How to Sell a Business

At Redcliffe, our business selling training is conducted by a seasoned expert with more than 30 years of experience in corporate finance and capital markets. Having held key client-side positions and led advisory teams, our trainer offers in-depth insights drawn from decades of hands-on experience.

At the Department of Energy, he was a civil servant involved in the privatisation of British Gas, a global IPO involving a large advisory team. He also worked in the Hungarian Government for two years (1990-92) with the privatisation agency collaborating with numerous advisory firms, as the changing political environment triggered massive ownership change.

Our expert has held prominent roles at leading investment banks, including Swiss Bank Corporation International (now UBS) and Lazard. He also co-founded a successful M&A advisory boutique. He retired in 2021, after a distinguished 13-year tenure in KPMG's global M&A business, based in Scotland.

Drawing on extensive experience in business sales and a wide range of M&A and equity transactions across North and Central America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and more recently, Africa, his courses—including business selling training—are enhanced with real-world case studies from transactions he's personally led, seamlessly combining practical insights with key theoretical concepts.

How to sell a business covers the important objectives you’ll face:

• This course is appropriate for business owners/sellers and their legal and financial advisers.
• Enable practitioners with less experience to accelerate their learning around the sale of a business, through discussion of tradecraft, alternatives, case studies and best practices.
• Give an understanding of why businesses are sold, and also why they are bought.
• Help sellers understand the options open to them in planning a process and the choices at each stage.
• Draw out key value points and other commercial terms where wins and losses may ensue.
• Business selling training empowers participants with the confidence to anticipate and navigate the complexities of the process.

• At Redcliffe Training, sessions include an immediate, concise and complete overview of every aspect involved in selling a business.
• Insight - Show the sale process through the eyes of sellers – and buyers.
• Appreciate the many different ways in which businesses can be sold – and the choices that sellers have to make, i.e. what is the best way to sell a business?
• Sets out the business principles underlying the marketing of a business, its value and how processes are staged.
• Clear explanation of the timeline, including how value evolves and is finally agreed, i.e. how do you price a business to sell?
• Gives the roles and perspectives of all parties – buyer, seller, management and the various advisers involved.
• Understand the link between commercial discussions and legal agreements.
• Redcliffe’s course on how to sell a business is delivered by an expert with over 25 years of experience in negotiating and closing M&A transactions.

How to sell a business is a ‘must know’ for anyone involved, or expecting to be, in the sale of a business, including:

• Business owners considering a sale, especially owner-managers who may wish to have a better understanding of what a sale involves and the alternatives to a sale
• Family business advisers
• M&A professionals in investment banks, boutique advisory businesses, and the corporate finance arms of accountancy firms
• Corporate business development teams, for example in large, diverse PLCs where disposals of parts of the business may be on the agenda
• Venture capitalists wishing to understand the options for their growth investments
• Private equity professionals

And a ‘nice to know’ for:

• Legal and other advisers involved in the M&A process, seeking a better understanding of the business sales process and how the M&A processes principles and their financial advisers initiate deals, structure sale processes and negotiate terms.

Business selling training is an engaging online session tailored for those with prior experience in the acquisition process, aiming to refine their understanding of the critical elements that contribute to successful deals.

At Redcliffe Training, our course on how to sell a business covers every key aspect of the process. From understanding the motivations of potential sellers to navigating final pricing and legal agreements, we provide comprehensive guidance every step of the way.

A key element is explaining the importance of thoroughly preparing a business sale and the benefits this brings, through a focused sales effort aimed at maximising value.

The principal steps in the sale process, and the key documents at each stage, are clearly explained in the course. An important section focuses on the value of understanding potential buyers, and how best to drive their interest: selling a business calls for a thoughtful, bespoke negotiating strategy; even if you want to learn how to sell a small business.

This business selling training offers a comprehensive foundation for anyone looking to sell a business or collaborate with sellers.