Insights / Guide
How to choose an M&A advisor.
How to choose an M&A advisor who will protect your interests: who actually does the work, how their fees align with your outcome, the track record that matters, and the questions to ask before you sign.
The best M&A advisor for you is the one whose senior people do the work themselves, whose fee is paid on your outcome, who has handled deals like yours, and who treats your information as confidential. Most of what goes wrong traces back to one thing: being sold by seniors and handed to juniors.
How to choose an M&A advisor.
Four things decide whether an advisor is on your side. Get clear answers on each before you sign anything.
Who does the work
Senior, not juniorFind out who runs your deal day to day. The hard part, managing buyers and humans to a close, is senior work. If a senior wins the pitch and a junior team runs it, you lose the judgment you were buying.
How fees align
Paid on outcomeA fee tied to a completed deal on good terms puts the advisor on your side. Open-ended hourly billing rewards time and activity, not your result, and the cost becomes hard to predict.
Relevant track record
Deals like yoursExperience in your size and situation matters more than a long list of unrelated names. Ask what the person in the room personally worked on, their role, and the outcome.
Confidentiality
Discretion by defaultYour identity and your information should be protected as a matter of course. Ask how buyers are approached and whether the firm publicises its clients and deals.
The questions to ask.
A good advisor will answer these plainly and in writing. Vague or evasive answers are the warning. For the terms that come up in these conversations, see the M&A and tax glossary.
Who, by name, runs my deal?
Will the person in this meeting be on the file every week, or does the work pass to a team you have not met once the engagement is signed?
How exactly are you paid?
What is paid on outcome, what is not, and is there any hourly or open-ended billing that could grow regardless of the result?
What comparable deals have you closed?
Deals close to mine in size and situation, what your role was, and what actually happened, not a logo wall of names.
How do you protect confidentiality?
How is my identity handled, how are buyers approached, and do you ever publicise clients or deals?
If you are weighing a sale, our guide to how a process actually runs sits alongside this: see sell your business.
The red flags.
What senior-led actually means.
We built LePrince Group to remove the pattern this guide warns against. A senior principal does the work, the fee is aligned with your outcome, and your information stays private. More on how and why is on the about page.
Hugo LePrince spent a decade building, buying, investing in, and selling businesses, including Creed Media, one of the most influential Gen-Z marketing companies in the world and a Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe company. That is the judgment on your file, not a junior team you meet after the pitch. We tell you who does the work, how the fee is structured, and how your information is handled, before you commit to anything.
Frequently asked questions.
Who will actually do the work on my deal?
Ask directly, and get the answer in writing. A common pattern is that senior people win the engagement and a junior team runs it afterwards. At LePrince Group, a senior principal does the work, from the first meeting to the close.
How should an M&A advisor be paid?
The fee should be tied to your outcome. Work paid on outcome, where the advisor is rewarded for a completed deal on good terms, aligns with you. Open-ended hourly billing rewards activity and time, not the result, and the cost can become hard to predict.
What track record should I look for?
Relevant experience in deals like yours, in size and situation, matters more than a long list of unrelated names. Ask what the advisor personally worked on, what their role was, and what the outcome was.
How do I know my information stays confidential?
Confidentiality should be built into how the advisor works, not promised loosely. Ask how your identity and information are protected, how buyers are approached, and whether the firm publicises its clients and deals. We do not.
What are the red flags when choosing an M&A advisor?
Watch for a senior pitch followed by a junior team, hidden or open-ended hourly fees, vague answers about who does the work, box-ticking that adds no judgment, and going quiet when the process gets difficult. The pattern to avoid is being sold by seniors and handed to juniors.
Speak with a senior principal.
Tell us about your situation and ask the hard questions. You will hear directly from the person who would run your deal, with a senior reply within one business day, in writing.