You sellyour companyonly once.

That is exactly where we start. Before we run any process, we clarify three things with you: what the realistic valuation is — not the hope-price, but the number that holds in the data room; which levers would unlock 20–40 % of additional enterprise value over 12–18 months; and which market cycle your sector is in right now. Only then do we talk about whether and when. That diagnosis is free and non-binding.

Three things. First, our advisors have run, bought, sold and carved out companies themselves — we do not come from Excel, we come from the company. Second, we combine transaction and strategy under one mandate. You lose no time at the interface between an investment bank and a strategy consultancy. Third, we only take on mandates we are convinced will close — and that are not delegated.

Discretion is not a marketing claim with us, it is process architecture. No teaser without NDA. No data room without multi-stage clearance. No buyer outreach without your personal "no-go" list. On sensitive mandates we work with project code names and a closed buyer group of 8 to 15 selected parties — never broad auctions.

You can do it yourself — and you will lose between 15 % and 35 % of value, because buyers price in every unresolved IT, HR, contract or supplier interface as risk. A clean carve-out differs from a self-made one in that the separation is solved before the data room opens. We did exactly that for Topac (Bertelsmann) and placed the asset at materially better terms.

Both, depending on the mandate. Sell-side and carve-out mandates run on a moderate retainer plus a market-standard success fee at closing — without creative "minimum fees" that fall due regardless of outcome. Strategy and buy-side mandates typically run on a fixed price per phase. What we never do: open-ended hourly billing without a cap.

That is not a coincidence. It is the pitch phase — advisors compete on valuation to win the mandate. Six months later, when the buyer is in the data room, the correction comes. We give you the number on day one that we can defend in negotiation — even if it is below what you wanted to hear.

Yes — and that is where the value of two-sided experience becomes most obvious. We know the tricks seller advisors use, because we have used them. We know where in the info memo the truth differs from the marketing. Example: voestalpine — strategic acquisitions in the German mid-market, from the first long-list candidate to the signed SPA.

Realistically 8 to 12 months for a mid-market company without complications. Carve-outs run 12 to 18 months because the separation runs in parallel. Cross-border transactions add 2 to 3 months. Anyone who promises you "6 months to closing" has either never sat through a real due diligence — or has a buyer who is paying to lock out competitors. Both are rare and usually to your disadvantage.

Most owners ask this only at the third meeting — and it is the most important question. In every sell-side mandate we negotiate employee protection into the SPA: employment guarantees, site commitments, earn-out structures linked to retention. Money is negotiable — but if you have sold your team, you cannot buy them back.

With a confidential 60-minute conversation — by phone or in person. No mandate, no pitch, no contract. We listen, we ask the five questions we ask at the start of every mandate, and you decide afterwards whether to go further. If not — you spent two valuable hours with someone who told you honestly what you need to know.