Middle-market M&A advisory
Successful exits are planned.
Most owners sell once. They are expert operators and first-time sellers, advised by people who do this every week. We work with privately held companies between $2M and $150M in revenue, usually eighteen to thirty-six months before a transaction — because that is when the outcome is still yours to change.
What goes wrong
None of these are failures of nerve or negotiation. They are failures of preparation, and every one of them is visible years ahead of time.
Selling on timing, not readiness
Fatigue, a health scare, or a cold call from a buyer starts the clock. The company goes to market as it happens to be, rather than as it could have been.
Growth that does not transfer
Revenue climbs while the value stays locked in the owner's relationships and judgment. A buyer pays for what continues without you.
One buyer
A single interested party sets the price and the terms. Competition is the cheapest value creation available to a seller, and it has to be arranged in advance.
Diligence finds it first
Concentration, unrecast earnings, undocumented process — all of it surfaces eventually. Finding it yourself, early, costs a fraction of what it costs at exclusivity.
How we work
- 1
Timing review
Before anything else, an honest answer to one question: is this the year? We decline mandates that are not ready, and say why.
- 2
Discovery and valuation
Three years of history, recast earnings, and a value range built on more than one method — with the method shown, not asserted.
- 3
The plan
A written value-creation roadmap: what to fix, who owns it, what it is worth, and what buyer-ready means for this specific company.
- 4
Process
Only once the readiness gates are green. Then a competitive process, run properly, with the owner's objectives — not just price — as the measure.
A conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
We will tell you honestly whether this is your year — including when the answer is no, or not yet. Most first conversations end in a plan, not a mandate.
Start the conversation