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How It Works · The Process & The Service

Independent guidance.
The right advisor for your transaction.

What the engagement looks like from first conversation through to formal introduction, and why the advisor you choose has more influence over your outcome than almost any other decision you'll make.

In brief

M&A Concierge works in three steps: a paid 90–120 minute advisory call, a recommendation of the advisors best matched to your transaction, and a formal introduction with ongoing support through to engagement. The advisory call is designed to equip you to engage an advisor intelligently: how a sale process works, how advisors are paid and what their fee structures mean, what to look for in a pitch meeting, and where you stand today relative to what the process demands. Most Australian business owners don't know that only one in three businesses that go to market actually transact — and that among the variables within your control, advisor selection has the greatest influence on whether that outcome changes.

What Most Owners Don't Know

The question isn't
what your business
is worth. It's whether
it sells at all.

Most business owners spend years building something valuable, and when they decide to sell, their focus lands on valuation. What's my business worth? What multiple will I get? That's a reasonable question, but it's the second question. The first question is more confronting.

Approximately one in three businesses that go to market in Australia successfully transact. Two in three do not. They either fail to find a buyer, fail to agree on terms, or run a bad process that stalls and is abandoned by the potential buyers. The owners involved rarely understand why it happened. They had a real business. They had a number in their head. They had an advisor.

They had the wrong advisor.

1 in 3

Businesses that go to market in Australia successfully transact. The other two walk away without a deal.

60–70%

Close rate achieved by quality M&A firms with the right industry knowledge, relationships, and results running a quality process.

2×

The approximate improvement in deal probability when the right advisor is matched to the right transaction, compared to the market average.

The Probability Problem

Not all M&A advisors are created equal, and the differences are rarely visible from the outside. A firm's ability to close a transaction, and the outcome it achieves, depends on whether it understands your industry well enough to design the right strategy from the start: how to prepare and position your business, which buyer types are most likely to see strategic value in it, and critically, which specific buyers are active in your sector right now, what they are looking for, and how to approach them.

A generalist firm will run a process, produce documentation, and make calls. But without deep sector knowledge and active buyer relationships, the strategy is generic, the positioning is flat, and the buyers most likely to pay a strategic premium may never be identified, let alone reached. The difference between a financial offer and a strategic premium is not luck. It is preparation, positioning, and the relationships to open the right doors.

"The advisors who close deals at the $2M–$25M EBITDA level are not always the most visible. They are the specialists. We know who they are."

The Price Problem

Valuation does not equal price. The valuation that an accountant calculates does not translate to an advisor going out to the market and finding it. The price ultimately achieved is shaped by preparation, positioning, which buyers are approached, and whether those buyers perceive strategic value or purely financial return.

The same business, run through two different sale processes with different advisors, can produce materially different outcomes. Strategic buyers, acquirers who see your business as a platform, a capability acquisition, a bolt-on, or a market entry, routinely pay premiums that financial buyers do not. Getting those buyers to the table requires an advisor with the right relationships and the credibility to make a compelling case.

"Valuation tells you what your business is worth on paper. The right advisor determines what a buyer will actually pay."
The Process

Three steps. One
engagement. Someone
in your corner.

This is a high-touch relationship, not a matching algorithm. It begins with a direct conversation and ends when you are ready to engage the advisor we've introduced. Everything in between is included.

01

The Advisory Call

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A paid, confidential 90–120 minute conversation.

This is not a sales call. It is a structured session with two purposes: to give you the foundation to understand and navigate the process ahead, and to gather the information needed to identify the right advisor for your specific transaction. The call covers five areas.

·How a sale process actually works. Most owners have never run one. We walk through what a structured M&A process looks like: the stages, the documentation, the timeline, and what to expect from the experience. No assumptions about what you already know.
·Advisor fee structures. Success fees, retainers, lehman-scale variations, and what is reasonable at your deal size, so that when we discuss our recommendation, you understand the structure and what it means for how your process will be run.
·Advisor types and process approaches. The difference between a broker and an M&A advisor, between a boutique specialist and a larger firm, and what each means for how your process will run. Not so you have to choose, but so you understand what we are recommending and why.
·Your objectives, timeline, and personal priorities. What you are trying to achieve, when, and under what conditions. This shapes everything: the preparation required, the process design, the buyer universe, the deal structure most likely to get you there, and most importantly, which advisor is best suited to execute it.
·How your business will be assessed. Not just by a buyer, but by the advisors too. An M&A advisor evaluates a mandate before they take it. They consider whether the business is ready, how hard it will be to sell, what fee structure they will accept, and how long it will take to get to market. Those assessments are shaped by the same things a buyer will scrutinise in due diligence. The clearer the picture of where your business stands today, the better matched the recommendation will be.

