Looking to buy

Know what it's worth before you offer.

Name: The Business Valuers
Address: Bristol, South West England, GB
Price range: £495–£995

A buy-side valuation from The Business Valuers is an independent written valuation of the target business, fixed fee from £495 and delivered in 3 working days from receipt of the information we need. It gives you your own view of value, not the seller's asking price dressed up as fact, before you make an offer.

James Nelson

Founder & M&A Valuation Director, The Business Valuers

17 years in UK business brokerage and valuation. 1,000+ SME valuations completed. Former Head of Corporate Sales at Christie & Co.

Independent.We don't sell businesses. No success fee.

1,000+ UK business valuations
17 years of brokering & valuing experience
Fixed fee from £495 — no hourly billing
Report delivered in 3 working days

When you need this.

—You're in early conversations with a seller and want a defensible number before you make an offer.
—You're weighing a bolt-on or competitor acquisition and need a sense-check of the asking price.
—You're a search-fund or first-time buyer who needs an independent view to take to funders.
—You've had an offer accepted and want a valuation to underpin the price during diligence.

How we value it.

An asking price is almost always too high, whether it is a broker's price to win an instruction or a seller's emotion outweighing fact. We assess the target the same way we'd assess it for any owner: triangulating a normalised-EBITDA earnings multiple, a net asset valuation and a discounted cash flow cross-check, benchmarked against comparable deals in the sector.

Before heads of terms, a buyer should test the quality of the target's earnings, whether any add-backs the seller or broker has applied actually hold up, whether the asking price is supported by comparable transaction evidence rather than just asserted, and how dependent the business is on the current owner. Our report addresses each of these, so you can justify your offer internally, to a board or to a bank.

Illustrative example

Testing an asking price.

A buyer is offered a specialist distribution business with an asking price of £1.8m, based on the broker's add-back-heavy EBITDA of £450,000. Stripping out the add-backs we consider unsupported brings normalised EBITDA to £340,000. Applying a benchmarked multiple of 4x gives an enterprise value of £1.36m, roughly £440,000 below the asking price. The report sets out which add-backs were removed and why, giving the buyer a documented position to open negotiations from.

This is for you if…

—You're in early conversations with a seller and want a defensible number before you make an offer.
—You're weighing a bolt-on or competitor acquisition and need a sense-check of the asking price.
—You're a search-fund or first-time buyer who needs an independent view to take to funders.
—You've had an offer accepted and want a valuation to underpin the price during diligence.

What you'll need to provide.

—The target's statutory accounts for the last three years, where available.
—The most recent management accounts or information memorandum.
—The broker's asking price and any add-back schedule supplied.

If anything is missing, we will tell you what matters and what doesn't.

What we don't do.

—We are not tax advisers. We don't advise on how the acquisition is structured for tax purposes; that is for your accountant or tax adviser.
—We are not RICS-regulated. Where the target owns freehold property, we use an agreed property value, or value the business debt free, cash free, excluding the freehold.
—We act only for you as the buyer, never for the seller or their broker, and take no commission from either.

Beyond the valuation — full buyer support.

Buyer support package

If you decide to proceed with the acquisition, we can stay alongside you through to completion — bringing the same independent, buy-side judgement to every stage of the deal.

Engagement fee

£2,000

payable to commence

Completion fee

of the final purchase price (inclusive of the engagement fee)

What's included

—Negotiation of price and commercial terms
—Heads of Terms — drafting and review
—Due diligence support and findings review
—Project management of solicitors, accountants and lenders
—A single point of contact from offer through to completion

Fully buy-side. We act for you alone — never for the seller or their broker — and take no commission from either.

Frequently asked.

What is a buy-side valuation?

It is an independent written valuation of a business you are considering buying, prepared for you rather than the seller. It sets out what the target is actually worth, the method used and the evidence behind it, so you have your own figure before you make an offer rather than negotiating from the seller's asking price.

How much does a buy-side valuation cost?

Fixed fee from £495, agreed before any work starts. Complex or multi-entity targets are quoted individually.

How long does it take?

A written report in 3 working days from receipt of the information we need, usually the target's statutory accounts and recent management accounts.

Is this the same as due diligence?

No. The valuation gives you an independent figure to work from before heads of terms. Full due diligence, which checks the target's legal, financial and commercial position in detail, typically happens after heads of terms are agreed and is a separate exercise.

What should I test before heads of terms?

At minimum, the quality and sustainability of the target's earnings, any add-backs the seller or broker has applied, whether the asking price is backed by comparable transaction evidence, and whether the business depends heavily on the current owner. Our report addresses each of these.

Can I use the valuation to support funding?

Yes. We provide an independent, evidenced valuation that sets out our method and the information relied on, which lenders and investors typically want to see behind an acquisition. Acceptance of any individual funding application is a matter for the lender.

What don't you do?

We are not tax advisers, so the report does not cover the tax structuring of the acquisition, and we are not RICS-regulated, so where the target owns freehold property we use an agreed value or value the business debt free, cash free, excluding the freehold.

Know the number before you offer.

A fixed-fee valuation of the target, from £495.