That’s our promise and last year, it made all the difference.
We were advising a client on the sale of their agency. A private equity firm emerged as a serious contender. The partner leading the deal was charming, engaged, and persuasive. Multiple meetings took place. An offer was made. Heads of Terms were signed. Exclusivity was granted.
From the outside, it looked like a done deal. Our client was excited. But something didn’t sit right with me.
Despite the noise, there was no real movement. No due diligence. No draft SPA. Just… silence.
Trusting my instinct, I did some digging and discovered the partner hadn’t secured the full backing from his investment committee. There was internal friction. The deal was stalling.
We took control and negotiated an early release from exclusivity and then re-engaged a trade buyer we’d been speaking with. Their proposition? Stronger. Their value? Higher.
That’s who we completed with.
The lesson?
M&A is full of smoke and mirrors. What matters isn’t just finding a buyer it’s knowing which buyer will deliver. When to push. When to pivot. And when to act fast.
Anyone can run a process when everything goes to plan. The real value of an experienced advisor is knowing what to do when it doesn’t.