Leo Malan
M&A

How an M&A sale runs, from the first look to funds settled.

Selling your own business? I run all of it. Advisers choose the deliverables: I work in the background on the parts you need, or run the whole process under your name, and I never approach your client.

Six to nine months, from the first look to funds settled.

Why choose me

A mid-tier process, in a third of the time.

The research, the numbers and the sale documents a mid-tier firm’s team takes months to produce, done in a third of the time, so buyers see your business sooner.

Every report and deliverable in 48 hours or less, once I have what it needs.

01

Pre-engagement and deal assessment

Before anyone commits: what the sale turns on, from the public record.

What goes in
  • Market data for the sector
  • Deals in the sector, and what buyers said they paid for
  • Listed comparables
  • Candidate buyers and the risks they weigh
  • Any financial summary you can share
What comes out
  • The research pack: what the sale turns on, the market, comparables, deals, buyer types, risks
A page from an example research pack. Illustrative example.

Open the full example

A$000FY24FY25FY26F
Revenue9,84010,62011,410
Reported EBITDA1,1201,2641,388
Owner pay above market180185190
One-off legal costs–96–
Normalised EBITDA1,3001,5451,578
Illustrative example.
02

Engagement and the numbers

The engagement agreed in writing, and one information request covering everything a buyer will ask. The answers become the workbook: historical financials, what the business really earns once one-off and owner costs are taken out, and the forecast, built as one model linking profit, cash and the balance sheet, signed off before anything is written about them.

What goes in
  • The signed engagement letter
  • Answers to one information request: accounts, contracts, customers, owner costs
What comes out
  • The workbook: historicals, what the business really earns, the forecast, signed off
  • The three-way forecast: income statement, balance sheet and cash flow
03

Sale documents

The documents buyers read, built from the signed-off numbers.

What goes in
  • The signed-off numbers
  • The story of the business: its people and its customers
What comes out
  • The teaser
  • The information memorandum
A page from an example information memorandum. Illustrative example.

Open the full example

A$mABC
BuyerTradePETrade
Headline price8.99.58.4
Earn-out–2.0–
Due diligence4 wks8 wks3 wks
Cash at completion8.97.58.4
Illustrative example.
04

Taking it to buyers

Buyers under confidentiality, their questions answered, their offers made comparable.

What goes in
  • The information memorandum and the buyer list
  • Confidentiality agreements signed by buyers
What comes out
  • Buyer questions answered
  • Indicative offers compared side by side
05

Offers to completion

One buyer chosen, then due diligence and the sale agreement, with your lawyers.

What goes in
  • Your choice of buyer
  • The buyer’s due diligence requests
  • Your lawyers
What comes out
  • The signed sale agreement
  • Funds settled
Week 1
Preferred buyer chosen
Weeks 2–7
Due diligence: questions answered from the data room
Weeks 6–9
Sale agreement negotiated with your lawyers
Week 10
Agreement signed
Completion
Funds settled
An illustrative timeline. Every sale sets its own.

Let’s talk, confidentially.

Tell me what is in front of you. My commitment: each deliverable within 48 hours of receiving what it needs from you.

Get in touch