Sale of Business
Selling your business is likely the most significant financial event of your life. It requires preparation, discipline, and access to the right buyers at the right moment.
At Whitehorn, we manage the entire process — positioning, marketing, buyer outreach, negotiation, and closing — so you can focus on running the business that buyers are evaluating. We begin by understanding your goals, your business's unique strengths, and your timeline. Then, we build a competitive process designed to maximize both valuation and deal certainty.
What's Included:
- Business valuation and positioning analysis
- Marketing materials preparation
- Targeted outreach to strategic & financial buyers
- Process management and competitive bid management
- Negotiation of key deal terms and structure
- Due diligence management and closing coordination
Management Buyout (MBO)
Buying the business you manage is one of the most meaningful and complex professional decisions you'll ever make.
The questions are significant: What's it worth? How do I structure it? Where does the financing come from? Can we actually close?
Whitehorn's team has guided management buyouts throughout their careers, and we approach each one knowing that the outcome will shape the next chapter of your professional life.
We provide clarity on:
- Fair market valuation and negotiating a reasonable price
- Optimal deal structure for management buyers
- Identifying and arranging management buyout financing
- Navigating negotiation with the existing owner
- Due diligence support from a buyer's perspective
- Closing and transition planning
Financing
Businesses with ambitious goals need access to the right capital — not just any capital. The terms, structure, and partner you choose today will shape your options for years.
Whitehorn's close ties with local and international private equity, family offices, banks, and private lenders give us a significant advantage in raising capital that fits your business.
We don't just connect you with money. We find partners who understand your industry's opportunities and challenges, and who won't constrain your business's next phase of growth.
Capital types we arrange:
- Senior secured and asset-based lending
- Growth equity and minority private equity
- Family office and private credit
- Subordinated and mezzanine debt
- Acquisition financing for buyer clients
Acquisitions
Whether you're a business owner looking to grow through acquisition or a financial buyer seeking a Western Canadian platform, Whitehorn provides full-cycle acquisition advisory.
We manage the process end-to-end — from identifying the right targets to closing with certainty.
With decades of experience across diverse industries in Western Canada, we know the market, the players, and how to structure deals that get done.
Our acquisition process:
- Acquisition strategy and target criteria definition
- Proprietary target identification and outreach
- Valuation and initial offer preparation
- Negotiation and Letter of Intent (LOI) management
- Due diligence coordination
- Financing and closing
What size of business does Whitehorn typically work with?
We focus on privately held Western Canadian businesses with revenues generally between $10M and $100M.
Businesses of this size benefit most from a dedicated advisory team — large enough for institutional buyers to be interested, but too important to leave to a generalist or a junior team.
How long does a typical sale of business transaction take?
Most sale of business engagements take between 6 and 12 months from our initial engagement to closing.
The timeline varies based on business complexity, buyer market conditions, and transaction structure. We'll give you a realistic, transparent estimate at our first meeting.
Do I need to be ready to sell to have a conversation?
No. Many of our best client relationships start years before a transaction is ever launched.
Understanding your business's value and how buyers will evaluate it helps you make better operational decisions today, positioning you for maximum value when the time comes. Our first conversation is always completely confidential and obligation-free.
How does Whitehorn charge for its services?
Our fees are primarily success-based — the majority of our compensation is contingent on successfully closing a transaction.
This aligns our interests entirely with yours: we only succeed when you do. We'll explain our fee structure clearly and transparently before you ever sign an engagement letter.
What is one common mistake business owners make early on?
Hesitating to reach out. Many owners wait until they are completely burnt out or have an offer in hand before talking to an advisor.
We are always happy to have an informal, no-strings-attached conversation. Whether you want to know what we are seeing in the marketplace, or you need an unbiased sounding board for an unsolicited offer you just received, please reach out. Our goal is simply to help you make highly informed decisions.
Help us help you
Ready to explore your options?
A confidential, no-commitment conversation with our experts is the right first step — whether you are thinking about a transaction next year or would like to understand what your business is worth today.
Or call us directly: 403-680-4266
