When you want market value but don’t want the market to know. Almost everything we do is off market. Your staff, your customers and your competitors hear nothing until it’s done.
Listen to Heather du Plessis-Allan and Tony van Camp talk Business Sales every week. Listen to the clips →
We work with you and your accountant so the value stands scrutiny from the buyer, their bank, their accountant and their solicitor. Establishing the correct value is critical. Do it once, do it right.
How selling works →Over 70% of our sales go to buyers already on our client list. If we know who you are and understand why you’re buying, the chances of us finding the right business for you are good.
Join the register →Understanding value versus perceived risk is crucial. Getting it right comes from people with decades of deal experience in a market where comparative information simply isn’t public.
How we value →When purchasing a business, obtaining an independent opinion upfront can protect you from spending time and money on due diligence for an opportunity that may not be priced appropriately for its risk profile.
About advisory →Selling a business is nothing like selling a house. Almost everything we do is off market. It’s rare for a client to want a public sale process. Most of the time the buyer is already on our database.
Everything is wrapped in confidentiality agreements. Your staff, your customers and your competitors hear nothing.
“It has to be hush hush.”
I was pleasantly surprised at the sale price they achieved, and all the while the market knew nothing about the sale until it was announced.
Brent · Seller, AccountantI was buying a business off market. Their experience helped me navigate the deal.
Jonathan · Private PurchaserA sample of businesses we’ve taken to market and settled.
My ‘happy place’ is getting into a multi offer situation on your business for sale.
Read Tony’s story →
If your proposition makes good commercial sense to a new Owner, then I will find that new Owner.
Read Chris’s story →
I bring over two decades of hands-on commercial, retail, and senior corporate grocery experience to Auckland Business Sales.
Read Prashant’s story →
I’ve spent years on the buyer’s side of the table. Now I’m on yours.
Read Andrew’s story →
Tony van Camp joins Heather du Plessis-Allan regularly to talk through what’s really happening in business sales: valuations, buyers, staff, and the deals that don’t complete.
Most of the people we work for are retiring, and they’ve spent decades building their businesses alongside staff who have become far more than an employer–employee relationship. So it’s quite common to be having a conversation at the beginning of the sale process about not selling to an entity where it could be detrimental to the future of key staff. We’ve seen owners take deals that financially aren’t quite as good as another offer, because they can see a better future for their staff and their families.
In the $1–15 million sector it can range anywhere from a 1 to a 5 times multiple on the pre-tax earnings of the business. A one multiple represents more of a job than a business: no barriers to entry, and clear and present risks around the profit. At the opposite end, a five multiple can apply where risk around future earnings is low: great growth prospects, and everything else about the business unquestionably safe. It has to be an exceptionally sound proposition to command a multiple of 5, and we’ve achieved that level and more where the business ticked all the boxes and the earnings were calculated properly.
Normally a business is valued on its risk profile going forward. Someone who’s made an offer has usually arrived at a value by ascertaining what impact any associated risks could have on the business. So due diligence should be about verifying everything they already know, and looking again at every single part of the business to establish whether it’s going to be the same, better or worse under their new ownership once the current owner has gone.
Everything a buyer’s independent due diligence team is going to want to look at. Historic finalised end-of-year accounts and P&Ls for the year we’re in. Products and services by revenue for recent years. Customer revenue ratios. Lease agreements on the premises. Supplier agreements. Customer service agreements. Condition of the plant and equipment. The normal stock holding and what’s obsolete. We also need to understand the organisational structure, as well as any anomalies in staff employment contracts.
We have to understand the business in its entirety so we can establish an agreed value range that will stand scrutiny with a buyer’s due diligence team. We then put together an information memorandum that’s informative and accurate, with enough of the right content to engage the right buyer without giving away any intellectual property. Anyone we deem a potential buyer is carefully vetted, face to face, to ensure they’re the right fit for the business going forward. Our business owners will only meet a handful of qualified buyers who we know have the financial means to complete and the skillset to take over and grow the business.
Whether you’re thinking about selling in twelve months or looking to buy now, the first conversation costs nothing and stays between us.
Rather speak to us in person? Give us a call
Call +64 21 222 1555One of our brokers will be in touch personally, and discreetly. Nothing is discussed with anyone else.