ICAEW Chartered Accountant · M&A Advisory · London
Investment Banking for SMEs: Sell Your Business on Your Terms
Most UK SME founders only sell a business once. The process is complex, emotionally charged, and weighted heavily in favour of experienced buyers. We level that playing field.
Consult EFC provides institutional-quality M&A advisory to UK founders. Big Four trained, ICAEW qualified, with an investment banking background. We manage your sale from first valuation to legal completion.
"Buyers do this every day. Most founders do it once. Our job is to close that experience gap so you walk into every negotiation with the same preparation and financial clarity as the other side of the table."
Independent valuation before any buyer is approached
Targeted buyer identification, strategic and financial
Full due diligence management, Kish leads every stage
Deal structuring to maximise net proceeds
The reality of selling an SME
The buyer has done this a hundred times. You have done it once.
That experience gap costs founders real money. The right adviser closes it before it opens.
01
Valuation chipping in due diligence
Experienced acquirers use the due diligence process to reduce the headline price. Normalisation adjustments, working capital pegs, and deferred consideration structures are all tools used against founders who have not seen them before. We have seen all of them.
02
Talking to only one buyer at a time
Founders who approach buyers directly end up in exclusive conversations with a single acquirer, which immediately destroys their negotiating position. A properly run process creates competitive tension between multiple qualified buyers. That tension drives price.
03
Financial information that does not hold up
A buyer's finance team will dissect your management accounts, challenge your EBITDA adjustments, and probe your revenue quality. If your financial pack has not been built to institutional standards, it raises questions about the business itself, not just the numbers.
04
Deal structures that look better than they are
Earn-outs, deferred consideration, and loan notes can all shift the real economic outcome of a deal. Understanding what a headline number means in actual cash terms, and in what timeframe, requires genuine deal experience to evaluate correctly.
Service scope
Everything covered, from first valuation to final completion
Kish is present at every stage. No handoff to junior staff at any point in the process.
Business Valuation and Positioning
Before approaching any buyer, we establish your business's defensible market value using the same rigorous methodologies applied by top-tier global acquirers.
EBITDA Normalisation
Comparable Benchmarking
Buyer Identification and Approach
We identify the universe of qualified buyers globally—strategic acquirers and private equity—creating the competitive tension that drives the ultimate sale price.
Confidential Teaser Creation
Structured Outreach Process
Due Diligence Management
Due diligence is where valuations get "chipped." We manage the process end-to-end, pre-empting buyer concerns and defending your financial position throughout.
Secure Data Room Build
Financial Q&A Coordination
The sale process
How a well-run M&A process works
A typical SME sale takes six to twelve months from engagement to completion. Here is how we structure that time.
1
Months 1 to 2
Preparation and positioning
Valuation, EBITDA normalisation, financial information pack, confidential information memorandum, and data room preparation. We make sure your business is presented in its best possible light before a single buyer is approached.
2
Months 2 to 4
Market approach and indicative offers
Confidential outreach to a targeted longlist of qualified buyers. NDAs, management presentations, and a structured indicative offer process designed to generate multiple bids and maintain competitive tension throughout.
3
Months 4 to 12
Due diligence, negotiation and completion
Preferred buyer selected, exclusivity agreed, due diligence managed end-to-end, heads of terms and final SPA negotiated, and legal completion coordinated with your solicitors. We stay present through to cash in account.
We are selective about who we take on. This service only works when there is a genuine, well-prepared exit opportunity to build around.
01
UK SME owners, £1M to £20M+ turnover
Owner-managed businesses with a clear commercial proposition and recurring or scalable revenue, considering a full or partial sale in the next one to three years.
02
SaaS and technology founders
High-growth software and technology businesses from Seed through to Series B, where exit options include a strategic trade sale, secondary transaction, or PE-backed acquisition.
03
Professional services and consultancies
Agency, accountancy, recruitment, legal, and consultancy businesses where value sits in client relationships and people, requiring a specific approach to buyer identification and deal structuring.
Common questions
Questions founders ask before engaging us
When should I start the sale process?
Earlier than most founders expect. The best exits are built over 12 to 36 months, not announced six weeks before you want to complete. Starting early gives you time to clean the financial history, normalise EBITDA, resolve any structural issues, and approach the market from a position of strength rather than urgency. If you are thinking about it, the right time to have the first conversation is now.
How do you charge for this service?
Our fees are structured around a retainer for preparation and process work, plus a success fee on completion. The success fee is calculated as a percentage of the enterprise value achieved. This means our interests are directly aligned with yours. Full fee details are discussed openly at the outset of any engagement.
How is Consult EFC different from a traditional M&A firm?
Traditional M&A boutiques focus on mid-market transactions of £50M and above. Below that threshold, SME founders get passed to junior teams or find the larger firms simply are not interested. Consult EFC is built specifically for the £2M to £30M enterprise value range. Because Kish leads every engagement personally, you get partner-level attention throughout, not a team of analysts.
Can I approach buyers myself and use you for specific stages?
We would advise against approaching buyers without an adviser in place first. Once you enter a direct conversation with a potential acquirer, your negotiating position is weakened. You have revealed intent without competitive tension. That said, if you are already in a process and need support at a specific stage, we are able to step in. Contact us to talk through what that looks like.
How long does a typical sale take?
A well-run SME sale typically takes six to twelve months from formal engagement to legal completion, longer if structural issues need resolving beforehand. The timeline depends on the complexity of the business, the number of buyers in the process, and how cleanly the financial information has been prepared. We set realistic timelines at the start and manage to them.
Is the initial conversation confidential?
Completely. Every conversation we have with a founder is confidential. Nothing is shared with any third party without your express consent. Selling a business is one of the most significant decisions a founder makes and we understand that the process itself, if it became known too early, could affect your staff, clients, and competitive position. Discretion is fundamental to how we operate.
ICAEW Chartered Accountant · M&A Advisory · London
Thinking about selling? Start with a confidential conversation.
Book a free 30-minute call with Kish. We will talk through your timeline, your objectives, and what a realistic exit process looks like for your business. No pressure, no pitch. Just an honest conversation with someone who has done this before.
