Sell-Side Advisory
Honest valuation, competitive process, confidential, through to close.
The full process
Sell-Side & Buy-Side
Mid-Market M&A Advisory
If we take the mandate, we believe in the price. We advise companies, founders, and shareholders on buy-side and sell-side transactions of $10m to $100m+ in enterprise value, globally from our base in Abu Dhabi, on a selective, outcome-priced model built so every mandate closes.
- A decade building companies
- Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe
- Built and sold across the US & Europe
- $10m to $100m+ mandates
- Abu Dhabi HQ, Global
Where we start
We tell you what your business is worth, not what wins your signature.
The oldest move in M&A advisory is the flattering valuation. It wins the mandate, and it loses the sale. The process drags, buyers discount the moment diligence opens, and the shareholders end up taking less than an honest process would have delivered a year earlier.
We start with the number we believe a buyer will actually pay, and the evidence behind it. If we take the mandate, we believe in the price. If we don't, you'll know exactly why, and what would change our answer. Either way, you leave the first conversation knowing more about your business than you did before it.
Where we focus
Global by reach, organized by industry.
We advise on mid-market transactions worldwide, and we go deep rather than wide, in four sectors: Business Services & B2B, Industrials & Essential Services, Healthcare Services, and Consumer. These are the sectors with the deepest buyer pools and the most reliable closes in the mid-market. Knowing an industry the way an owner does is what lets us value honestly and sell with conviction.
Within M&A advisory
Sell-side
Buy-side
Valuation
Diligence
Four services. One standard.
Each runs as a discipline of its own, and all of them connect inside a mandate.
Buy-Side Advisory
Origination, diligence, and structures that hold, for every kind of acquirer.
In depthBusiness Valuation
What your company is worth, evidenced the way a buyer would build it.
How we valueDue Diligence
Commercial, financial, and operational. For acquirers, and for sellers first.
The three streams
The core
Sell-Side M&A Advisory
For founders, family-held companies, shareholders, boards, and funds divesting. We prepare the asset, position it for the buyers who'll pay the most, and run a competitive process to a close that reflects what it's genuinely worth.
→
Exit readiness and preparation
Getting the business, its numbers, and its story into the shape a serious buyer rewards. Sometimes the value creation work that lifts the valuation before the process even starts.
→
Equity story and positioning
Building the narrative that makes the right buyers see the upside, not just the financials.
→
Buyer identification and process management
A competitive process among the strategic acquirers, financial sponsors, and family offices most likely to pay a premium. One conversation is a discount waiting to happen. A competitive field finds the real ceiling.
→
Negotiation and close
Driving terms through letters of intent to signing, protecting price, structure, and protections through to done.
What you walk away with: an exit that reflects the real value of what you built, to the right buyer, on terms you'd sign again.
How a sell-side deal runs
Four stages, from preparation to close.
A sale is won or lost long before the offers come in. Most of the value is created in how the asset is prepared and how the process is run, not in the final handshake.
01
Preparation
VDR, IM, Marketing materialsA clean virtual data room, a compelling information memorandum, and the materials that make buyers compete. Done well, this is where valuation is set.
02
Field Calls
Buyer outreach, Management callsThe right universe of strategic and financial buyers, run in parallel. Tension protects price.
03
Negotiation & LOIs
Price, Structure, ProtectionsInterest turned into competing letters of intent, then into the terms that determine what you actually walk away with.
04
Closing
Confirmatory diligence, DocumentationMomentum held and terms protected through diligence and legal documentation, to a close that reflects what was agreed.
LePrince Group's sell-side M&A process runs in four stages: preparation of the VDR, information memorandum, and marketing materials; buyer outreach and management calls; negotiation and letters of intent; and closing, including confirmatory diligence and legal documentation.
Alongside
Buy-Side M&A Advisory
For corporates and enterprises, private equity and funds, family offices, and experienced individual acquirers. The wrong acquisition is one of the most expensive mistakes a company can make, and it usually looks great in the pitch.
→
Target origination and screening
The right targets, including those not formally on the market, mapped to a clear acquisition thesis.
→
Commercial, financial, and operational due diligence
Focused on what's actually true about the business, not what the seller has packaged. We've operated inside businesses, so we know what diligence usually misses.
→
Valuation and deal structuring
Pricing the asset on what it's worth to you, with terms that put risk where it belongs.
→
Negotiation and close
Running the deal to signing, with someone whose interest is the outcome, not the fee clock.
What you walk away with: the right asset, at terms that hold up, with a clear plan for the value you bought it for.
Deliverables
Everything that gets a deal done.
Two sides of the table, one standard of work.
Materials & documentation
- Teaser
- Information Memorandum
- Data Room (VDR)
- Financial Model
- Management Presentation
- Marketing Materials
Analysis & diligence
- Valuation Analysis
- Commercial Due Diligence
- Financial Due Diligence
- Operational Due Diligence
Sourcing & targeting
- Acquisition Thesis
- Target Origination
- Target Screening
- Buyer Identification
Deal execution
- Deal Structuring
- LOI Negotiation
- Process Management
- Closing Support
- Post-Deal Integration
Why work with us
A different kind of deal partner.
01
Selective by design
We sign only what we'd stake our name on. Being accepted as a client means we believe in the sale.
02
Principal-side
We've been through a deal as owners, not just advisors. We know what a buyer really fears and what a seller is really protecting.
03
Aligned
Outcome-based pricing. Our fee rides on your result, which makes us the one party in the room whose interest is fully aligned with yours.
