Sell-Side M&A Advisory
At ICONIA PARTNERS, we specialise in helping founders, family-owned businesses, and middle-market companies realise the full value of what they have built. Selling your company is among the most consequential financial and personal decisions you will ever make. Our role is to transform that decision into a strategic, competitive, and outcome-driven process that secures the right buyer, the right terms, and the right future for your business.
Where many advisors simply “list” a company, ICONIA runs a structured process designed to generate optionality, drive competitive tension, protect confidentiality, and maximise enterprise value.
Our philosophy mirrors the best of the global M&A landscape: the rigour and sophistication of a bulge-bracket investment bank, combined with the agility, intimacy, and sector fluency of a boutique advisory firm.
Selling Your Business is as Serious as Business Gets.
ICONIA provides exit strategies and comprehensive insights that can best position your business for the market. Our M&A professionals will guide you through each step of the M&A process as you work together to reach your acquisition goals. We truly understand how important a sale of your company is, and know that it is a once-in-a-lifetime liquidity event for most sellers, so we treat it as such.
Buyer Analysis
Our number one goal is to find the optimal buyer for you and your company. We take time to create the right buyer list that is well-researched. We look for strategic, financial, family offices, and synergistic buyers that are the best fit for your business.
At ICONIA, we steer clear of the generic, one-size-fits-all approach often used by other firms, such as using public listings. Instead, we dedicate the necessary time to understanding your unique situation, financial objectives, and company dynamics; allowing us to identify the most suitable buyers. Furthermore, we ensure that any buyer list we create receives your final approval.
Buyer Negotiations
Closing a transaction requires thorough negotiations over the details that ultimately affect you, the seller. Our deal teams are familiar with the hurdles that can arise during negotiations and their years of experience will work to your advantage. The ICONIA M&A professionals are powerful allies during the crucial stages of business negotiations. Our Senior M&A Advisor Bobby Blumenfeld has worked at leading Sell-Side M&A Advisory firms, as well as on the other side at the table being an MD at a global multi-billion dollar family office that has made over 80 investments.
Deal Structure Guidance
Every client is unique. They have personal, financial, and business goals that require custom structuring of their deal. Our M&A advisors are diligent in learning and understanding the needs of our clients and their business. We work hard to negotiate the optimal deal for you; transactions that provide not only the valuation required but deal structures that protect you and your business over the long term.
Due Diligence Readiness
A typical due diligence checklist consists of hundreds of detailed questions covering every aspect of your business from sales and marketing to HR, IT, operations, and accounting. This is where most deals can fall apart, especially if the documentation is not accurate and readily available to provide buyers. Prior to entering this critical phase, our deal teams work hard to get the client and their team ready for the types of questions that will often arise.
The last three to four months of a transaction, which is when due diligence occurs, can be the most grueling part of the process for a business owner.
Exit Planning Guidance
Exiting a company through either an acquisition or merger event is a substantial undertaking for most business owners. Far too many owners put off planning to sell their business because the task can be very daunting. Our M&A professionals have decades of collective experience working with clients to ensure their customised plan is designed to help them reach their goals.
Just as each owner is unique, so too are each of our transactions. We tailor our exit planning advice to your specific needs.
Marketing Documentation Preparation
At ICONIA, we not only prepare the evaluation of your company, we also create all marketing documentation. This includes the Confidential Information Memorandum, Confidential Business Profile, and Non-Disclosure Agreement that we have all potential buyers sign before providing any information on your business.
Buyers like working with our M&A advisors because they know our documentation will be accurate, thorough, and in a format that allows them to easily discern why your opportunity makes sense for them.
Minority Transactions
Also known as partial sales, minority equity transactions are usually structured so that the seller is allowed to retain a minority equity position in the company while receiving payment for the equity transferred to new owners. This is a great structure if you are willing to stay with the newly recapitalised business for an indefinite period of time.
It allows you to have another liquidity event when the much larger entity is sold (or taken public) at a later date and you have experienced M&A advisors to guide you through the process. Typically equity firms “bolt” these partial sale transactions onto their existing platforms in order to grow the platform company.
When to Consider a Sale
A sale may be timely if:
Your business is performing strongly and you wish to diversify personal wealth
You are approached by a buyer but want to create competitive tension
You are preparing for succession or retirement
Significant industry consolidation is occurring
Growth now requires capital or capabilities beyond your risk appetite
You want to secure a partner to accelerate the next chapter
We advise both owners who are exit-ready and those seeking support years before a transaction. See our Growth Advisory page to learn more about how we can help you if you aren't quite ready yet.
