The presentation deals with Seller: past, present, and future. Because many months (probably three to six) have transpired in the M&A process between finishing the offering document and sitting down with various Buyers in management meetings, Seller should focus on providing Buyer with an update from when the offering document was written.
But you’re not just throwing some updated figures on the table and leaving; you’re presenting the info to Buyer.
The goal of management meetings is to get Buyers to submit a letter of intent (LOI) and then choose one lucky Buyer to close a deal with.
First and foremost, a management meeting should provide a financial update as well as updated guidance for future performance. Discuss the sales pipeline; in fact, the pipeline report (a listing of upcoming potential sales) often makes a good handout during the meeting. Specific customer names do not need to be divulged at this point (using codes such as prospect A and prospect B is perfectly acceptable).
Sellers should avoid overly optimistic financial projections in the offering document, and the management meeting is why. Eventually, Seller needs to defend those assumptions in the management meeting, and the best way to do so is to simply do what he said he’d do: achieve the projections.
You should also discuss any and all material changes. These items can include, but certainly aren’t limited to, new key employees, new customers, new contracts, new competitors, changes in the industry, lawsuits, and so on.
Don’t re-create the wheel! Although the presentation will undoubtedly cover some information from the offering document, the focus should be on providing Buyer with new information.