Helping sellers maximise shareholder value
Most owners sell a business once. Buyers, by contrast, do it often. They come to the table with advisers, lawyers and a clear view of what they want. Our role is to put the owner on an equal footing: to prepare the business properly, to find and approach the buyers most likely to value it, and to run a process in which they compete for it, fairly, with the right information available.
We act for founders, family shareholders and management shareholders considering a sale of all or most of their company. This may be so they can retire, or to realise value built over many years, or to find an owner better placed to take the business further.
How a sale runs
Preparation
An honest view of value, a review of the matters a buyer will look at, and the research and financial model that present the business well.
Approaching buyers
A list of trade and financial buyers drawn from our own research into who has actually been buying businesses like yours, at what size and how recently – more than 10,000 acquisitions since 2019 – approached first without naming the business, which is named only to those who have signed a confidentiality agreement and whom you have approved.
Offers and negotiation
Offers compared on price, structure and deliverability rather than headline value alone, and a shortlist taken forward to negotiate heads of terms.
Due diligence and completion
Managing the buyer’s due diligence and working alongside your lawyers and accountants on the sale agreement, so that the terms agreed at heads survive to completion.
Other services
Private equity investment
Partial exits and growth investment for shareholders who wish to retain a stake in the business.
Unsolicited approaches
Advice for owners who have received an offer and want it tested before they respond.
Exit readiness
Valuation and preparation ahead of a sale, often a year or more before one.
Begin a conversation.
For a confidential discussion about your business and the future.