Make buyers compete for what you built
One buyer is a negotiation. Several are an auction. Sell-side, buy-side and recapitalization advisory, run as a confidential, competitive process.
How we work
A managed, competitive, confidential process. Not a listing.
Advisory
What we advise on
Four kinds of engagement, each run to protect the value and the confidentiality of the business.
-
Sell-side advisory
Selling a private company to the buyer who will pay the most and hold to the terms, not the first one to call.
-
Buy-side and acquisition search
Finding, approaching and negotiating for the businesses a company should own, with the discipline to walk away from the ones it should not.
-
Recapitalizations and capital raising
Majority or minority recapitalizations and growth capital from investors that suit the business, on terms that leave the owner with the stake and control that matter.
-
Valuation and exit readiness
What the business is worth to which buyers today, and the changes to the books, the customer base and the team in the years before a sale that move that number.
A private read on value, before you talk to anyone
The partner
Tim Canale
President and Managing Broker
The person to ask what a sale would look like for your business.
How it goes
From a conversation to a closed transaction
-
A confidential first look
Comparable sales, the things in the business that will help or hurt in diligence, and a plain answer on timing. No engagement is required for this.
-
Position it, then go to market
A blind teaser and an NDA before the name is known. A book that tells the story the numbers support. A targeted list of strategics and sponsors, indications of interest, then management meetings with the ones who matter.
-
LOI to closing
Exclusivity, quality of earnings, working-capital peg, purchase agreement. The work here is keeping the headline number intact through diligence, and keeping the business running while it happens.
What owners ask first
Will my employees find out the business is for sale?
Employees should not find out a business is for sale from the sale process. Buyers see a blind teaser first, sign an NDA before they learn the name, and get the detailed information in stages. Who knows what, and when, is controlled until closing.
What is my business actually worth?
A business is worth a range, based on what buyers of its type and size have paid recently, adjusted for what a quality-of-earnings review will find in the books. Be wary of a single number offered at a pitch to win the mandate.
What is a re-trade, and how do I avoid one?
A re-trade is a buyer lowering the price after the letter of intent, once they are in diligence and the seller has stopped talking to anyone else. Clean books, known customer concentration and issues disclosed early are what prevent it.
How are advisors paid?
M&A advisors are usually paid a retainer plus a success fee on the consideration at closing, agreed in writing before any work begins. Ask what counts as consideration, including earnouts and any equity you keep.
Before you decide anything
A first conversation is confidential and commits you to nothing.