Free owner’s playbook · PDF
Selling Your Company to Private Equity
An Owner’s Playbook, by Gabe Ramos
53 pages, in plain English: who buys companies like yours, what drives the price, what the terms in a letter of intent really mean, and how a sale runs from the first call to the closing wire.
- Published multiples by company size, with every figure sourced
- What lowers value, and a 12-month plan to fix it
- An illustrative case, from headline price to closing wire
Your playbook is ready.
53 pages, about 3 MB. Save it, print it, or share it with your partners and advisors.
While you’re here: estimate your company’s value in about two minutes, or take the readiness scorecard.
What’s inside
Nine chapters and five practical appendices. Read it in order if you are early in your thinking, or jump to deal terms if a buyer is already calling.
- Is it time to sell?Personal, company and market readiness, and why to start 12 to 24 months ahead.
- Who buys companies like yoursStrategic buyers, private equity platforms and add-ons, family offices, individuals and employees.
- What your company is worthEBITDA, add-backs and multiples, with published averages by company size.
- What lowers value, and how to fix itOwner dependence, customer concentration, one-time revenue, records, people and contracts.
- Deal terms in plain EnglishCash at closing, working capital, earnouts, rollover, seller notes, escrow and taxes.
- The sale process, step by stepTen stages from first conversation to closing, and where deals go wrong.
- A deal from start to finishAn illustrative case that follows one company from preparation to the closing wire.
- Building your teamThe attorney, CPA and planner you need, and how the people who reach buyers are paid.
- After the saleYour transition role, your people, your name, your earnout and your rollover stake.
Appendices: a master pre-sale checklist, an add-backs worksheet, the documents buyers ask for, a glossary, and links to Greymont’s 17 industry selling guides.
A look inside
About the author
Gabe Ramos, Managing Partner
Gabe Ramos is a serial founder and operator with businesses across services, construction supply and youth sports. As general manager of a regional site services company, he led its sale to a strategic acquirer, then ran the post-close integration and transition. At Greymont Advisors, he introduces founder- and family-owned companies to private equity and strategic buyers. More about Greymont
Questions owners ask
- Is it really free?
- Yes. There is no cost and no obligation. Greymont is paid by buyers, never by owners.
- Do I need to be selling soon?
- No. Much of the playbook is about the 12 to 24 months before a sale, when the work that raises value gets done. It is just as useful if you are years away.
- Is the case study a real company?
- No. Alder Creek Mechanical is a fictional company, and its numbers were invented to show how a typical sale works. The figures elsewhere in the playbook come from dated public sources, listed at the back.
- Does it cover my industry?
- It is written for owners of founder- and family-owned companies, especially service businesses. For industry details, such as who is buying and what they look for, read the selling guide for your industry.
- What happens to my details?
- They go only to Greymont. We may follow up once, personally, and we never share your details or list your business. See our Privacy Policy.