HELPING YOU ACHIEVE BETTER DEALS

1. SELLING THE LARGER BUSINESS (£5M+)

We'll help you find the right broker to sell your business

Here's a detailed article here on how the sale of larger businesses is different. The first step for shareholders is to arm themselves with the right M&A expertise. Getting qualified buyers together, and building competitive tension, is best done by the appropriate M&A professionals, not the average business broker.

These professionals go by many names and there are 1,000+ firms in the UK who sell businesses. How do you optimise to choose the one best suited to your specific business, experienced in your particular industry / sector and expert in meeting your specific exit goals? That's where I can assist you.

Why do you need help with this? You are more than capable of finding a 'broker' to sell your business, surely?

Here are the problems you'll face finding the right firm to represent you

  • Sorting through so many corporate finance & M&A firms, strategy advisers, boutique investment banks & other experts selling mid-market businesses will take days of work! 

  • Even if you do put a list together, you'll find that for many of the best ones your business does not meet their turnover or EBITDA/profit thresholds (and you don't know their thresholds till you speak with them).

  • With most of these firms, you can't just call & speak with an M&A expert. Usually, you have to fill in forms and go through a filtering process. Quality firms are unlike brokers like KBS, they are very selective!  

  • All firms handling mid-market businesses charge a high initial 'retainer' - a £30K average (fee whitepaper PDF), so there's a high price to making a mistake with your choice. They typically won't quote you a price till you've provided extensive information about your business.

    I can help you with all of that (and it'll actually save you money rather than costing you)!

    I've helped thousands of mid-market businesses using my data on the market / the players. My highly developed, structured process assists boards find the perfect partner. My ability to negotiate their fees will save you at least tens of thousands of pounds.

    My LinkedIn profile is here. You'll find numerous testimonials from past clients at the bottom of that profile, or find them right here.

    What's more, you can tap into my knowledge & expertise for an hour at no charge! Book a 100% confidential call. No sales pitch, just answers to your questions & insights from my four decades of experience.

Here's how I'll solve your problem. I can find you the right 'M&A advisory firm'...

  • That has the highest probability of achieving the sale of your business;
  • That's best placed to get your particular business top price;
  • That's best suited to the size of your business & your specific exit goals;
  • That best understands your market / industry, has many buyers looking for acquisitions in your industry;
  •  That is best matched to the kind of deal you need (trade sale / Management Buy Out / public listing / private equity investment / EOT / something else altogether).

WHY IS IT THAT 97% OF BUSINESSES, AND YOU, WILL PROBABLY END UP WITH THE WRONG FIRM?

BUT, SURELY,  ALL BROKERS DO THE SAME THING, DON'T THEY?

HOW DO I FIND YOU THE TALENT THAT CAN GET YOU THE BEST TERMS?

HOW DO I SAVE YOU TENS OF THOUSANDS OF POUNDS IN FEES?

SO, HOW MUCH WILL YOU HAVE TO PAY?

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU ENGAGE MY SERVICES?

2. HOW TO SELL YOUR 'SMALLER' BUSINESS? (under £5m turnover)

Turnover of £2m to £5m

Most of the UK's top business brokers don't take on businesses that have a turnover of less than £5m. And you really need one of these brokers handling your sale if you want to maximise the price you obtain.

We regularly get turned down by these brokers when trying to place clients in the £2m - £5m bracket. It's only the KBS, National, Intelligent and other  pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap brokers who entertain any and every business.

But quality brokers do make exceptions if your net profit or adjusted net profit figures are good. They also make exceptions where there's strong intellectual property or other attribute that supports value.

Set up a free consultation and confidential call with us to discuss your options and get unbiased advice. Get in touch.

Turnover of £500K - £2m

If your business has a turnover of less than £2 million, it generally does not make sense to use a business broker. There are better options (provided there's at least £100K in profit).

Using a broker would seem the obvious choice but read our reasoning here as to why brokers are not right for your business.

There are other options available to you, including an option to sell the business yourself, and what's called an Assisted DIY service. Get in touch if you wish to discuss this paid service.

Turnover < £500K or Profit < £100K

What most business brokers won't tell you is that over 95% of under these businesses that go to market do not find a buyer!

There are four main obstacles to selling businesses of this size and we cover them here. And here's the truth about selling micro businesses that business brokers won't tell you.

If you'd still like to talk about selling your business and realise that brokers at this end of the market are generally not very reputable, we do offer a paid by the hour consultancy to discuss your options and advise on the best way forward.

Our consultancy covers all your selling related question.

You can also get help with:

3. ASSISTANCE FOR BUYERS / ACQUIRERS

I'VE FOUND A TARGET TO BUY

If you're a funded buyer, get help to:

  • Assess the opportunity;
  • Have someone approach the vendor on your behalf to protect your anonymity (and improve the chances of a reply); 
  • Determine a fair price (or assess the vendor's asking price);
  • Negotiate the deal and structure it to your advantage;
  • Find funders for a capital shortfall and
  • Deal with other aspects of the acquisition.

Funded* buyers only, please! Get in touch.
*Not those looking to "buy a business for £1" or "buy a business with no money down".

I'M LOOKING FOR A TARGET

If you still haven't found a business to buy, get

  • General advice in relation to deciding your criteria and how to find the right acquisition targets;
  • Help, strategic advice, hand holding through the whole process;
  • Introduction to a buy-side broker (if you wish someone else to do the deal sourcing for you); 
  • Assistance with negotiation and / or due diligence

Funded* buyers only, please! Get in touch.
*Not those looking to "buy a business for £1" or "buy a business with no money down".