MA
M&A
Whether you have been approached, or you are the one approaching. Followed to the last signature.
Most advisors hand over a valuation and disappear before the hard part. We stay on the mandate until it closes, or until we tell you to walk away.
We work sell-side and buy-side in mobility: manufacturers, suppliers, dealer groups, aftermarket and the funds that back them. And outside mobility, where the method carries: an industrial company is bought and sold the same way, and the part that changes, the market underneath the plan, is the part we rebuild from sources rather than accept. One team, on your side of the table, for the whole process.
What we work on
Buy-side
Thesis, long list, approach, valuation, diligence and negotiation. We run the process so your management team can keep running the business.
Sell-side
Preparing a company to be bought: the equity story, the numbers that will be challenged, and the ones that need fixing before anybody sees them.
Commercial due diligence
For funds and corporates: what the market actually supports, what the plan assumes, and the distance between the two. We read this market every day, not only when a deal opens: the newsletter is the public part of that work. The same research also runs on its own, commissioned on a single question, with no transaction behind it.
Post-merger
The first hundred days, where most of the value that was paid for is either captured or quietly lost.
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The process, end to end
For each deal we convene the specialists it needs (strategy, execution, operations) and set the phases with you. Each one ends with a decision: continue, or stop. On an acquisition it usually takes this shape.
- 01
Thesis
Why this deal, why now, and what it has to be worth to be worth doing. Written down before anything else, because it is the thing the rest of the process tests.
- 02
Origination
Long list, screening, and the first approach. Discreet, and made by someone who knows the sector well enough to be taken seriously.
- 03
Valuation
A range with the reasoning attached: what you would pay, what you would walk away from, and which assumption moves the number most.
- 04
Letter of intent
Price, structure, exclusivity and the conditions that matter. Written to protect the position you will need in month four, not just to get to month two.
- 05
Due diligence
Commercial and operational led by us, coordinated with your financial and legal advisors. We report what breaks the thesis, including when the thesis was ours.
- 06
Negotiation
Price adjustment, warranties, earn-out and the closing conditions. This is where diligence findings turn into money, or fail to.
- 07
Signing and closing
Conditions precedent tracked to completion, with the timetable and the responsible name against every one.
- 08
First hundred days
The integration plan the deal was priced on, turned into owners, dates and a monthly review that survives the excitement wearing off.
When people call us
- An owner has been approached and does not know whether the number is good.
- A buy-side pipeline keeps producing targets that do not survive diligence.
- A deal is signed and the integration plan is still a slide.
What you get
- 01A written thesis, and a gate decision at the end of every phase
- 02The valuation model, with the walk-away number in it
- 03A diligence report that says what is wrong, not what is reassuring
- 04One point of contact from first call to closing
Questions owners ask before the first call
- How much is a car dealership worth?
Dealer EBITDA multiples are running at around 3-4x (Mordor Intelligence), but the multiple is applied to accounts the buyer has rebuilt, not to yours. Four lines move the result most: owner and family pay, a market rent on the property, stock and floor plan cost, and the used-car margin net of write-downs. The property is a separate transaction with a separate price.
The first number is an anchor, not a valuation- I have received an unsolicited offer for my dealership. What should I do before answering?
Read the first number as an anchor, not a valuation: in a transaction it is usually the highest you will see. Before answering, rebuild your own accounts the way the buyer has rebuilt them, find out discreetly whether there is a second credible buyer, and work out what keeping the business is worth to you. That reserve price can be known before you say yes or no.
The first number is an anchor, not a valuation- Who buys car dealerships in Europe?
Mostly groups already in the market. In 2024, 49 transactions moved 1,039 franchise points in Europe (ICDP, reported by Motor Trader), and 92% of the buyers were already active there, on our arithmetic from ICDP's published share. The largest groups, Emil Frey, Penske and Hedin, together hold under a quarter of the European market, which leaves room for buy-and-build.
The car industry changes hands one small deal at a time- Should the property be part of the sale?
It is a decision to make before any figure, because a sale with the property and a sale without it are two different transactions with two different prices. When Asbury Automotive bought the Herb Chambers dealerships in 2025, about $610 million of a $1.45 billion net price went to real estate, according to Asbury's annual filing. An owner who keeps the property and leases it back turns an exit into liquidity plus recurring income.
The car industry changes hands one small deal at a time- What does exclusivity in a letter of intent cost the seller?
Exclusivity is often the first thing a seller signs and the one that shifts the balance most, because due diligence findings and price reductions arrive after it, when there is no alternative buyer left. It should be written, not refused: how long it lasts, what ends it (for example a price cut beyond a set threshold), and what the buyer must deliver by when.
The first number is an anchor, not a valuation
Reading on this practice
- 10 min read
Your earn-out settles on the manufacturer's numbers
Part of the price is paid later, on a profit the manufacturer moves with targets, bonuses and allocation. Define it first, or do not take it.
- 10 min read
The first number is an anchor, not a valuation
Whoever approached you has already rebuilt your accounts and has a number. The weeks before you answer weigh more than the negotiation after.
- 10 min read
The car industry changes hands one small deal at a time
Global deal value is a handful of megadeals. In Europe 49 deals moved 1,039 franchise points in a year, and 92% of the buyers were already at home.
Start a conversation
Tell us what you have to decide
The useful first email is short and specific. A deadline helps more than a brief. Write before you are ready: the later we arrive, the fewer terms are still yours to set.
We reply to every email, as quickly as we can.
- 01The decision in front of you, in one sentence
- 02The date it has to be made by
- 03What you have already looked at