Sell-side M&A
We are engaged by owners — founders, families, and corporates disposing of a division — to sell a business through a competitive process.
A sale is not an introduction. Its outcome is determined largely before a buyer is contacted, by work that establishes what is being sold, corrects what will not survive examination, and identifies which acquirers have a reason to pay more than the others. A process that skips this stage arrives at the negotiating table with nothing held in reserve.
What we do
We prepare the business for sale, which includes normalising historical earnings, resolving the accounting and record-keeping issues that will otherwise be discovered by a buyer, and assembling a diligence position that can withstand a professional examination.
We establish a defensible view of value, tested across the methods a buyer will use and against the specific reasons a particular category of acquirer would pay a premium.
We construct the buyer universe. Domestic strategic acquirers, regional and pan-African corporates, international trade buyers with an existing Nigerian interest, development-finance-backed platforms, and financial sponsors. A universe assembled from a personal contact list is not a universe.
We control the release of information, run a structured bidding process, and hold competitive tension into the final round.
We negotiate the commercial terms and manage the transaction through documentation, conditions precedent and completion, working alongside the client's counsel and tax advisers.
What we do not do
We do not act on a non-exclusive basis. We do not accept contingent-only mandates. We do not shop a business informally to see what interest emerges. We do not act for the buyer. We do not provide legal or tax advice, and we will tell a client plainly when a question has moved outside our competence.
How a process runs
Six to twelve months, in four phases: preparation and remediation; market approach and information release; bidding and selection; documentation and completion. The process passes through eleven internal approval gates, and the client receives a written report at each phase boundary setting out what has been established, what has changed, and what decision is now required of him.
When owners call us
Succession without a successor. A shareholder disagreement that cannot be resolved while the parties remain in business together.
An unsolicited approach from a buyer, where the owner has no way to assess whether the offer is serious or the price is fair.
A partial exit for liquidity or diversification. Capital requirements that cannot be met from existing shareholders. Regulatory or competitive pressure that makes independence untenable.