Buy Side Advisory

Looking to Buy A Business?

Professional, Targeted, Buy-Side Acquisition support from our headquarters in Toronto, Ontario across Canada and the United States.

Need Help Buying a Business?

At Beacon Advisors, we have extensive experience in helping buyers find a suitable business to purchase. If you are interested in buying a business in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the United States, our buy-side advisory team can help.
Our focus is on identifying the opportunities that fit our clients’ investment criteria. We contact candidates professionally & confidentially. Our far-reaching network, proprietary databases, and strong relationships allow us to find targets quickly, accurately, and efficiently. With advanced CRM software and established digital infrastructure, you can rest assured that our search is entirely confidential.

We help business buyers through every step of purchasing a business — identifying the right company, obtaining the most beneficial negotiation terms, and completing the transaction.

How Can Beacon Help with Buying a Business?

Looking for businesses that match specific criteria? Have a business in mind but need assistance beginning the conversation? Our buy-side advisory team offers investors and companies a level of expertise that is often exclusive to large corporations. Beacon Mergers and Acquisitions helps clients complete targeted searches and purchase a company quickly while doing all the heavy lifting.

Define, Research, and Contact Prospective Acquisition Targets

Beacon Advisors’ databases, global networks, and decades of experience in buy-side advisory allow us to source hundreds of potential targets for any specific acquisition criteria. Whether it be by revenue, geography, client base, or industry, we can quickly and efficiently identify the best fit. After identification, our transaction advisory team will liaise with targets on your behalf, filtering only the best candidates prior to discussions.

Valuation of Potential Targets

After finding the right match, Beacon Advisors can help by preparing an accurate valuation and report in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators standards. We valuate potential businesses for sale using a variety of methods and databases, helping you buy a business for the right price. We analyze all potential risks and benefits of each target, and keep you informed the entirety of the time, ensuring the absolute best decisions.

Due Diligence Support When Buying or Selling a Business

Due diligence can often become complicated and time-consuming for buyers, slowing down the acquisition process. We assist in all due diligence while buying a business, including review of financials, company operations, management, and more. Beacon’s buy-side advisory team provides continuous due diligence assistance in a timely and organized manner so that not a second is wasted.

Negotiation of Terms for the Purchase or Sale of a Business

Beacon’s buy-side advisory team brings over 40 years of combined experience in negotiations and closing purchases. We are with you every step of the way, including completing the purchase of the business in a timely, professional, manner. We secure you the terms that benefit you the most, while facilitating the deal.

Recent Advisory Transactions

Beacon Advisors’ Buy-side M&A Process

We identify the right type of business that fit your interest, time frame and capabilities. We have the ability to source companies based on revenues, location, clientele, and industry.
Relying on our network and proprietary databases, we quickly and meticulously go through hundreds of potential candidates, creating a filtered list of the most viable companies.
We contact targets on your behalf, facilitating discussion with the best fits. We make sure to continue to uphold confidentiality, while remaining timely.
We conduct thorough due diligence, scrutinizing every detail about potential targets. Our goal is to make sure the process remains transparent and digestible for you.
We then Negotiate the terms of the Purchase Agreement to ensure you get the right price and the right terms.
At Beacon Advisors, our experience and passion lies in helping you find and successfully acquire the most suitable business for you and your goals. From start to finish, you can rest assured that we are on your side.

Recent Beacon Mergers and Acquisitions’ Blogs on Buying a Business

Businesses will often acquire or merge with another to increase their profit and productivity. A company will calculate and identify mergers and acquisitions synergies to evaluate a merger or acquisition’s potential or success. These synergies represent the possible or achieved value of the two businesses coming together.
Over 90% of companies in Canada are privately owned small and medium-sized businesses. As the country’s population ages, many of these first-generation entrepreneurs are retiring, creating buying opportunities in the market.

