faq
Frequently Asked Questions
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About RWT
A large investment bank is built for a different transaction. In the $7.5M to $200M range, a deal that would be a rounding error for a large investment bank, is a priority file at RWT…run by the senior people who pitched it, from first conversation through close, rather than staffed down to analysts while the firm's attention goes elsewhere. Buyer access at this size is a research and relationship problem, not a distribution one: the right acquirer is usually a specific PE platform building in the vertical or a regional strategic with the rationale to move, and finding them takes curation, not simply a rolodex or big firm name. Our fee structure is built around getting to the finish line, so the firm's outcome and our client's move together. Mid-market deals are won on senior attention, buyer precision, and the ability to close…which is exactly where a firm like RWT is designed to compete.
We work primarily with mid-market businesses - generally those valued between $7.5 million and $200 million. Our clients span a range of industries, with depth in energy, industrials, infrastructure, manufacturing and business services, though we regularly advise owners outside those sectors as well. What matters more than the industry is the fit: established, well-run businesses with a real story and real value to unlock through the process.
Buyers do not get your company name or identifying details until they have signed a confidentiality agreement, and even then we don't release company or individual employee names until far along in the process. We screen every potential buyer before they see anything at all. Most owners we work with get through the entire process without any employees or customers finding out…unless they choose to tell them, which can make sense in certain situations.
Timing and Preparation
Honestly, the best time to sell is when your business is worth selling, and that is not always something you can plan around perfectly. That said, you are in the strongest position when the business is performing well, growth is visible, and the broader market backs that up.
Plan on somewhere between six months and a year from the day we start working together to the day you close. Where you land in that range depends on how ready your business is on day one, how many strong buyers we can bring to the table, and how quickly diligence moves once a buyer is engaged.
Buyers and Valuation
We look at your earnings, how comparable companies have sold, and what similar deals have actually closed for and our experience selling many companies in the mid-market… but none of that is the final word. The real number comes from what qualified buyers are willing to pay once they are competing for the opportunity. Our job is to build a case for your business that holds up under that kind of pressure and position your company to receive the highest offers possible. Ultimately, only the market can tell you what your business is worth as a business is only worth what it's worth to a buyer…our role is to put you in front of the best and most strategic buyers.
One conversation with one buyer is not a market test, it is a starting offer. You have no way to know if it is fair without other buyers to compare it against, and that buyer knows it too, which is exactly why negotiations with a single party tend to stall or be not the best offer you will receive for your business. We have stepped into situations like this after the fact and walked away with a materially better price and better terms than what was originally on the table for our clients.
Deal Structure and Proceeds
Rarely all of it, and any advisor who tells you otherwise is setting you up for a difficult conversation later. Most mid-market transactions close with the majority of the price paid in cash on the closing day, and the balance structured across some combination of an escrow or holdback held for a period after close, an earnout tied to future performance, a vendor take-back note, or equity rolled into the buyer's business. Which of those appear, and how much sits in each, is one of the most negotiable parts of any deal and one of the places where the difference between a good advisor and no advisor shows up most clearly in your bank account. We model your actual cash position at close, at twelve months and at the end of the earnout period, so you are comparing offers on what you will really receive rather than on the headline number.
Buyers and Process
A strategic buyer is another company, often in your industry or adjacent to it, buying for synergies: your customers, your capabilities, your geography, your people. They can sometimes pay more because the business is worth more inside their platform than it is standing alone. They also tend to integrate, which affects your team, your name and your operations after close.
A private equity buyer is buying the business as an investment and generally wants it to keep running as its own entity with strong management in place. They frequently want the owner or the management team to roll equity and stay engaged, and they are focused on growth over a defined hold period before selling again.
Neither is better in the abstract. The right answer depends on what you want for your people, whether you want to stay involved, and how you feel about a second transaction down the road.