How it works | Infinity Corporate Finance

Where you probably are

Founders arrive in one of three states.

Two or three years out

You've started thinking about it

You have a rough idea of when, you probably haven't told anyone, and it feels far too early to be ringing an adviser. It isn't. This is the period when the things that set your price are still capable of being changed, and once you're in a process most of them aren't.

Ready to go

You've decided to sell

Now it's a question of who to approach and in what order, what story the business tells, and how to keep trading properly while all of that is going on. That last part matters more than people expect, because nothing weakens your position faster than a poor month in the middle of a process.

Out of the blue

Someone has made you an offer

It's flattering, and it's also the cheapest way there is to buy a business, because nobody else is bidding. Before you come back with a number it's worth working out whether they're serious, what they actually want, and who else ought to be in the room.

The process

What actually happens.

Work out what you actually want

Full exit or partial. Stay on or leave. Best price or the right home for your people. These pull against each other and getting it clear early saves a great deal of pain later.

Make the business worth buying

Customer concentration, how much the business depends on you, the quality of the numbers, contracts that do not survive a change of control. This is where value is created.

Work out who would want it, and start talking to them

Not a list of everyone in your sector. A short list of people for whom buying you solves a problem. Those conversations open eighteen months out, not in week one of a process.

Tell the story

The information memorandum and the numbers behind it. Facts matter, but the narrative is what makes a buyer see the business as worth more to them than to anyone else.

Create a proper competitive situation

Approached in the right order and at the right pace, so offers arrive close enough together to be compared. One buyer is a negotiation. Three is an auction.

Get through diligence without losing the price

Where deals are re-traded and where founders get worn down. Also where having done it many times is worth the most.

Live with what you signed

Earn outs, warranties, the year or two you may have agreed to stay. The deal does not end at completion.

Fees

Aligned with the outcome.

Most firms charge a monthly retainer to run a sale process, and the clock starts the day you decide to sell. That pays for activity rather than for a result.

Infinity is paid mostly on success, and the structure flexes to fit the situation, because the point is that both sides are pulling towards the same outcome. What that looks like for you is a conversation rather than a price list.

Size and sectors

Who this is for.

Owner managed businesses anywhere in the UK, where the founder still holds most of the equity and has usually never sold anything before. Clients have ranged from London to Edinburgh.

Any sector, most often consultancy and professional services, technology, and consumer.

Questions

What founders ask first.

When should I start talking to an adviser?

Earlier than feels sensible. Two to three years before you want to exit leaves time to fix the things a buyer would otherwise price down, and time to get on the radar of the people who might one day buy you. If you are already in a process, it is still worth a conversation.

What do I need to do to make my business sale ready?

Four things account for most of it. Reduce how much of the revenue sits with your largest customers. Reduce how much of the business depends on you personally, which usually means someone else holding the key relationships. Get the numbers into a state where a buyer's accountant can follow them without a translator. And check that your major contracts survive a change of ownership, because some do not. None of these is a quick job, which is the argument for starting early.

How much is my business worth?

Less than the multiples you read about and more than a buyer's opening offer. The honest answer is that it depends on who is buying and why, because the same business is worth different amounts to a trade buyer solving a problem, a private equity platform building something, and a competitor removing you. That is why finding the right buyer matters more than the arithmetic. You will get a straight view early rather than an optimistic one designed to win the mandate.

How are your fees structured?

Mostly on success, and flexed to suit the situation, so that both sides are working towards the same outcome rather than towards a monthly invoice. The first conversation costs nothing, and if Infinity is not the right fit for you, you will be told so rather than billed to find out.

How do you work with my accountant and lawyer?

Alongside them, not instead of them. Your accountant knows your numbers and your history better than anyone arriving for a transaction, and your lawyer will handle the documents. The job here is to prepare the business, find the right buyers and run the process, which goes better when all three are working together.

Will my staff find out?

Not from Infinity. A sale is run with a very small circle for as long as possible, usually you, your finance lead and your adviser, and buyers sign confidentiality agreements before they see anything meaningful. Deciding who is told and when is part of the plan rather than an afterthought.

Will I be tied in afterwards, or stopped from working in my industry?

Usually some of both, and the detail matters more than founders expect. Buyers often want you to stay for a period, frequently with part of the price depending on what happens next, and they will almost always ask for restrictions on competing or approaching your old customers for a couple of years afterwards. How long, how wide and how much of the money hangs on it are all negotiable, and they are much easier to shape before an offer is on the table than after.

What if we work together for two years and I decide not to sell?

Then we come up with a new plan. The relationship might pause, or it might take a new direction for the longer term. Committing for the long term is the whole point, and a founder deciding to keep building is not a failure of it.

What happens if another client comes along while I am with you?

Infinity takes a handful of clients at a time and turns work away to keep it that way. The person you meet is the person who builds the model, calls the buyers and sits in the room at three in the morning. Where a deal needs specialists, tax, legal and diligence people known for years are brought in and managed for you.

Selling a business, from first conversation to completion.