You leave this call knowing what you didn't know before. That changes every conversation that follows.

02

The Matched Recommendation

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Based on the advisory call, we identify the advisors whose specific track record, sector relationships, deal size experience, and process approach align with what your transaction requires.

This is a considered recommendation drawn from Australia's most comprehensive M&A advisor database, with AI analytics cross-referencing your profile against advisor history across 100+ industries.

Five dimensions of advisor quality are central to how we match.

·Sector-specific track record. Closed transactions in your industry or sector. An advisor who has sold businesses like yours knows who the buyers are, what they pay, and what they scrutinise in due diligence. That knowledge is not transferable from a different sector.
·Buyer network depth. The right strategic buyers, those who see your business as a platform, a market entry, or a capability acquisition rather than a financial return, will only pay a premium if they are in the room. Getting them there requires an advisor who knows who is active in the market and the relationships to open doors.
·Process design around your objectives. A good advisor does not run a generic sale process. They design the process around what the shareholder is trying to achieve. Timing, price maximisation, confidentiality, the future of staff, a clean exit or ongoing involvement: each shapes how the process should be structured and run.
·Process discipline and industry foresight. Deals stall for reasons that experienced sector advisors have seen before: business model nuances, regulatory sensitivities, customer contract structures, key person dependencies, earn-out disputes that are predictable in certain industries. An advisor without sector depth gets surprised. An experienced one anticipates, prepares, and manages. That can be the difference between a deal that closes and one that doesn't.
·Deal size alignment and mandate capacity. Advisors who work primarily above or below your EBITDA range will not give your transaction the attention or the network it deserves. We also consider current mandate load: a quality firm that is overcommitted is the wrong choice regardless of track record.

A considered recommendation. Never a directory. Never influenced by fee size.

03

The Formal Introduction & Ongoing Support

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We make a warm, formal introduction, a video call or in person with the recommended advisor or advisors.

This is a genuine introduction between two parties who have been briefed on each other, not a cold referral. We stay available through the back-and-forth that follows.

·Formal introduction arranged: video call or in person, briefed on both sides before the conversation.
·Post-introduction support: available for questions, second opinions, and guidance as you evaluate the advisors and decide.
·No pressure to proceed: if the advisory call reveals that now is not the right time to go to market, that is a legitimate outcome. We would rather tell you that than refer you prematurely.

Our fee is paid by the advisor you engage, a uniform referral fee. Our only interest is in the quality of the match.

The Matching Engine

Australia's most
comprehensive M&A
advisor database.

Most advisor recommendations are based on relationships and instinct. Ours are based on both: deep market relationships cross-referenced against structured data on advisor performance, sector focus, deal size history, and buyer network composition.

Our database covers the Australian mid-market M&A advisory landscape across 100+ industry sectors, not the largest firms by revenue, but the specialists by transaction. It is continuously updated and analysed, so recommendations reflect current performance, not historical reputation.

Completed transaction records: closed deals, not mandates or engagements.

Sector coverage mapping: which advisors are genuinely active in which industries.

Deal size distribution: where each firm's experience actually sits.

Buyer network analysis: the types of acquirers each advisor regularly transacts with.

100+ Industry sectors covered

Every sector recommendation is matched to advisors with verified activity in your specific industry, not adjacent ones.

$2M–$25M EBITDA Specialist range

The mid-market segment where advisor selection has the greatest influence on outcome, and advisor firms are fragmented in their hundreds.

Typically 1–3 Firms recommended per engagement

A Google search, an LLM, or a directory gives you some options. A recommendation gives you the right answer.

Begin the Engagement

The advisory call
is where it starts.

Everything flows from the first conversation. Book a confidential advisory call, 90 to 120 minutes, and leave equipped to engage an advisor intelligently, with a recommendation of the firms best suited to your transaction.

