M&A Specific Questions

Q18: What's the difference between sell-side and buy-side advisory?

Sell-Side Advisory is when we represent you as the seller. We prepare your business for market, identify buyers, negotiate terms, and guide you through closing.

Buy-Side Advisory is when we help you acquire another business. We identify targets, evaluate strategic fit using our 4 Intangible C's framework, and guide you through the acquisition process.

Both require deep M&A expertise, but the strategies are completely different:

• Sell-side focuses on maximizing your exit value and protecting your legacy

• Buy-side focuses on strategic fit, cultural alignment, and post-acquisition integration to ensure the deal creates value (not destroys it)

We offer both because many founders are simultaneously preparing to exit AND acquiring strategic assets to increase their exit value.

Q19: How do you find buyers for my business?

We use a multi-channel approach to identify and engage qualified buyers:

  1. Strategic Buyers — Companies in your industry or adjacent markets looking to expand, acquire talent, technology, or customer base.

  2. Financial Buyers — Private equity firms, family offices, and search funds actively seeking acquisitions in your sector.

  3. Our Network — Trusted relationships built over decades in technology, healthcare, hospitality, and professional services.

  4. Confidential Outreach — Proactive, discreet outreach to ideal buyer profiles based on your goals and criteria.

  5. Competitive Tension — Creating a process that generates multiple qualified buyers, which drives higher valuations and better terms.

We never publicly list your business or use spray-and-pray tactics. Everything is confidential, strategic, and targeted.

Q20: What documents do I need for due diligence?

Buyers will request extensive documentation during due diligence. The most common categories include:

Financial:

  • 3-5 years of financial statements (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow)

  • Tax returns

  • Cap table and equity structure

  • Debt schedules and credit agreements

  • Customer contracts and revenue details

Legal:

  • Corporate documents (articles of incorporation, bylaws, operating agreements)

  • Material contracts (customer, vendor, partnership agreements)

  • Employment agreements and organizational chart

  • Intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights)

  • Litigation history and pending legal matters

Operational:

  • Customer lists and retention data

  • Vendor and supplier agreements

  • Standard operating procedures (SOPs)

  • Technology stack and IT infrastructure documentation

  • Insurance policies

Part of our exit planning process is ensuring these documents are organized, clean, and ready before you ever go to market. This reduces stress, accelerates the process, and prevents deal-killing surprises.

Q21: What is the 4 Intangible C's framework?

The 4 Intangible C's is our proprietary framework for evaluating acquisition opportunities (buy-side). Most buyers focus only on financials, but the intangibles often determine whether a deal creates or destroys value.

The four dimensions are:

  1. Human Capital — Team depth, leadership capability, cultural fit, and retention risk.

  2. Structural Capital — Systems, processes, documentation, and operational scalability.

  3. Customer Capital — Ideal Client Profile (ICP) alignment, customer concentration, retention, and stability.

  4. Social Capital — Brand reputation, market position, strategic relationships, and network effects.

By scoring these four dimensions alongside financial performance, we identify acquisitions that truly strengthen your business—not just add revenue that creates operational chaos.