When The Read says sell
Sell your business, through us.
When you are ready, we run the sale for you. We get the business and the numbers ready, build the list of buyers, reach out to them, handle their due diligence, and negotiate price and terms alongside your attorney and your accountant.
Three ways to sell.
We help you pick the one that fits what you want after the sale, not just the one with the highest bid.
Outside sale.
Sell to a buyer from outside the company.Internal transition.
Hand it to family or your team, over time.Employee ownership.
Sell to your employees through an ESOP or an employee ownership trust.
How we are paid.
- A success fee, paid when the sale closes. It follows the standard scale for deals this size, called the Double Lehman: 10% of the first $1 million, 8% of the second, 6% of the third, 4% of the fourth, and 2% of everything above $4 million. The minimum fee is $50,000.
- A monthly retainer of $3,000 to $8,000 while we prepare and run the sale. All of it comes off the success fee.
- Half of what you have already paid us, for the Seat and any value-building pods, also comes off the success fee.
A $10M sale, worked.
| 10% of the first $1M | $100,000 |
| 8% of the second $1M | $80,000 |
| 6% of the third $1M | $60,000 |
| 4% of the fourth $1M | $40,000 |
| 2% of the remaining $6M | $120,000 |
| Success fee | $400,000 |
| Retainer paid, 8 months at $6,000, credited | −$48,000 |
| Half your Seat and pod fees, credited | −$25,000 |
Due at close$327,000
This example assumes two years of a Standard Seat plus $22,000 of pod work, so $50,000 paid before the sale, with half of it credited. The success fee works out to 4 percent of a $10 million sale. After the credits, you pay 3.3 percent at close.
What is included.
- Preparing the business and the numbers for market.
- Building the buyer list.
- Running the process and the outreach.
- Managing diligence.
- Negotiating price and structure.
- Working the deal to close alongside your attorney and your accountant.
What is not included.
- Legal fees.
- Your accountant or your quality-of-earnings provider.
- Tax planning.
- Anything a lender or a buyer requires that sits outside the sale process.
Before you commit, we tell you what those usually cost.
Have a question about the sale? Ask us.
The call is free and takes thirty minutes.