HonoluluA Honolulu insurer sells abroad
In spring 2026 kWh Analytics, a Honolulu-built clean-energy insurer founded by Richard Matsui, agreed to be acquired by the UK insurer Beazley.
Hawaii Business Magazine, 2026
Sell a business in Hawaii
When you sell a business in Hawaii, the state's estate tax exemption is frozen at $5.49 million for 2025, so it reaches estates the federal tax does not. A non-compete you sign in the sale of a business holds if reasonable, though tech-employee non-competes have been void since 2015.
ComplexityMediumTax on the gain7.25% 2025Deal volumeLowEstate tax
Hawaii has fewer employer businesses than most states. The state takes a meaningful share of the gain, 7.25% at the top, with part of a long-term gain excluded. Expect an estate tax to plan the proceeds around.
Tax on the gain: Capital gains capped at 7.25%; ordinary income tops at 11%.
Today
Where you stand
The market in Hawaii
A small-business economy: half of private employment, with more establishments closing than opening in the latest year measured, so the pool of sellable firms is not growing.
Small-business employees
251,556
people employed by small businesses, 49.6 percent of the private-sector workforce.
SBA Office of Advocacy, 2025
Small-firm employment share
50.7%
of Hawaii employment held by small firms in 2021, above the national share.
SBA Office of Advocacy, 2021
Establishment churn
4,609
Opened
4,813
Closed
204
Net loss
SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024
Between March 2023 and March 2024, 4,609 establishments opened and 4,813 closed, a net loss of 204; small firms accounted for most of both.
The elements this touches
- TmTime The years before you want out. It feeds the exit-readiness score and never moves the price; every other decision is planned against it.
ListenThe Hawaii briefing, read aloud
The deal team on what changes when you sell a business in Hawaii.
Before the letter of intent
What Hawaii takes
How is the gain taxed when you sell a business in Hawaii?
Long-term gains get a capped 7.25 percent rate while wages top out at 11 percent. A frozen estate tax exemption of 5.49 million dollars catches estates the federal tax ignores.
State tax on the gain
7.25%
Capital gains capped at 7.25%; ordinary income tops at 11%.
Tax Foundation, 2025
A founder on film
On what he learned about tax on the way to the sale.
Lewis Titus Wastewater purification and manufacturing · Wyoming
Gains capped at 7.25 percent
Hawaii taxes long-term capital gains at an alternative capped rate of 7.25 percent, while the top ordinary income rate is 11 percent.
A frozen estate exemption
The state estate tax exemption is 5,490,000 dollars, not indexed to the federal figure, with graduated rates from 10 to 20 percent above it.
The rate is the state's top rate on the gain for the year shown, the same figure as the indicator in the hero, so the two can never disagree.
The elements this touches
- TxTax Strategy The deal and entity structure, set before the letter of intent. FNDRS tracks whether it is in place. It never moves the price; it changes what you keep.
- ApAfter-Tax Proceeds What you keep at close. FNDRS records the pre-tax walk-away and the gap to your number. It never moves the price, and the tax on it is a question for your CPA.
Under contract and at closing
The rules of the sale
What are the rules for selling a business in Hawaii?
Sale-of-business non-competes hold if reasonable, while tech-employee non-competes have been void since 2015.
01Sale non-competes still hold
Since 2015, non-compete and non-solicit clauses in employment contracts at technology businesses are void (HRS 480-4); non-competes signed in a sale of a business remain enforceable if reasonable.
Ogletree Deakins, 2015
The elements this touches
- LcLegal & Compliance Contracts, licenses, and filings in order and enforceable. The FNDRS valuation reads it, and the score moves the multiple.
- DrData Room The documents a buyer will ask for, ready before they ask. FNDRS tracks it in the deal-readiness report card; it decides how fast and how cleanly a deal closes.
One thing you would not guess
Hawaii voided non-competes for technology employees in 2015, years before the federal government tried to, yet still enforces the one you sign when you sell.
A non-compete given as part of selling a business is treated differently and is likely to be enforced, since real money changed hands for it.
When the process opens
Who buys
Who shows up for a business in Hawaii
Exits are rare enough that two in one quarter made the news, and both buyers came from outside the islands.
StatewideVinovest goes to StartEngine
The same quarter, StartEngine bought Vinovest, a wine and whisky investing platform co-founded by Brent Akamine with over 200,000 users and roughly 140 million dollars managed.
Hawaii Business Magazine, 2026
The elements this touches
- SyStrategic Synergy What one buyer gains that another cannot. The buyer at the table prices it, which is why the sell-side process goes looking for them.
Day 0, and the years after
After the close
What Hawaii lets the proceeds do
Hawaii has its own self-settled asset protection trust, shielded from most of the settlor's own creditors.
A trust shielded from creditors
The Permitted Transfers in Trust Act (2010, HRS 554G) lets a settlor fund an irrevocable Hawaii trust shielded from most of their own creditors.
WealthWhere FNDRS comes in
Post-exit planning is the third act of the same engagement, done with outside experts, and it starts before the letter of intent, when a move or a trust can still change the answer.
FNDRSThe elements this touches
- EsEstate Architecture Trusts and ownership set up before the letter of intent. It changes what the family keeps, not what a buyer pays.
- ApAfter-Tax Proceeds What you keep at close. FNDRS records the pre-tax walk-away and the gap to your number. It never moves the price, and the tax on it is a question for your CPA.
People who walked it
Founders
Founders who worked with FNDRS, in their own words
From founders elsewhere
What founders say about working with FNDRS
No founder in Hawaii is quoted yet. These are founders in other states, quoted word for word, each described by role and state.
1 of 3
“I definitely don't think we'd be in the same spot without you guys.”
No founder in Hawaii is on film yet. These are founders in other states who worked with FNDRS.46 founders on film
Nearby
Other states in the West
| West | Tax on the gain | Complexity | Deal volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | None 2025 | Very low | Very low |
| Arizona | 2.5% 2025 | Medium | High |
| California | 13.3% 2025 | Medium | Very high |
| Colorado | 4.4% 2025 | Low | Medium |
| Idaho | 5.3% 2025 | Medium | Low |
| Montana | 4.1% 2025 | Low | Very low |
| Nevada | None 2025 | Medium | Low |
| New Mexico | 5.9% 2025 | Medium | Low |
| Oregon | 9.9% 2025 | High | Medium |
| Utah | 4.5% 2025 | Medium | Medium |
| Washington | 9.9% 2025 | High | High |
| Wyoming | None 2025 | Low | Very low |
Your next step
The road starts with one step
Know where you stand in fifteen minutes, or talk the Hawaii sale through with a dealmaker. Either way, no pitch and no obligation.
Selling in Hawaii? Start with a conversation
No pitch and no obligation. If the honest answer is not yet, we will say so, and say what to work on.