04
Fast
Lean, senior, AI-leveraged. We turn around in days what a traditional team takes weeks to build, never at the cost of what matters at close.
05
Value-building
We can make the asset worth more before it goes to market, not just move it. That's the work most advisors can't do.
Outcome-based M&A fees. Our fee is tied to the close, the terms, and the value, not billed hourly. We can afford to be honest and selective because we only get paid when it closes.
The paths
What you actually get with each path.
A shareholder weighing a sale usually picks between four options. The structural truth about each. Where the alternatives genuinely win, we say so.
| LePrince Group | Investment bank | Traditional boutique | Direct deal, no advisor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee model | Outcome-based. The fee rides on the close. | Retainers plus success fee. Billed either way. | Retainer or listing fee, then commission. | No fees. And no leverage. |
| Who runs your deal | The person who took the mandate. Every time. | Senior pitches. The team that executes is junior. | Varies. Often whoever is available. | You, alone, against a buyer who does this for a living. |
| The valuation | The number we believe a buyer will pay, evidenced. | Often shaped to win the mandate. | Often shaped to win the listing. | The buyer's number. |
| Selectivity | Only mandates we believe will close. | Volume-driven above a fee threshold. | Sign broadly, close some. | Not applicable. |
| Value before market | Pre-sale value creation built into the mandate. | Rare. The asset goes out as-is. | No. The asset goes out as-is. | No. |
| Competitive tension | Always. A managed, parallel process. | Yes, on the deals large enough to staff. | Sometimes. Often one conversation at a time. | None. One buyer sets the terms. |
| Where they win | Mid-market mandates, $10m to $100m+, in our sectors. | If your company is worth $500m+, a bank's reach wins. We'd tell you so. | If your deal is under $10m, a local broker may serve you better. | If certainty and speed matter more to you than price. |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
What does an M&A advisory firm do?
An M&A advisory firm guides companies and shareholders through buying or selling businesses, including target sourcing, due diligence, valuation, deal structuring, negotiation, and close. LePrince Group advises on both buy-side and sell-side mid-market transactions globally.
Why don't you take every mandate?
Because the model only works if every mandate we accept is one we believe will sell. An unsold mandate damages the signal we're building: that a LePrince process means a business worth a buyer's time. We'd rather decline with honest reasons than sign with a flattering price.
How do you value a business before taking it on?
We value it the way a buyer will: on the quality of its earnings, growth, customer base, and how defensible the numbers are in diligence. The valuation we give is the price we believe the market will pay, not the price that wins your signature.
What happens if you don't think my business will sell?
We tell you why, and what would change our answer. Often the gap can be closed: that's the pre-sale value creation work we do. A "not yet" from us comes with the honest reasons and a path, which is worth more than a flattering pitch.
What are the stages of a sell-side M&A process?
A sell-side process typically runs in four stages: preparing the data room, information memorandum, and marketing materials; approaching buyers and holding management calls; negotiating letters of intent (LOIs); and closing, which covers confirmatory diligence and legal documentation.
What is an information memorandum (IM)?
An information memorandum is the core marketing document in a sale process. It presents the business, its financials, and its equity story to prospective buyers, and is central to setting valuation expectations before offers come in.
What is the difference between an M&A advisor and an investment bank?
Both run transactions. Investment banks typically serve the largest deals with large teams and retainer-heavy fee structures. An M&A advisory firm like LePrince Group runs mid-market transactions with senior-led teams, in our case on outcome-based pricing where the fee is tied to the close.
How long does it take to sell a company?
Most mid-market sale processes take six to twelve months from preparation to close. Preparation started early, before the process begins, is the single biggest factor in both speed and final price.
What is outcome-based pricing in M&A?
Outcome-based pricing ties the advisor's fee to the result of the transaction, the close and the terms achieved, rather than hours billed. It aligns the advisor's interest with the shareholder's outcome.
How are your fees structured?
We work on outcome-based pricing. Our fee is tied to the result of the transaction, the close and the terms, rather than billed hourly.
What size of transactions do you advise on?
We advise on mid-market transactions of $10m to $100m+ in enterprise value. We are an advisory firm, not a business brokerage.
Which industries do you focus on?
Four sectors in the mid-market: business services and B2B, industrials and essential services, healthcare services, and consumer. We work globally from our headquarters in Abu Dhabi, organized by industry rather than geography.
Do you work buy-side or sell-side?
Both. On the sell-side we advise founders, family-held companies, shareholders, boards, and funds divesting. On the buy-side we advise corporates, private equity and funds, family offices, and experienced individual acquirers. Sell-side leads.
Discretion
You won't find our deals online. That is the point.
We do not publicise mandates, name clients, or announce transactions. The best outcomes are reached quietly, and confidentiality protects the seller, the process, and the price.
Confidential by default
A sale is the client's business, not our marketing. The market learns only what serves the client.
Selective by mandate
We take a limited number of companies and turn the rest down. Selectivity is the product, not a constraint on it.
Vetted and verified
If we represent a company, it is proven to be one of the best in its category, with a clear opportunity for the right buyer.
Start a conversation
Thinking about buying, selling, or testing whether now is the time?
Every conversation starts with the LePrince Read: our honest, evidence-based view of what your company is worth, whether it would sell, and what would change the number. Confidential, and yours to keep whatever you decide.
We take a limited number of mandates. Request a conversation if:
- Your company is in the $10m to $100m+ enterprise value range
- You operate in or adjacent to our four sectors
- You want an honest read, not a flattering one