Letter of Intent in M&A: What Founders Need to Know about LOI
The Letter of Intent represents the first formal milestone in most middle-market M&A transactions. For founders navigating their first exit, the LOI often arrives as a moment of validation: a buyer has committed resources to draft terms and signal serious acquisition interest. Yet this document, typically 8 to 15 pages long, carries both symbolic weight […]
Why Your CPA Shouldn’t Be Your M&A Advisor: Understanding the Critical Difference
Business owners spend years building relationships with their certified public accountants. The CPA who filed your first S-corp election, navigated your cost segregation study, and kept you compliant through three IRS audits has earned your trust. When you decide to sell your business (the largest financial transaction of your life), turning to this trusted advisor […]
What Is a CIM? Confidential Information Memorandum Guide
A Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) serves as the primary marketing document in private company M&A transactions. Investment banks, M&A advisors, and corporate development teams prepare CIMs to present a business opportunity to qualified buyers while controlling information disclosure during the sale process. The CIM functions as both a marketing tool and a disclosure document. It […]
Net Working Capital in M&A: The Peg Nobody Explains
Net working capital adjustments destroy more M&A deals at closing than any other single mechanism. Buyers and sellers spend months negotiating enterprise value, only to find themselves in acrimonious post-closing disputes over $2 million working capital shortfalls. The problem is not mathematical complexity. The problem is that net working capital in M&A transactions operates under […]
Sell-Side Due Diligence
Home / Resources / Sell-Side Due Diligence SELL-SIDE M&A ADVISORY Sell-Side Due Diligence: How Proactive Preparation Protects Valuation and Accelerates Closing Every issue a buyer discovers during their diligence review becomes a negotiating lever, a reason to reduce price, widen indemnification, or restructure terms. Sell-side due diligence identifies those issues first, on the seller’s timeline, […]
AI M&A Advisory Firms: Transforming Mergers & Acquisitions
M&A Advisors for AI Software Companies, 2026 Leading M&A Advisors for AI Software Companies AI M&A prices on defensibility, not the AI label. Companies with proprietary models, unique training data, or workflow lock-in command 12x to 20x revenue and higher, because they cannot be replicated by pointing compute at an open-source model. AI built on […]
Capital Gains Tax When Selling a Business Canada: Essential Guide for Entrepreneurs in 2025
By Jeff Barrington, Managing Director · Windsor Drake Selling a business in Canada can trigger significant tax implications, particularly regarding capital gains tax. When entrepreneurs sell their business assets or shares, they typically face taxation on the difference between the selling price and the original cost. In Canada, individuals and small business owners generally pay […]