Final Ascent's M&A Services.
Sell Your Business With
Your Trusted Exit Authority™

We seek to reinvent merger and acquisition advisory.

What Makes Us And Our M&A Services Different?

Our advisors have heard time and time again how clients sought the help of other advisors, and their information was merely thrown on the internet in hopes of finding a buyer. We’ve seen many of them go through a sales process, find a great buyer, and negotiate agreeable terms, only to have the deal stripped away when their companies fail to perform during the sales process the way they did before they decided to take their business to market. It is a hard, taxing endeavor, and in addition to a business owner’s normal job of running the company, they also have to run the business sale, which is taxing and stressful..

Selling a business to a third party buyer involves complex, highly evolved processes, specialized skills, comprehensive knowledge, sound judgment and exceptional resources.

It Takes Experience In M&A Advisory Services To Achieve Success.

Other business owners have mentioned that they hired advisors with little or no experience selling companies. Most importantly, an overwhelming number of business owners have told us that they were unprepared to sell—their business was not ready because they didn’t know what was necessary to get it ready. Their advisors never told them. And so many of them get to the end and say “if I only knew back then what I know now, I would have done everything differently.”

Meet Our Team Of Pros

We're Changing the way businesses are sold.

Individualized Attention

Every one of our clients will be coached on proper exit planning techniques (pursuant to a different Statement of Work) so that their business is in prime shape for sale. And our experienced M&A advisors will help the Client to navigate the sale process while our exit planning advisors will continue to make sure the company performs through the sale process.

Unbiased Guidance
100% Confidentiality

Let's Sell Your Business The right way
The first time.

With decades of experience servicing lower middle-market companies, we understand that no two businesses are the same.

Even more importantly, no two business owners share the same personal goals. Companies that are worth $10MM+ are often complex entities that need proper planning and preparation before executing an appropriate exit strategy. When business owners seek answers, they often find small business brokerage firms that lead with a one-size-fits-all marketing approach.

What Is An M&A Advisor?

As a small business owner looking to sell, you may have heard the terms “agent,” “business broker,” “M&A advisor,” and “investment banker.” And if you met someone with one of those job titles, you probably also heard them say that their job is to help people buy and sell companies. If you are like most small business owners, you hear these terms and assume they all mean the same thing. They do not, and picking the wrong advisor could cost valuable time, resources, and money in a less than efficient exit.

We have earned the business of countless small business owners who picked the wrong representative and spent a year or more trying unsuccessfully to sell their company. When we sign them up for our M&A services, they are amazed at everything they did not know and how they had previously wasted their time by hiring the wrong person.

Don’t pick the wrong person. Know what these terms mean

Even if your business isn't a fit for Final Ascent, we have partner companies and trusted industry advisors that we work with and can provide you with referrals to professionals who can help you.

business broker services vs m&a services

Business Brokers

If you have a thriving company that is worth less than $5 million, a business broker is the right choice. People often hear the term “business broker” and feel the same level of respect that they feel for used car salesmen, and in some respects, that is a well-deserved reputation. But there are many talented business brokers out there who can help mom and pop shops to find the right buyer and have a successful exit.

At Final Ascent, we work with businesses with an enterprise value higher than $5 million. Enterprise value is typically determined through industry multipliers of adjusted earnings of the business, plus any real property. Use a business valuation calculator to find out the worth of your business.

M&A Advisors

At Final Ascent - we have M&A Advisors

If you have a thriving company that is worth more than $5 million, M&A advisory services are the best choice. M&A advisors tend to have more experience and a better defined deal process than business brokers, which can be a really positive thing for business owners looking to be treated fairly and sell for maximum value.

M&A often involves complex and difficult to understand structuring that serves to maximize the value that a business owner takes away after selling their business. Where business brokers typically sell businesses in simple asset sales with SBA financing, M&A advisors use a network of financing connections, a wealth of experience in modeling and structuring the right deal, and savvy negotiating skills to match the level of experience that experienced buyers of transactions of this size will bring to the table.

