KPMG Owner Exit Story is an interview series with business owners who have been through the sale of their company. It records the emotions and doubts an owner feels in the unfamiliar world of M&A, and the moments from the deal that stayed with them.

For many owners, selling the company is not simply a transaction. It means setting down a part of a life lived under their own name, and at the same time accepting the life that comes next.

This story is an interview reconstructed from the real experience of an owner whose first attempt to sell failed, and who returned to the market a year later and completed a sale to a Korean strategic investor.

I. Between Expectation and Reality: The First Attempt

Q. Had you always intended to sell the company?

To be honest, selling the company was never something I had in mind.

For almost forty years the company was my life. I thought about it the moment I woke up, and most of every day passed inside it. So selling it never felt like winding down a business. It felt like giving up the center of my daily life.

Over time, though, my thinking shifted. The biggest reason was that I found it harder to picture the company's future as clearly as I once had. I have always believed that a chief executive's job is not just to make a profit but to show the company where it should go next. At some point, the weight of wondering whether I could keep doing that well began to grow.

My children were living their own lives and had no intention of taking over. In that situation, I began to ask whether holding on to the company myself was really the best thing for the company.

That was when it started. For the first time, I thought that holding on longer might not be the right answer.

Q. What was the first attempt to sell like?

At first, I had expectations.

I had been in the same business for a long time, our customer base was stable, and I believed we had a decent reputation in the market. So I trusted that someone would recognize what the company was worth.

Once we actually started the process, it was far more complicated than I had imagined. We first engaged a different adviser through a personal introduction, and looking back, I don't think their approach fit our company. Their pool of strategic investors was relatively narrow, and their marketing was aimed mainly at financial investors. Our company simply did not fit what financial investors look for. They want a clear growth story and a visible path to resale within a set period, and at the time our company did not lend itself to that kind of argument.

In hindsight, I regret not keeping more options open from the start. Back then I assumed that a large adviser like Samjong KPMG would only handle large deals, and since our company was relatively small, I never approached them. That preconception is something I still regret.

In the end, the first attempt did not close. Frankly, it left me hollow. It was not easy to shelve a decision I had struggled to make, and for a while I thought about dropping the whole idea.

II. A Firmer Resolve: Returning to the Market with KPMG

Q. What made you decide to try again?

After the first failure, one thing actually became clearer.

Sooner or later, this company would have to pass to someone other than me.

The thought that holding on a little longer might not be good for the company or for me turned into conviction. In particular, I concluded that if the company was to keep growing, this was the moment for a new owner to draw a new picture.

The heaviest responsibility of a chief executive is to set the company's direction, and the fact that I could no longer hold that with the same confidence was what weighed most. So I made up my mind again, and this time I decided to prepare properly and work with KPMG.

Q. How was the second process different?

Very different. Above all, it started from the question of which investor actually fit the company.

Where the first adviser leaned heavily toward financial investors, the second time we began by understanding the company as it was and defined the right buyer as a strategic investor who could carry it forward over the long term. We then reorganized how we presented the company from that buyer's point of view. In the end, I believe that was the right call.

The other difference was how much more professional and systematic the preparation was. An industrial company like ours does not necessarily look impressive on the numbers alone. But inside it are long-standing customers, trust that does not change easily, and relationships built up in the market over many years. We needed to explain convincingly why those things are valuable and why this was a company worth taking over, and this time KPMG put that together with real expertise.

Having run the company for so long, I took many things for granted. Seen again through a third party's eyes, the company looked a little different to me for the first time.

III. A Last Close Look at My Own Company

Q. We understand there were surprises during due diligence.

The hardest dilemma in due diligence was how much sensitive information to disclose.

Information such as unit pricing could do real damage if a competitor got hold of it, so there was considerable unease internally. Some people inside the company pushed back and asked whether we really had to open up material like that.

But as the seller, there is a point where you have to accept a certain amount of exposure. Structurally, the seller is at a disadvantage. If you don't show enough, the deal does not move forward; if you open everything up, that is a burden too.

