If you’re hoping to sell your company to a strategic buyer, make sure you have all the proper registrations and licensing agreements related to the brand, urged Chris Elshaw, former COO of Revlon Consumer Products Corp., a division of Revlon Inc. (NYSE: REV). Corporations need to know they are buying something “that can continue to exist," Elshaw said.

Elshaw participated in a panel at ACG New York's Consumer Brands Conference, held at the JWT building in New York on Oct. 23. Also on the panel were: Bruce Proctor, senior adviser, SHM Corporate Navigators; Tom Giardi, managing director, HT Capital Advisors; and Eric Van Bladel, vice president of corporate development, Blyth Inc.; and moderator Jeffrey Edelman, director of McGladrey LLP's retail and consumer advisory group.

The capability for innovation and the potential for channel expansion drive interest from corporate buyers, Girardi said.

Proctor encouraged potential strategic targets to identify what they have in the works that is scalable, as well as trade secrets they can bring to the table. Being “on trend” is also important.  

Hot product categories include natural products and direct-to-consumer companies. "They are a cash machine," Van Bladel said.

For more on strategic buyers, see Corporations Conduct More M&A as Confidence in Economy Grows.