How we work
How we work: stages, scope and rules
In short: we work in stages, and each stage has its own agreement and its own exit point. It starts with a free call, then a diagnosis or a market validation, which is a short piece of work at a flat fee you can stop after.
Only if you decide to go on do we sign for the main process: a monthly retainer plus a success fee on transaction value, with the retainer credited against the fee. No conversation with a buyer happens without us in the room.
How we work together
Six rules we keep
01
You do not talk to a buyer without us
Owners who talk to buyers on their own unknowingly give away information that lowers the price later. The buyer asks questions, the owner answers honestly, and suddenly the other side knows more than it should at that stage. We take part in every conversation with a potential buyer or investor.
02
No document leaves without your approval
The teaser, the information memorandum, the contents of the data room, the answers in Q&A. You approve all of it before it reaches anyone. You never find out after the fact what a buyer read about you.
03
Every stage has an exit point
The diagnosis and the market validation are separate engagements. When either ends you can stop and act on the findings yourself. We say so at the start, because without a reliable valuation and a roadmap there is no point starting any changes at all.
04
We say when it is not worth it
If the analysis shows the company is not ready to be sold, or that a foreign market has no room for it, we say so plainly before you spend more time and money. There is nothing in it for us in sending companies into processes they cannot win.
05
We do the work ourselves
In large advisory firms a team of juniors does the analysis and the partner appears for the results presentation. Here the person you speak to at the first meeting runs your project to the end.
06
You know what is happening without asking
In a market process we report every two weeks, in a market entry project every month. The report shows who we spoke to, where each contact stands and what we plan for the coming weeks.
How we work
Three ways of working together
Every one has the same shape.
A short, flat-fee analytical stage after which you decide, and a longer execution stage billed monthly. Nothing moves until you know exactly what you are buying.
Selling a company: three stages
Preparation, usually two months. It produces the transaction valuation, the teaser, the information memorandum and a complete data room with financial and legal documentation. We build a map of at least thirty potential buyers and investors matched to the company profile.
The market process, from month two to month six. We run confidential contact with buyers in Poland and abroad, manage the confidentiality agreements, receive indicative offers and shortlist two to four of the strongest candidates.
Due diligence and closing, from month six to month twelve. We coordinate the whole review, answer questions from the buyer’s lawyers and analysts, negotiate the sale agreement and defend the price against post-diligence adjustments.
Value growth: diagnosis and execution
The diagnosis takes four to six weeks. We assess the company the way a buyer will: valuation by income and market-comparable methods, normalisation of the financial result, an internal simulation of legal and financial due diligence. You get a valuation model, a schedule of adjustments to the result, a risk report with the impact on price, and a roadmap of changes with priorities.
Execution runs from six months. We implement the changes from the roadmap: a monthly operational workshop on site, reducing the company’s dependence on the owner, automation projects that lift earnings. The valuation is updated every quarter.
Market entry: validation and entry
Validation takes four to six weeks and answers whether and how to enter. We analyse the market, assess how well the offer fits and identify twenty to thirty potential partners or customers. At the end we recommend an entry model: agent, distributor, your own structure or the acquisition of a local company.
Entry runs from six months. We handle outreach in the local language, attend meetings with you and negotiate partnership agreements. Every month you get a progress report.
What the first conversation looks like
Free, 30-45 minutes
No presentation, nothing to sign
We talk by phone or online about the company, your situation and what you are looking for. By the end you know what the whole process would look like and what the first step would be.
What to bring
Two numbers, no documents
For the conversation to be useful you only need a rough idea of the company’s revenue and result over the last two years. No documents are needed at this stage.
Fees
How we are paid
Diagnosis and validation
- One-off flat fee
- You know the amount before we start
- It does not depend on the findings
- No exclusivity required
Execution stage
- Monthly retainer
- For time and involvement
- Paid for as long as the work runs
- Scope set in the agreement
Company sale
- Monthly retainer
- Plus a success fee on transaction value
- Success fee payable after closing
- Retainer credited against the fee
Market entry by acquisition
- Same model as a company sale
- Retainer plus success fee
- Settled after closing
- Terms agreed individually
We agree the details individually at the first conversation, because they depend on the size of the company, the complexity of its structure and the scope of work.
Clients
Who we work for
We specialise in transactions between PLN 10 and 50 million. That is the range large advisory firms no longer go down to, and where smaller advisers have neither a network of buyers nor experience running a full process.
Our clients are usually owners who built their companies themselves and will sell once in their lives. The buyers on the other side of the table do it a dozen or more times a year. That gap in experience translates directly into price and terms.
Limits
When we say no
We do not run processes for owners who have not decided whether they want to sell. A sale process ties up the company for months and signals intent to the market; pulling out halfway costs more than never starting.
We also decline engagements where the expected price is disconnected from what the valuation shows. We can work on raising the value, but we will not promise a price the market will not pay.
Common questions
The questions we hear most often about working together.
How much of my own time does it take?
Most of it at the preparation stage: handing over three years of financial data and a few conversations with the team. During the analysis there are no weekly meetings and no standing demands on your time. We get in touch when we have to. More involvement comes back at buyer meetings and during due diligence.
Will employees find out about the process?
We contact buyers only after a confidentiality agreement is signed, and no information about the company leaves without your consent. In most transactions employees find out just before or just after the agreement is signed. We plan the timing and the wording together.
Do I have to sign an exclusivity?
The mandate agreement assumes exclusivity for running the sale process, because without it there is no way to control what reaches the market. The diagnosis and the validation require none.
What if I change my mind along the way?
The decision to sell is yours at every stage and we never push an owner to accept an offer. It is worth knowing, though, that withdrawing once the market process has started is visible to buyers and makes coming back in a year or two harder.