At ICONIA PARTNERS, we specialise in helping founders, family-owned businesses, and middle-market companies realise the full value of what they have built. Selling your company is among the most consequential financial and personal decisions you will ever make. Our role is to transform that decision into a strategic, competitive, and outcome-driven process that secures the right buyer, the right terms, and the right future for your business.
Where many advisors simply “list” a company, ICONIA runs a structured process designed to generate optionality, drive competitive tension, protect confidentiality, and maximise enterprise value.
Our philosophy mirrors the best of the global M&A landscape: the rigour and sophistication of a bulge-bracket investment bank, combined with the agility, intimacy, and sector fluency of a boutique advisory firm.
Selling Your Business is as Serious as Business Gets.
ICONIA provides exit strategies and comprehensive insights that can best position your business for the market. Our M&A professionals will guide you through each step of the M&A process as you work together to reach your acquisition goals. We truly understand how important a sale of your company is, and know that it is a once-in-a-lifetime liquidity event for most sellers, so we treat it as such.
Buyer Analysis
Our number one goal is to find the optimal buyer for you and your company. We take time to create the right buyer list that is well-researched. We look for strategic, financial, family offices, and synergistic buyers that are the best fit for your business.
At ICONIA, we steer clear of the generic, one-size-fits-all approach often used by other firms, such as using public listings. Instead, we dedicate the necessary time to understanding your unique situation, financial objectives, and company dynamics; allowing us to identify the most suitable buyers. Furthermore, we ensure that any buyer list we create receives your final approval.
Buyer Negotiations
Closing a transaction requires thorough negotiations over the details that ultimately affect you, the seller. Our deal teams are familiar with the hurdles that can arise during negotiations and their years of experience will work to your advantage. The ICONIA M&A professionals are powerful allies during the crucial stages of business negotiations. Our Senior M&A Advisor Bobby Blumenfeld has worked at leading Sell-Side M&A Advisory firms, as well as on the other side at the table being an MD at a global multi-billion dollar family office that has made over 80 investments.
Deal Structure Guidance
Every client is unique. They have personal, financial, and business goals that require custom structuring of their deal. Our M&A advisors are diligent in learning and understanding the needs of our clients and their business. We work hard to negotiate the optimal deal for you; transactions that provide not only the valuation required but deal structures that protect you and your business over the long term.
Due Diligence Readiness
A typical due diligence checklist consists of hundreds of detailed questions covering every aspect of your business from sales and marketing to HR, IT, operations, and accounting. This is where most deals can fall apart, especially if the documentation is not accurate and readily available to provide buyers. Prior to entering this critical phase, our deal teams work hard to get the client and their team ready for the types of questions that will often arise.
The last three to four months of a transaction, which is when due diligence occurs, can be the most grueling part of the process for a business owner.
Exit Planning Guidance
Exiting a company through either an acquisition or merger event is a substantial undertaking for most business owners. Far too many owners put off planning to sell their business because the task can be very daunting. Our M&A professionals have decades of collective experience working with clients to ensure their customised plan is designed to help them reach their goals.
Just as each owner is unique, so too are each of our transactions. We tailor our exit planning advice to your specific needs.
Marketing Documentation Preparation
At ICONIA, we not only prepare the evaluation of your company, we also create all marketing documentation. This includes the Confidential Information Memorandum, Confidential Business Profile, and Non-Disclosure Agreement that we have all potential buyers sign before providing any information on your business.
Buyers like working with our M&A advisors because they know our documentation will be accurate, thorough, and in a format that allows them to easily discern why your opportunity makes sense for them.
Minority Transactions
Also known as partial sales, minority equity transactions are usually structured so that the seller is allowed to retain a minority equity position in the company while receiving payment for the equity transferred to new owners. This is a great structure if you are willing to stay with the newly recapitalised business for an indefinite period of time.
It allows you to have another liquidity event when the much larger entity is sold (or taken public) at a later date and you have experienced M&A advisors to guide you through the process. Typically equity firms “bolt” these partial sale transactions onto their existing platforms in order to grow the platform company.
When to Consider a Sale
A sale may be timely if:
Your business is performing strongly and you wish to diversify personal wealth
You are approached by a buyer but want to create competitive tension
You are preparing for succession or retirement
Significant industry consolidation is occurring
Growth now requires capital or capabilities beyond your risk appetite
You want to secure a partner to accelerate the next chapter
We advise both owners who are exit-ready and those seeking support years before a transaction. See our Growth Advisory page to learn more about how we can help you if you aren't quite ready yet.
CONTACT
Get In Touch
For further information, please contact Charlie Carroll or Matthew Carpenter.