Why would they accept a discount over what they could get if they just sold the whole company? In my experience of these situations it has little to do with the

Why would they accept a discount over what they could get if they just sold the whole company? In my experience of these situations it has little to do with the lack of "smarts" and everything to do with the lack of time and interest. In fact in many cases the 'smart' thing to do is to just sell and walk away, and the decision to keep going is more based on various notions of family 'loyalty' and tradition and responsibility, rather than actual "business smarts".