Business Sales
End-to-end M&A advisory for selling privately held businesses. Strategic buyer identification, deal structuring, negotiation management, and transaction execution from initial preparation through to completion.
Why Your Business Needs Specialist M&A Advisory
75% of businesses that go to market fail to sell. The rest often sell for less than they should, to the wrong buyers, or on terms that create post-completion liabilities. The reason isn't bad businesses or poor market conditions. It's that selling a business is a specialist discipline most business owners attempt once in their lifetime, while buyers — whether private equity, strategic acquirers, or consolidators — do this professionally and repeatedly. The experience asymmetry destroys negotiating position.
What goes wrong without M&A advisory
Going to market unprepard
Buyers find issues during due diligence such as customer concentration, revenue quality problems, undocumented systems.
Once you start negotiating, you’ve already disclosed your financials and other key details, which puts you in a much weaker position
Approaching the wrong buyers
Strategic buyers — like competitors, adjacent businesses, and companies entering your market — often pay 30–50% more because they can capture synergies.
But they’re harder to find and need a different approach. You have to position your business around the strategic value you create for them, not just today’s revenue or profit.
Weak representation
Every buyer’s question is strategic because they negotiate professionally. Each answer strengthens or weakens your negotiating position. Preparation and negotiation strategy are key against experienced acquirers.
Without experienced representation, sellers accept terms that look acceptable on headline price but deliver significantly less in reality.
No deal structure expertise
Price is one variable. Payment terms, earn-outs, warranties, indemnities, working capital adjustments, and completion mechanisms all affect what you actually receive and your exposure post-sale.
Poor deal structure can cost you a lot more than you think.
Selling a business is the largest financial transaction most business owners ever make. The difference between doing it well and doing it poorly is measured in hundreds of thousands of pounds. M&A advisory isn't an expense. It's the difference between achieving what the business is genuinely worth and leaving substantial value on the table.
"Selling a business is complex—there are trip wires everywhere if you don't know what you're doing. You need an expert. Within four months of coming to market, we had four or five different buyer options with different deals. You fought for us between buyers and solicitors, making the process very painless."
Stephan Buys, Founder and Former Partner in NSIS Systems
How the sale process works
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We start with a formal business valuation to establish a defensible baseline and identify any issues that would affect value or kill deals during due diligence. This includes examining customer concentration, revenue quality, operational dependencies, and growth assumptions.
You'll understand what your business is genuinely worth, what buyers will scrutinise, and what needs to be addressed before approaching the market.
We will work with you on any potential deal breakers prior to going to market.
Importantly, a full data room is prepared with all necessary documentation to ensure the process flows smoothly throughout.
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We prepare all documents required for the sale, including a teaser and information memorandum. A full data room is also prepared to ensure smooth deal flow.
We research your market to identify strategic buyers — competitors, adjacent businesses, companies seeking market entry, or consolidators who would pay premiums for what you've built. We don't rely on databases. We build a confidential target list based on who benefits most from acquiring your business.
You'll know who we're approaching and why, before any contact is made.
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We approach buyers confidentially to position your business strategically. Initial discussions happen under non-disclosure agreements. We manage information flow to maintain negotiating position while giving buyers enough detail to make credible offers.
We prepare and orchestrate all meetings with acquirers, and you are fully represented and protected during the whole process.
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We handle all buyer communications, manage competing offers, and structure auction dynamics that drive price up. Negotiations cover price, payment terms, earn-outs, warranties, indemnities, working capital adjustments, and completion mechanisms — not just headline valuation.
Our goal is multiple competing offers, not just one acceptable bid.
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After we have negotiated heads of terms on your behalf, we proceed to the legal process, which involves solicitors, accountants and other advisors.
We disclose the Dataroom which we already prepared to all parties and represent you in all meetings with your solicitor, accountant and with the acquirers and their representatives. We offer feedback on the terms of the deal to ensure your interests are protected.
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We work with your legal and financial advisors to structure the transaction, negotiate final terms, and manage completion. This includes sale and purchase agreement negotiations, disclosure schedules, completion accounts, and post-completion mechanisms.
The deal completes on terms that protect your interests and maximise what you actually receive.
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Post-completion integration can be very complex and we help you transition the business to the acquirers and advise on issues that may arise. We also continue to offer support until you are paid in full for the transaction which could mean 3-5 years.
"We had about 82 meetings over the sale process. What was truly invaluable was his ability to take all our data and look at it from the acquirer's perspective. Whereas I saw it from my tunnel vision—how I use it internally—he saw it completely differently. Nine times out of ten, the acquirer's view was very different from ours."
— Maurice Buckley, CEO and Co-Founder, The Higher Lab
Who needs M&A advisory
M&A advisory is for business owners and leadership teams who:
Are you ready to sell within 6-18 months? You've decided to exit. The business is prepared (or you're willing to prepare it properly), and you want professional representation to maximise value and manage the process through to completion.
Run established, profitable businesses. Your business generates consistent revenue and profit. Enterprise value is between £1m and £50m. You're beyond the startup phase — the question is how to achieve the best outcome when you sell.
Want strategic buyers, not just the highest bidder. You understand that strategic buyers often pay 30-50% more than financial buyers, but they're harder to identify and require different positioning. You want access to the full buyer universe, not just those who respond to public listings.
Understand the value of professional representation. You recognise that buyers negotiate this professionally while you're doing it for the first time. You want experienced advisors to manage negotiations, protect your interests, and ensure the deal closes on terms that work for you.
Not ready to sell within 12-18 months? If you're 2-5 years from exit, you need exit planning first — not M&A advisory. Approaching buyers before addressing customer concentration, owner dependency, or other structural issues wastes time and damages negotiating position.