If a business owner has a business worth more than $5 million, it would be a significant mistake to list “down market” with an agent or a business broker.

investment banking services vs m&a services

Investment Bankers

Investment bankers are very similar to M&A advisors, with a few key differences. First, they are required to register as broker dealers so they can handle the private placement of securities, including underwriting financial instruments, as well as registration of securities for companies that go public. Second, they tend to advise on the sale of businesses worth more than $75 million. Third, and finally, whereas M&A advisors tend to derive most of their fee through a contingency (only if the deal closes successfully), investment bankers tend to charge significant fixed fees to account for the restructuring and private placement requirements of the transactions they handle.

The type of business you have determines the type of advisor you need.

At Final Ascent, we focus on providing mid-market M&A advisory services. Although we have experience above and below, most clients we help sell their businesses in the range of $10 million to $150 million. By working with one of our trusted exit planning advisors, clients know that they have maximized the value they can achieve when trying to sell. Our M&A advisors then “take the company to market,” using a tried and true competitive bid process system. By working on fixed timelines and by driving numerous buyers into competition with each other, business owners can rest assured that they achieved maximum value in the sale.

What To Expect With Final Ascent's Valuation Services

We don't just claim to be different, we prove it by being honest, up front, and unbiased with the advice and solutions we offer to you.

Your Final Ascent deal team will help you to understand what your company is worth, what causes it to be worth that amount, and what it will take to make it worth more.

Real Valuations

They can do this because they have experience transacting hundred of M&A transactions amounting to billions of dollars of deal value.

Just like you wouldn’t want to be the first patient for an open-heart surgeon, you do not want your advisor to lack experience. Experienced M&A professionals understand the games that buyers play and anticipate the moves of the parties. There is no substitute for the value created in a career of advising business owners just like you.

Mergers & Acquisitions
Done Differently.

At Final Ascent, we are your trusted exit authority. We advise middle market business owners to create exit ready companies that attract buyers and sell for maximum value, creating wealth and a lasting legacy for generations.

Make The Most Important Decision
Initial Valuation & Assessment
Initial Valuation & Assessment

Learning about you, your goals, and your business to determine an initial valuation starting point.

Strategy Mapping
Strategy Mapping

Developing goals depending upon the state of your business, goals, and valuation.

Discovery & Planning
Discovery & Planning

Recasting financials, prepping initial memorandums, & analyzing risks.

Go To Market
Go To Market

We target qualified buyers & build competitive interest in your business.

Secure Buyer Conversations
Secure Buyer Conversations

We build interest in your business while maintaining 100% confidentiality.

Negotiating & Closing
Negotiating & Closing

We facilitate to get you the highest price possible & assist with closing.

Selling Your Business May Be the Biggest Decision of Your Life

You have devoted a lot of time to your business. It has been integral part of your life-to-date. You have now reached the point, where you want to get out and sell it. There are no family members, employees or other shareholder to whom you can transfer the business. Hence, you are considering selling your business to a third party buyer.

Trusted by hundreds of business owners

We've worked with hundreds of business owners to build value into their businesses, sell their businesses and ensure their legacy lasts through retirement and beyond.

David Kurtz

Owner & CPA, Kurtz & Company, P.C.

"I found the Final Ascent assessment to be extremely easy for me to take, and the information and feedback it gave me was worth many times more than the fifteen or so minutes I spent taking it. The feedback from our consultation meeting validated many things I thought I knew and opened my eyes to many things I had not thought about. I am already working on implementation of a couple of recommendations you made! I cannot thank you enough!"

Saudia Davis

CEO, Greenhouse Eco Cleaning

“It’s been great working with Final Ascent! I don’t know what I would have done without your team’s help and support in growing our business value by 2x in less than a year and preparing our business for sale!”

Doug Roberts

CEO & President, Solution Benefits, Inc. & WrenchBox

“Working with Final Ascent has been extremely valuable for our business. The team’s financial and business growth expertise has been incredibly helpful in helping us prepare to sell as well as the launch of a new business. They’ve also built us a roadmap to 10x our business, which has been invaluable in helping us achieve our growth goals and the value of our company. We look forward to working with Final Ascent on our next venture.”

Start off right with a valuation.

The first step to selling your business is understanding what it is worth today, to build more value for tomorrow.

Our online valuation tool is fast & free and you will receive a report that can show you:

- What your business may be worth now
- What your business could be worth in a year
- How we can get there together.