted by the seller, the buyer begins the due diligence process by carefully inspecting all the detailed information about the business with additional parties, such as the buyer's due diligence team that may include an attorney or an accountant.
Legal Documentation
Once the parties settle on all of the contingencies and terms, Crowne Atlantic will work with the closing attorney to conduct lien searches and develop all the closing documents.
The Closing
The closing will be conducted either by an impartial closing attorney who represents neither the buyer nor seller but only the transaction. His/her role is to work with each party to close the transaction fairly. Two attorneys may also handle the closing, each representing one of the parties. Together, the two attorneys close the deal to complete the transaction.
Financial Tips - Back To Top
Typically, small businesses without property are financed by banks with a guarantee from the Small Business Administration (SBA). As a respected broker, Crowne Atlantic has been able to build solid relationships with banks that specialize in SBA lending. In addition, if there is real property that is combined with the business opportunity that is part of the asset sale, Crowne Atlantic has also good relationships with Commercial Lenders. These Commercial Lenders will loan with their own funds, as well as funds from Private Lenders.
Information for Noncitizens - Back To Top
Crowne Atlantic is an experienced business and commercial broker extremely familiar with transactions involving entry visas. As such, we package information for your application in a manner that insures the information required by the Embassy is organized, easy to read, and informative.
Immigration
Most people who want to enter the United States are familiar with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). However on March 1, 2003, service and benefit functions of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) transitioned into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS is responsible for the administration of immigration and naturalization adjudication functions and establishing immigration services policies and priorities. These functions include:
- adjudication of immigrant visa petitions;
- adjudication of naturalization petitions;
- adjudication of asylum and refugee applications;
- adjudications performed at the service centers, and
- all other adjudications performed by the INS.
- Fifteen thousand (15,000) federal employees and contractors working in approximately 250 Headquarters and field offices around the world comprise the USCIS.
There are literally dozens of visas that one can apply for to gain entrance into the United States. These are enumerated by the USCIS on the following link:
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/EIB01.pdf
Since Crowne Atlantic is a business brokerage and commercial real estate firm, we will focus on entry into the United States via a business or property purchase. There are three basic visas that would be applicable, plus variations on these basic types.
The L1 Visa allows a company or business owner from another country to purchase a business in the United States as a subsidiary of the company or business in his home country. This person will be allowed to remain here, or travel back and forth to his home country at will. This Visa does not lead to citizenship.
The E 2 Visa can be obtained only if one originates from a country which has an E Treaty with the United States. Among these countries, this treaty requires that one purchase a business in the United States that is sufficiently substantive that it can support the applicant plus two minimum wage US Citizens. This person will be allowed to remain here, or travel back and forth to his home country at will. This Visa does not lead to citizenship.
The Green Card requires the applicant to invest $1,000,000 in a business or property that in turn can support 10 minimum wage US Citizens. These are called EB Visas. There is also a special category of the EB 5 visa that can be applied to a designated regional center. A "green card" gives you official immigration status (Lawful Permanent Residency) in the United States. Under section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(5), 10,000 immigrant visas per year are available to qualified individuals seeking permanent resident status on the basis of their engagement in a new commercial enterprise. Of the 10,000 investor visas (i.e., EB-5 visas) available annually, 5,000 are set aside for those who apply under a pilot program involving an CIS-designated "Regional Center." A "Regional Center:"
- Is an entity, organization or agency that has been approved as such by the Service;
- Focuses on a specific geographic area within the United States; and ,
- Seeks to promote economic growth through increased export sales, improved regional productivity, creation of new jobs, and increased domestic capital investment.
"Alien investors" must: - Back To Top
- Demonstrate that a "qualified investment" (see below) is being made in a new commercial enterprise located within an approved Regional Center; and,
- Show, using reasonable methodologies, that 10 or more jobs are actually created either directly or indirectly by the new commercial enterprise through revenues generated from increased exports, improved regional productivity, job creation, or increased domestic capital investment resulting from the pilot program.