How a sale process actually works: the stages, the documentation, the timeline, and what to expect from the experience.

Advisor fee structures: success fees, retainers, lehman-scale variations, and what is reasonable at your deal size.

Advisor types and process approaches: the difference between a broker and an M&A advisor, between a boutique specialist and a larger firm, and what each means for how your process will run.

Your objectives, timeline, and personal priorities, and how those shape the preparation, process design, deal structure, and the advisor who will execute it.

How your business will be assessed, not just by a buyer, but by the advisors too, and what that means for your recommendation.

Start the Conversation
Book Your Advisory Call
Paid advisory call · 90–120 minutes · Confidential
—How a sale process actually works
—Advisor fee structures explained
—Advisor types and process approaches
—Your objectives, timeline, and priorities
—How your business will be assessed
—Advisor recommendation and formal introduction arranged
Book Your Advisory Call →

$490 + GST · No ongoing retainer required

A note on our model

"We are paid by the advisor you ultimately engage, a uniform referral fee. Our only interest is in the quality of the match."

After You Book

What happens next.

01

Confirmation & Brief

You will receive a booking confirmation with a short pre-call brief, a few questions to help us understand your situation before we speak. No lengthy forms. Five minutes at most.

02

The Advisory Call

90–120 minutes. We cover the process, the fee structures, the selection criteria, your situation, and your objectives. You leave knowing what you didn't know before. A recommendation follows.

03

The Recommendation

Based on the call, we identify the advisors best matched to your transaction and your objectives. Within a few days you receive the recommendation with our rationale for each.

04

The Introduction & Beyond

A warm formal introduction by video call or in person. We remain available through the back-and-forth that follows until you have chosen your advisor and are ready to begin.

Common Questions

Frequently asked
questions.

The reasons vary by transaction, but the most common factors are: an advisor without active buyer relationships in the relevant sector; a process that fails to create genuine competitive tension among multiple interested parties; a business that wasn't adequately prepared for the scrutiny of due diligence; and pricing expectations that were set without a realistic view of what comparable businesses were actually achieving. Most of these failures trace back to advisor selection: either the wrong type of firm for the transaction, or a firm that won the mandate but couldn't close the deal.
A Google search or LLM surfaces the most visible firms — the ones with the largest marketing budgets, the most prominent websites, and the most content written about them. The advisors who consistently close transactions at the $2M–$25M EBITDA level are often not the most prominent. They are specialists with deep sector relationships and strong deal track records who rely on referrals rather than search rankings or online presence. Our database tracks completed transactions, not website traffic or content volume. The recommendation you receive is based on what advisors have actually done.
The fee is $490 + GST. The advisory call has standalone value regardless of whether you proceed to an engagement. It is designed to equip you to engage an advisor intelligently: how a sale process works, how advisors are paid and what their fee structures mean, what to look for in a pitch meeting, and where you stand today relative to what the process demands. Most business owners make the most consequential financial decision of their life without this foundation. Many find that a single conversation changes how they think about their business: what to address, what to build, and whether the timing is right at all. There is no obligation to proceed and no ongoing retainer.
We are paid by the M&A advisor you ultimately engage: a uniform referral fee that is the same regardless of the size of the transaction. This structure was designed specifically to remove the financial incentive that creates conflict in most referral relationships. We have no reason to recommend a larger firm over a smaller one, a well-known firm over a specialist, or any advisor over another. Because most advisors are largely paid on success, and our referral rate follows the same principle, our interests are aligned with yours: the right match, properly executed, gives all three parties the best outcome. The only metric that matters to us is whether the match was right.
That is a legitimate and relatively common outcome, and we would far rather tell you that than refer you to an advisor prematurely. A business that goes to market before it is ready risks a failed process, a depressed valuation, and the disruption of a transaction that doesn't close. If the advisory call identifies preparation steps that would materially improve your outcome — earnings quality improvements, management structure changes, customer concentration issues to address — that is valuable information. Owners can come back six to twelve months later, better prepared and better positioned.

One conversation changes
what you know.

Most business owners make the most significant financial decision of their life with less information than they deserve. The advisory call exists to change that.

Start the Conversation →

Confidential · Paid advisory engagement · No ongoing obligation