Frequently Asked Questions about Buy-Side Advisory

Our buy-side transaction advisors and proprietary databases offer entrepreneurs, private investors, or any fast-growing company with a level of expertise that is often exclusive to large corporations. 

 

  • Experience – Beacon’s team of certified buy-side advisors brings extensive experience in buy-side transactional work across Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the United States. Our leadership consists of former lawyers, MBA’s, Chartered Business Valuators (CBV) and Certified Business Intermediaries (CBI) operating as agents on behalf of our clients.
  • Customer Focus – What makes us different from other buy-side M&A advisors and investment banks is our customer-focused approach. Many buy-side advisors focus purely on the transaction. We pride ourselves in taking the extra time to make sure you, the buyer, fully understand all of the options out there. Beacon helps you find the best path for you.
  • Our Capabilities –At Beacon Advisors, we provide a full range of buy-side M&A services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the United States. Our buy-side advisory capabilities include valuations, targeted searches, pre-screening of prospects, thorough qualitative and quantitative analysis of candidates, liaising initial outreach, and assistance in negotiation and the due diligence process.

If you are looking to buy a business, there are many reasons why you would want to consider buy-side M&A services. You may have an idea of what you are looking for and what you stand to gain from acquiring a business, but a buy-side M&A firm has the expertise and experience to help streamline your process.

 

Buy-side advisors have ample experience with the paperwork and process required to buy a business in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the United States. A buy-side advisor can help make the process a lot easier on you and protect you along the way by negotiating and advocating for your best interest.

 

At Beacon Advisors, we work closely with business buyers to help them find the business that is best suited for them. Our discovery process will help us uncover not only what your skill sets are, but what your passions are.

 

Just because a business looks good on paper does not mean it will be a success. Our buy-side support team will help you evaluate the business you are considering buying to understand its value and earning potential.

Buying an existing business provides significant advantages from a financial and operating point of view. It allows for an immediate generation of revenue at a reduced cost, permitting the new owner to focus on ways to grow the business and improve performance. Benefits include:

 

  • Reduced capital investment requirements before the start of operations (e.g. leasehold improvements, equipment purchase).
  • Operations and logistics are fully embedded and in place (e.g. agreements with suppliers, leases and licenses, employees, organizational procedures).
  • Existing brand name and reputation (repeat business from existing customers and access to past client lists).
  • Transitioning and training period with the former owner to learn how to run the company and compete in the industry.

The two types of Buy-side transaction structures are asset acquisitions and share purchases.

 

In an asset acquisition, the buyer will buy the assets of the business. An asset sale’s advantages are that buyers can choose which assets they want to purchase and dictate their exposure to liability. The drawback to such acquisitions is that these transactions have tax consequences to the seller.

 

In a share purchase, the buyer will acquire most voting shares in the target company to gain a controlling interest. Share sales can produce tax advantages and can be a smoother and swifter process.

 

If you expect the company’s equity to grow, a share sale will allow you to share in the profits. By doing so, however, you are also taking on the liabilities of the business. Share purchases can prove costly if shareholders resist giving up ownership, but this is seldom the case with smaller businesses where owners own most of the company’s stock.

 

The best structure for your buy-side deal will depend on multiple factors, including financial capacity, tax considerations, the prospect of future growth, and your appetite for risk.

 

Naturally, the optimum structure will aim to generate the highest risk-adjusted return for the buyer and seller, ensuring a win-win deal. This approach increases the likelihood of the deal reaching successful completion and may also reduce the duration till close.

Businesses are carefully built over the years, and their operations are molded to achieve strategic goals. Stepping in and making too many changes could cripple a business’s sustainability if not done right. Have an action plan for short-term and long-term goals and monitor it to ensure longevity.

Your buy side M&A fees will depend on the business you are looking to acquire, the steps and services required to do so, and your timeline expectations. You can request an initial consultation with Beacon Advisors to better gauge the fees you can expect.

Planning to buy a business?