Eligibility - Back To Top
Permanent resident status based on EB-5 eligibility is available to investors, either alone or coming with their spouse and unmarried children. Eligible aliens are those who have invested -- or are actively in the process of investing -- the required amount of capital into a new commercial enterprise that they have established. They must further demonstrate that this investment will benefit the United States economy and create the requisite number of full-time jobs for qualified persons within the United States. In general, "eligible individuals" include those:
- Who establish a new commercial enterprise by:
- creating an original business;
- purchasing an existing business and simultaneously or subsequently restructuring or reorganizing the business such that a new commercial enterprise results; or
- expanding an existing business by 140 percent of the preinvestment number of jobs or net worth, or retaining all existing jobs in a troubled business that has lost 20 percent of its net worth over the past 12 to 24 months; and
- Who have invested -- or who are actively in the process of investing -- in a new commercial enterprise:
- at least $1,000,000, or
- at least $500,000 where the investment is being made in a "targeted employment area," which is an area that has experienced unemployment of at least 150 per cent of the national average rate or a rural area as designated by OMB; and
- Whose engagement in a new commercial enterprise will benefit the United States economy and:
- create full-time employment for not fewer than 10 qualified individuals; or
- maintain the number of existing employees at no less than the pre-investment level for a period of at least two years, where the capital investment is being made in a "troubled business," which is a business that has been in existence for at least two years and that has lost 20 percent of its net worth over the past 12 to 24 months.
In order to seek status as an immigrant investor, you must file CIS Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur. The Form I-526 must be filed with supporting documentation which clearly demonstrates that the individual's investment meets all requirements, such as:
- establishing a new commercial enterprise,
- investing the requisite capital amount,
- proving the investment comes from a lawful source of funds,
- creating the requisite number of jobs,
- demonstrating that the investor is actively participating in the business; and, where applicable,
- creating employment within a targeted employment area.
The following are some useful websites on this topic:
http://www.uscis.gov
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/EIB01.pdf
http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/L1_VisaReformAct_062305.pdf
http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html
Back To Top
Resource Links
Finance Resources
Banco Popular - Michael Hershaft
251 West First Street
Sanford, FL 32771
P: 407-328-1668
mihershaft@bpop.com
www.bpop.com
Bank of America - Karen Jacobs
5320 West State Road 46
Sanford, FL 32771
P: 888-852-5000, ext. 3440
karen.jacobs@bankofamerica.com
Bank First - Dave Felker
1031 W. Morse Blvd., Suite 160
Winter Park, Florida 32789
P: 407-629-9089, ext. 163
dfelker@bankfirst.com
www.bankfirst.com
American Home Mortgage - Brenda Pereyo
11843 East Colonial Drive
Orlando, FL 32826
P: 407-381-1861, ext. 307
brenda.pereyo@americanhm.com
www.brendapereyo.com
Mercantile Bank - Chris Hurn
940 Centre Circle, Suite 3006
Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
P: 407-786-5040
ChrisHurn@mercantilecc.com
Legal Resources
The Law Offices of David Cohen
5728 Major Blvd., Suite 550
Orlando, FL 32819
P: 407-354-3420
The Law Offices of Erik Larsen
243 West Park Ave., Suite 201
Winter Park, FL 32789
P: 407-647-2011
Accounting Resources
Anthony DeMarchi, CPA
2431 Aloma Ave., Suite 169
Winter Park, FL 32792
P: 407-478-0201
F: 407-478-0225
ademarchi@aol.com
Immigration Resources
Gustavo Vargas
132 East Colonial Drive, Suite 211
Orlando, FL 32801
P: 407-835-1009
usvisas@bellsouth.net
Lisa Khan
7932 Sand Lake Road, Suite 303
Orlando, FL 32819
P: 407-351-9075
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
www.uscis.gov
Florida Resources
www.cityoforlando.net
www.myflorida.com
www.sunbiz.org
Orange County Property Appraiser
www.ocpafl.org
Seminole County Property Appraiser
www.scpafl.org
Osceola County Property Appraiser
www.property-appraiser.org
