Know what it's actually worth before you make the offer.
Send us the listing. Within two business days you get a written read on what comparable businesses in that industry have really sold for, whether the seller's add-backs will survive a lender, and the price the deal supports. Due diligence on the numbers, before you spend on the rest of it.
Most buyers get this read from the seller's broker, whose job is the seller's price. Or from a rule of thumb, which the listing was priced against in the first place. This is the third option: an advisor who works the buy side, using the same transaction databases the appraisers and lenders use, looking only at your deal.
What you get back
The real range
Where businesses of this profile in this industry have actually transacted — not a rule of thumb, and not the broker's number. Our opinion of the market range, and where the asking price sits inside it.
Add-backs that hold
Sellers find every add-back. Underwriters reject the weak ones. We recompute SDE the way a lender's credit team will, and tell you which adjustments to expect to lose.
The structure
What mix of SBA loan, equity and seller note the earnings support, and what to ask the seller for. Coverage at the asking price and at the price we think is defensible.
Your walk-away number
The maximum price that still covers your salary and the debt with room to spare. That number is the anchor for every conversation after this one.
What we'd verify next
The three to five things in this specific deal that most need confirming in diligence — concentration, a lease, a licence, a customer contract — so you spend your diligence budget where the risk is.
Something to hand your lender
A written report in a form a lender can read. It shortens their underwriting and it signals you are a buyer who has done the work.
How it compares
| Free calculator | Workbook, $79 | Deal analysis | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiples used | Rules of thumb | Rules of thumb, 20 industries | Licensed comparable transactions, target's specific industry |
| Add-backs | Taken from the listing | You normalise them yourself | Reviewed by an advisor as a lender would |
| Structure | One scenario | Three seller-note scenarios | Recommended structure for this deal |
| Output | Screen | Model you own | Written report + call |
| Best for | Screening ten listings | Working three seriously | The one you're about to offer on |
Use them in that order. Screen with the calculator, work the shortlist in the workbook, and bring the finalist here.
How it works
Send the listing
The form below. The offering memorandum or listing, the asking price, and any financials you have. If all you have is the listing, that is enough to start.
We run it
Comparable transactions for the target's NAICS code, add-back review, structure, and the price the numbers support. An advisor does this, not a template.
Written report in two business days
Delivered by email, in a form you can forward to your lender or your attorney.
Twenty minutes to walk through it
The call is for the questions the report raises — what to push back on, what to verify, what to walk away from.
Request a deal analysis
Payment is taken after we confirm the listing is one we can analyse — some listings have too little information to be worth your money, and we will tell you.
Questions buyers ask
What is a deal analysis?
A written review of one specific listing before you make an offer: the comparable transaction range for its industry, whether the add-backs hold up, the financing structure the numbers support, and the maximum price the deal covers. Due diligence on the numbers, delivered in two business days.
How is this different from the free calculator or the workbook?
Those use rules-of-thumb ranges and your inputs. This is prepared by an advisor using licensed comparable transaction data for the target's specific industry, and includes a professional read on the add-backs instead of taking the listing at face value.
Is this a formal valuation or appraisal?
No. It is an advisor's opinion of the market range and structure, meant to inform an offer and a lender conversation. If your SBA lender requires a formal appraisal, they will order one from a certified appraiser — and this report will make that conversation shorter.
What do you need from me?
The listing or offering memorandum, the last two to three years of financials if you have them, the asking price, and how you plan to finance it. The listing alone is enough to start.
What if the deal is bad?
Then the report says so, and you have spent a fraction of what diligence on a bad deal costs. Roughly a third of the listings we review are priced above what the earnings support. That is not a failure of the analysis; it is the point of it.
Who does this?
XP M&A Advisory. We work with acquirers on the buy side and hold licensed access to the transaction databases lenders and appraisers rely on. No individual names on the page, on purpose — the process is the same whoever runs it.