Phase two of four
Taking your business to market
Taking a business to market is phase two of four: buyers on a list you have seen first get a one-page teaser with no name on it, only those who sign an NDA receive the CIM, and the offers arrive by one set date so they compete.
Signing to the wire: seven to twelve months. Every time given here is an estimate drawn from past engagements, not a commitment. Each sale runs on its own calendar, set by how ready and how complex the company is, by the buyers and their lenders, and by the lawyers on both sides. We set a calendar with you at kickoff and revisit it as the process moves. The sale, phase by phase
How a process runs
How do you take a business to market?
In four moves: build the buyer list, approach the buyers blind, qualify them before you share anything, and run them to one deadline so the offers compete. Nothing confidential leaves the room until the buyer has proved they can close.
The timeline
A sale takes months, not weeks
A well-run sale typically takes seven to twelve months from signing to the wire, for a company that is ready: an estimate from past engagements, not a commitment. A built list, approached in sequence, is what separates a process from an advertisement, and it is what lets the offers arrive together.
- The list is built before the first call, not during it
- Buyers are approached in order, so interest is managed and not scattered
- A deadline turns separate conversations into a competition
An estimate from past engagements, not a commitment.
Who is across the table
Five kinds of buyer, five different deals
Five kinds of buyer: strategic acquirers, private equity platforms, private equity add-ons, family offices, and individuals or search funds, and the process brings more than one of them to the table so the terms are set by competition.
Strategic acquirer
- Wants
- Your customers, product, or territory added to theirs.
- Pays
- Often the highest price when the fit is real, with synergies priced in.
- Watch for
- Integration risk for your people and brand.
Private equity platform
- Wants
- A durable business to build on with add-on acquisitions.
- Pays
- A market multiple, with rollover equity for a second exit.
- Watch for
- Leverage on the balance sheet and reporting cadence.
- Deals with this buyer
Private equity add-on
- Wants
- A bolt-on to a company they already own.
- Pays
- A multiple close to the platform's, with faster diligence.
- Watch for
- Earn-outs tied to integration milestones.
- Deals with this buyer
Family office
- Wants
- Long-term cash flow, often with the founder staying involved.
- Pays
- Patient capital and flexible structure.
- Watch for
- Slower processes and fewer competing bids.
Individual or search fund
- Wants
- A business to run themselves.
- Pays
- Bank-financed prices with seller notes common.
- Watch for
- Financing contingencies and transition demands.
What a buyer signs
Before a buyer learns your name, it signs
Every buyer that sees the CIM has signed a confidentiality agreement with FNDRS first. Here is what the standard form holds a buyer to, in plain words.
Your name is confidential too
Who you are, and the fact that the business may be for sale, are confidential information. Before you sign with us, buyers hear about the business only without a name, unless you agree in writing.
For this sale only
The buyer may use what it learns only to evaluate, negotiate, and close this transaction, and never to compete with you.
No contact with your people
No calls to your owners, employees, customers, suppliers, or lenders about the sale, and no visits to your sites, without our written consent. Everything runs through FNDRS.
No hiring your people
For twenty-four months, the buyer may not recruit the people it met or learned about through the process.
No going around us
For twenty-four months, the buyer may not pursue a deal with you outside the process.
No teaming up
No acting with other bidders or sharing what it learned with them, and no tying up a lender so other buyers cannot use it.
You can enforce it
Your company is named as able to enforce the agreement directly against the buyer, including by asking a court to stop a breach.
It lasts
The obligations run for three years, and for as long as a trade secret stays secret. The buyer returns or destroys what it received when asked.
A summary of FNDRS's standard form. The agreement each buyer signs governs, and its terms can differ.
Founders on film
Owners on going to market
Founders, in their own words, on the work that comes before a business goes in front of buyers.
Questions
Questions owners ask before going to market
Only the buyers who have qualified and signed. A buyer sees the name after we have checked funds, intent, and track record, never before.
The business in outline: what it does, the size band it sits in, and why it is worth a call. It carries no name, no location that points to you, and no customer names.
You see the list before we approach anyone, and you can strike a name. A competitor sees nothing sensitive until you have agreed to it.
It is the second of four phases in a sale that usually runs seven to twelve months from signing to the wire. Every time given here is an estimate drawn from past engagements, not a commitment, and it depends on the business and the buyer list. Every qualified buyer works to the same deadline, which keeps the phase from drifting.
We go back to the list and to the numbers to find out why, and we tell you plainly what we see. You can widen the list, fix what buyers questioned, or wait. The decision stays with you.
See who would buy your business
Tell us what you have built and we will show you the buyers we would approach, in what order, and what each one pays for.