LBO structure : common + preferred stocks questions

Hi guys,

The company I work in is currently looking into buying a small event/marketing business. The idea would be to buy it from the existing owner and let a few incentivized guys from the management run it (as it is profitable). Someone mentioned to us that it would be better to have a combination of cheap Common + Preferred Stocks. Assuming we buy this company or US$ 1m, US$ 100k in common and 900k in preferred.

Could someone walk me through the mechanics and pros/cons of such a deal please?

Off the top of my head, here are the first questions I can think of: How do we actually buy the business from its current owners: do we acquire 100% of the business for US$ 1m in cash THEN change the capital structure to reflect the common + preferred stock? What would be the accounting treatment of the Preferred Shares? What happens when the company redeems the preferred shares over time? (I suppose that it is akin to a stock buyback in a way: assuming company is growing and doing well, the denominator is smaller so common stock increase in value)

Thanks a bunch for your help! Simon