
Selling Your Business
How we deliver maximum value for you
Selling your business is a big decision, often the culmination of a lifetime’s work and carrying financial, professional and personal significance. Before you consider selling you will want and need to know the value of your business. As one of the longest serving corporate finance firms in London, when we work with you to sell your business, we do so having listened carefully to your objectives, always acting with your best interests in mind. Our aim is that every transaction on which we advise results in the optimal mix of the Corbett Keeling ‘3 Cs’: cash, certainty and chemistry.
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CashOur advice aims to maximise the amount you receive from selling your company and typically results in a 40% uplift in sale value
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CertaintyWe work to create certainty in the success of a sale and have a 90% deal completion rate
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ChemistryWe proactively seek a new owner who will help your company and your team to flourish
Before the process of preparing for a sale begins, you need to decide whether this is the right time for you to sell your business. We will work with you to analyse the factors that affect the current value of your company and identify implementable actions to improve profit growth and reduce risk, increasing value in the eyes of a buyer and preparing your company for the best time to sell, whether it’s now, in a few months’ time or even a year.
Our five stage sale process delivers maximum value for our clients:
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01
Pre-sale Preparation
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02
Process Preparation
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03
Engagement & Negotiations
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04
Due Diligence & Legal Documentation
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05
Completion
Sale Options
Our team at Corbett Keeling will work with you to establish which type of transaction best meets your objectives. These options typically include:
A trade buyer is a company operating in your sector or adjacently in terms of geography, product or market, in the UK or abroad. The trade buyer might be a direct competitor or a company at a different point on the value chain, such as a customer or supplier. Trade buyers typically aim to benefit from strategic and synergistic alignment and so will often pay the highest price.
Benefits to business owners include:
- Trade buyers often result in the highest price, often because of synergies that are chived between buyer and seller
- Trade buyers typically buy 100% of the business giving you the chance to exit your business completely
- You may be offered a reduced but significant role in the company
- The market position of your business may be enhanced as part of a larger group with complimentary products and services
- Familiarity with the sector can enhance the chemistry between the buyer and your business
A financial buyer might be a private equity investor, an external debt provider such as bank or debt fund, a family office or even a high net worth individual. They will be looking to take a minority or majority stake in the business as part of a leveraged buy-out (LBO) transaction. The financial buyer will join the board of directors and typically look to sell their stake or exit the business within three to five years.
Benefits to business owners include:
- The ability to realise capital from your business whilst staying involved
- The opportunity to earn greater longer-term rewards as you retain a shareholding in a growing business
- A higher valuation price which can be achieved by gearing
- Minimal day to day interference; financial buyers are less likely to get involved with daily operations or disrupt staff
- Chemistry with the buyer is often easier as there are less people directly involved in the business
- There may be additional opportunities for growth backed by the buyer in the future
Selling to management involves the transfer of business ownership to a capable and ambitious senior management team via a management buy-out (MBO). The seller receives an initial payment with the remaining portion paid over the next three to five years. This type of sale can be funded by a private equity investor or an external debt provider such as a bank or debt fund; excess cash in the business is also often used to part fund a MBO.
Benefits to business owners include:
- MBOs are often the easiest and most straightforward type of sale to arrange
- Selling to management is the surest way to maintain confidentiality about the sale
- MBOs generally have the highest sale completion rate
- A higher valuation price can be achieved by gearing
- You can be confident that the management team has a deep understanding of the business
- MBOs typically result in a smoother transition for members of staff
An Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) is an indirect type of employee ownership where shares are held by an independent trust on behalf of all employees. This method of sale is especially attractive to company owners who can’t or don’t want to arrange a trade sale, perhaps because the business relies on a key contract, member of personnel or unprotected intellectual property, all of which may reduce their value to trade and financial buyers.
Benefits to business owners include:
- Achieve a fair market value for your shares
- Preserve the legacy and ethos of your business
- Benefit from favourable tax exemptions
- Incentivise your management and staff with the structure
- Exit in a straightforward and quick transaction
- Remain involved with the business if you would like to
Larger companies may be suited to an Initial Public Offering (“IPO”), also known as “floating” or “going public”, which means giving over a percentage of the company for purchase by the public in the form of shares. The company is listed on an exchange such as the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) or the London Stock Exchange, at which point shares can be bought and sold on public markets.