That is why the adviser's role in calibrating the scope of disclosure and negotiating with the buyer on what was truly necessary mattered so much. KPMG managed that balance between our internal team and the buyer, and because of that, due diligence went relatively smoothly.

Q. We also understand an employee's personal misconduct came to light during the deal.

That was truly unsettling.

Something unexpected surfaced just as the process was entering its final stretch, and as the owner my first reactions were shock and embarrassment. For a moment I worried that it might seriously affect the deal.

Fortunately, the buyer did not blow it out of proportion and treated it as the kind of incident that can occur in the course of running a company. It was resolved relatively smoothly, with the employee concerned leaving the company.

What mattered through that episode was not reacting emotionally, but calmly putting the facts in order, giving the explanations that were needed, and keeping the transaction as a whole from being shaken. The adviser's role as an intermediary was a practical help there.

IV. A Sale Means Finding the Company Its Next Owner

Q. Why did you ultimately choose a Korean strategic investor?

It was not only about price.

Terms matter, of course. But when you are handing over a company you have run for nearly forty years, what stays with you is who takes it.

Rather than simply selling at the highest price, I wanted to pass the company to someone who could draw its next picture. Because I felt I could no longer set out the future as clearly as before, I thought the company might be better off with a new owner coming in to build a new direction and vision.

The strategic investor understood the business, and gave me confidence that they would respect the existing foundation and build on it rather than shake the company up. In the end, I believe that choice was right.

Q. What was closing day like?

People assume it must have been a relief, but that day a different worry weighed more.

Handing over a company built over forty years really did feel close to marrying off a daughter. But at the moment I signed the agreement, what came to mind before my own feelings was how to explain this properly to our employees and keep the organization steady.

There was relief that a long process was over. At the same time, there was a strange emptiness at having really come this far. Even after signing, it did not feel real right away. It was closer to a quietness settling in.

V. In Closing

Q. How has life changed since the sale?

Personally, life has become far more comfortable than I expected.

I am completely free of work stress. These days I exercise every day, look after my grandchildren, read, and pray, and I am building a new daily routine. My days used to revolve entirely around the company; now I feel I have finally found my own rhythm again.

My feelings about the company and its employees, though, turned out to be less simple. After the sale became official, my relationship with the staff was not what it had been. I had long believed that however close an owner and employees may seem on a human level, something is inevitably severed the moment the owner leaves. After the sale, there were moments that brought that reality home again.

Some employees may have welcomed becoming part of a larger group, but among those who had worked in a familiar way for many years, some probably found the new systems and heavier workload a burden. So since the sale I have deliberately kept a little distance and stayed quiet.

Personally, I am content with my life now. I have always believed that my wealth peaked at the moment of the sale. Rather than wanting to earn more, I feel it is more important to enjoy the calm life I have now.

The years I spent bound to the company were my life, but the time since letting it go has turned out to have a meaning of its own.

These days I am enjoying myself quite a lot.

Q. Is there anything you would say to owners facing a similar decision now?

I would tell them that selling the company is not a failure.

In some cases, it may be the responsible decision that moves the company on to its next stage.

And, speaking practically, once you have decided to sell, I think it is important to settle the question of price in depth with professionals from the very beginning. Rather than leading with the number you hope for, you need to discuss thoroughly with your adviser where the market will actually land and in what direction to pursue the sale, and set your benchmark from there.

Then, once price and direction are more or less settled, you need to focus on actually getting it done. M&A is not like real estate, where you can drag things out and haggle for a long time. If a company comes to market and the deal does not close, the market can start to see it as a company that cannot be sold, and the next opportunity becomes harder. So once you have chosen a direction, I think it is important to see it through to the end rather than waver halfway.

A good company does not sell itself. But if you see the process through and get past the moments when you waver, I believe a path opens in the end.

It matters to sell when you are not greedy. That way you are less shaken after the sale.

P.S. A Note from the KPMG Team

A good company's exit depends not only on price, but on direction and timing.

This interview reminded us that the decision to hand a company on at the right moment is as much a part of management as building it well.