The M&A Process · Step by Step
From listing to closing in under 120 days.
Selling a business is the biggest transaction of your life. Here's exactly what happens at each stage — what you do, what we do, and how long it takes.
Discovery & Valuation
We meet, sign mutual NDAs, and start building your story. Senior banker reviews 3 years of financials, identifies add-backs, and benchmarks against recent comps.
- ·Adjusted EBITDA worksheet
- ·Most Probable Value Range (MPVR)
- ·Engagement letter (success fee only)
Provide financials, tax returns, and answer a structured questionnaire.
Build the financial baseline. Identify your value drivers and risk areas.
Materials & Buyer List
We draft your Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM), teaser, and financial model. Our AI identifies 100s of qualified strategic buyers and PE funds. You approve the buyer list.
- ·AI-drafted CIM (refined by your banker)
- ·1-page anonymous teaser
- ·Financial model (3-year projections)
- ·Curated buyer list (you approve)
Approve materials and buyer list. Flag any sensitivities.
AI-source buyers across our 12,000+ principal database. Senior banker quality-checks every match.
Marketing & Outreach
We approach approved buyers under your anonymity. Initial interest is gauged. NDAs are signed before any company details are shared. Multiple buyers engage in parallel.
- ·Signed NDAs from interested buyers
- ·CIMs distributed to qualified parties
- ·Initial buyer questions logged & answered
Stay out of it — you keep running your business.
Manage outreach, NDAs, and Q&A. Maintain strict confidentiality.
Management Meetings
Top buyers meet you (often virtually first). Your banker preps you for each meeting, controls narrative, and manages competitive tension across buyers.
- ·Management presentation deck
- ·Site visits or virtual tours scheduled
- ·Buyer feedback synthesized weekly
Present your business with banker-prepared materials. 4–8 meetings typically.
Coach you for every meeting. Maintain pressure. Create urgency across the buyer pool.
Indications of Interest (IOIs)
Buyers submit non-binding offers with proposed price ranges, deal structure, and timing. We evaluate and counter-negotiate to push pricing higher.
- ·Side-by-side IOI comparison
- ·Negotiation strategy for each bidder
- ·Counter-proposals issued
Review proposals with your banker. Decide who advances.
Create competitive pressure. Push every bid up before LOI stage.
Letter of Intent (LOI)
Best bidder(s) submit a binding LOI. We negotiate price, earnout structure, working capital pegs, escrow, and exclusivity period. Your attorney is looped in.
- ·Executed LOI
- ·Agreed-upon deal structure
- ·Exclusivity period (typically 60–90 days)
Make the final buyer selection. Sign LOI alongside attorney review.
Lead all economic negotiations. Protect your interests in every clause.
Due Diligence
Buyer's team digs into financials, operations, legal, HR, customers. We manage the data room, coordinate Q&A, and protect you from deal fatigue. Quality of Earnings (QoE) typically performed by buyer's accounting firm.
- ·Populated data room
- ·QoE report (buyer-funded)
- ·Diligence Q&A management
- ·Issue resolution memos
Respond to requests through us. Stay focused on operations.
Quarterback the entire diligence process. Hold the buyer's pace.
Closing
Definitive purchase agreement is finalized with attorneys. Working capital target locked. Closing date set. Funds wire. You walk away with cash — or roll equity if you chose to.
- ·Executed Purchase Agreement
- ·Funds wired
- ·Transition plan
Final signature. Hand over the keys (or co-pilot if staying).
Stand alongside you and your attorney at the closing table.
Ready to start Week 1?
A 30-minute confidential call with a senior banker. We'll review your business and outline what your specific timeline would look like.