Benefits to business owners include:
- The opportunity for you and fellow shareholders to realise cash
- An injection of cash into the company to fund growth without resorting to debt and interest payments
- Ability to raise debt on more favourable terms from banks
- The opportunity to retain equity ownership and operational control while raising the company value
- Raise company profile and press coverage
- Improved ability to attract the best talent in the market with stock options and shares for which there is a market
Completed Transactions
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REAL Digital International
We advised the shareholders of REAL Digital International Limited (RDIL) on the successful sale of the business to LDC, a mid-market private equity firm.
Headquartered in Croydon, London, RDIL was established in 2004 and is a specialised data-led software solutions and automated fulfilment provider. RDIL supports a wide range of sectors including healthcare organisations and mobile network operators by solving complex fulfilment challenges.Barry Stephens, Managing Director, and Chris Tagg, Sales Director, led the buy-out of the founding shareholder. The two of them, supported by the excellent wider team at RDIL, will continue to drive the business forward and provide unique solutions to their existing and new customers. We were delighted when Chris Tagg, and Aylesh Patel and Yann Souillard from LDC spoke at our client event in London:
REAL Digital International
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Service
- Selling Your Business
- Year2021
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Arlingclose
We are delighted to have advised the shareholders of Arlingclose Limited on a successful sale of the business to its existing management team. Arlingclose is an independent treasury advisory firm predominantly serving the public sector. Founded in 1993, Arlingclose has grown steadily over the past 28 years and now advises some 200 clients, primarily local authorities and councils. Based in the City of London, the firm prides itself on providing high quality independent financial advice on investment, borrowing, and financial management. It also offers market leading expertise on specific complex treasury related projects, such as capital financing, debt restructuring, and hedging arrangements.
Mark Pickering, CEO, led the buy-out from his fellow founding shareholders, supported by directors Mark Swallow, David Green and David Blake. All employees of Arlingclose are equity shareholders in the new structure.
Corbett Keeling advised the shareholders on their exit strategy, negotiated terms, structured the management buy-out and raised finance to facilitate the transaction.Arlingclose
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Service
- Selling Your Business
- Raising Capital
- Year2021
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Dales Marine
We are delighted to have advised the shareholders of Dales Marine on the successful sale of their business to H2 Equity Partners, an investment firm. Dales Engineering Limited, known as Dales Marine, is a specialist marine services provider focusing on ship repair, maintenance and conversion. Founded in 1987, the business started out in the fabrication and repair of large industrial equipment, based in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. Maurice Nicol, the founder, expanded the business into ship repair and maintenance in the 2000s with a site at the dry dock in Aberdeen Harbour.
The business now operates five dry docks across East and West Scotland serving a wide range of industries from oil & gas to fishing to passenger ferries. In addition to dry docking, Dales Marine provides fabrication services, undertakes ship conversions and is the only accredited provider of ship decommissioning services in Scotland holding a Scottish Environment Protection Agency license.
Maurice Nicol, Founder, Dales Marine, Dales Marine
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- Selling Your Business
- Year2020
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Doyle Clayton
Corbett Keeling advised Doyle Clayton, a successful law firm specialising in workplace and employment law, on its sale to an Employee Ownership Trust.
By accessing our network of debt providers we know to be interested in EOT transactions, we were able to arrange debt funding on competitive terms for our client.
Peter Doyle, CEO, Doyle Clayton, Doyle Clayton
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Service
- Selling Your Business
- Raising Capital
- Year2019
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Service
See what our clients say about us

Not only was Corbett Keeling’s advice always timely, to the point and in our best interest but, crucially, they had outstanding knowledge and understanding of the potential buyers, whether trade or financial and UK or overseas.
John HorganCo-Founder and Director
Corbett Keeling created a way forward, where others could not, at a critical moment for the management team. Their access to the appropriate funders in the UK and overseas, and their ability to move quickly, were both crucial to making this transaction possible.
Patrick BanksCEO
It was a pleasure dealing with Jim Keeling and his team throughout the process. We wanted to find the right partners and to do the right deal for us - Corbett Keeling delivered just that.
Chris LeachChairman and Founder
As with most entrepreneurs, we have poured our hearts into our business and, although realising we would at some point need to step back, were cautious about beginning the process. The team at Corbett Keeling really were excellent at guiding us through the options and, when the time came, ensuring we secured the best deal with the best partner.
Sarah CarrollCo-Founder
I regretted choosing one of the big four global accounting/consultancy firms for the sale of my business – although they have a big brand name, I did not feel they provided the level of detail or interaction with prospective buyers that I was expecting and I wish I had used Corbett Keeling as I did in the previous sale. As a result I have come back to Corbett Keeling to deal with our next transaction as I feel they provide their clients with both a first class and personal service which is ultimately what we are all looking for.
Andy LeslieGroup Chairman