Defend Your Exit Price & Enterprise Value.
Know What It’s Worth Before You Sell.
Independent, defensible corporate finance valuations for UK SME owners — whether you're approaching the M&A market, fielding an unsolicited strategic trade buyer offer, or preparing for a Management Buyout (MBO). Determine your true Enterprise Value (EV) and Equity Value.
Brokers earn a percentage of the sale. We don't. That changes the number entirely.
The biggest corporate finance decision of an SME owner's life shouldn't be priced by the person earning a success fee on the transaction. Three reasons UK owners secure an independent valuation before they ever go to market.
Know your floor before any conversation
Once you've spoken to a buyer, you've anchored your price. An independent valuation tells you the real EBITDA multiple your sector actually trades at — identifying the specific equity floor below which you must walk away.
Defensible against aggressive due diligence
Buyers use Big Four-trained corporate advisers to aggressively grind your price down during financial DD. An ICAEW-Chartered valuation built on rigorous methodology gives you an Enterprise Value you can defend line by line — not just a broker's headline.
Reveal the value gap before you waste the cycle
Most SMEs that go to market unprepared discover a gap between what they want and what the M&A market will pay — after 6 painful months. A valuation today exposes that gap and highlights the specific levers needed to close it.
Three steps. 5–10 days. Partner-led throughout.
No handoffs to junior analysts. No template output. Every sale valuation is meticulously calculated and signed off personally by an ICAEW Chartered Accountant.
Submit your details securely
Send 3 years of statutory accounts and a short note on the business. We confirm scope and provide your bespoke fixed-fee quote within one business day.
Triangulated M&A valuation
We apply three independent methods: comparable-company EBITDA multiples, precedent M&A transaction multiples, and a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF). Sector benchmarks are derived from live transaction data.
Signed exit report delivered
You receive a board-ready valuation report detailing the price range, the core synergy assumptions, and a concise list of value-improvement actions ranked by EBITDA multiple impact.
A complete, buyer-ready company sale valuation pack.
- Defensible Enterprise & Equity Value rangeLow, central and high EV and equity values, with the core assumptions and sensitivities behind each — engineered exactly how a buyer's private equity adviser will read it.
- Three methodologies triangulatedComparable-company multiples, precedent M&A transactions and DCF — sourced directly from live UK transaction data, not generic textbook ranges.
- Normalised EBITDA & Equity Value BridgeEBITDA add-backs, net debt, and working capital adjustments expertly normalised in a transparent bridge — the single most-contested figure in any DD process.
- Value-driver scorecardCustomer concentration, recurring revenue %, gross margin trend, management depth — scored rigorously against UK SME buyer benchmarks.
- Pre-exit improvement planRanked list of value-improvement actions, detailing the EBITDA-multiple impact of each, so you can decide what's actually worth doing before you initiate a sale.
- Board pack & adviser briefPlain-English board summary, plus a concise brief your corporate finance adviser or M&A lawyer can deploy immediately.
Kishen Patel — ICAEW Chartered Accountant, BFP ACA
Kishen has over 12 years of experience across Big Four corporate audit (Deloitte), investment banking, and UK M&A advisory. He founded Consult EFC to give SME owners the same calibre of financial firepower their buyers' corporate advisers bring — without paying bloated Big Four rates or sacrificing equity to a broker's commission.
Every sale valuation is prepared and signed personally. No analyst stack. No generic template report. The same person who scopes your quote is the person who walks you through the final Enterprise Value and shows you exactly how a strategic buyer will try to pick it apart.
Owners who wanted the real number before risking the M&A market.
The work was handled entirely professionally. Kishen kept us informed at every stage and the report was exactly what our advisers needed to hold our position.
We needed a valuation that would hold up under intense outside due diligence. Kishen delivered a report that was called one of the most rigorous our legal team had seen from an SME.
We used an online tool before speaking to Consult EFC. The difference was night and day. The figure was materially higher, realistic, and fully defensible against the buyer.
What owners ask before instructing us to value their exit.
Aren't brokers free? Why pay for a valuation?
Brokers earn a percentage of the sale and so are naturally incentivised to give you a highly inflated number to win your mandate — only to “prepare” you for a much lower number once the strategic buyer begins M&A Due Diligence. An independent ICAEW valuation, paid for as a fixed fee, gives you the real, defensible equity range before you commit to anyone.
How is a sale valuation different from an EMI or probate valuation?
EMI and probate valuations are deliberately conservative — designed entirely to minimise tax. A company sale valuation reflects what a strategic trade buyer or private equity firm would actually pay, capturing potential synergy premia and the specific EBITDA multiples currently trading in your M&A sector. It’s the same firm, but a fundamentally different valuation methodology.
What multiple will my business trade at?
It relies heavily on your sector, recurring revenue, growth rate, customer concentration, and management depth. UK SMEs typically transact at 4–8x normalised EBITDA, with SaaS software, healthcare, and specialist services achieving higher multiples, while highly people-dependent service firms trend lower. The valuation report calculates your specific Enterprise Value range with detailed reasoning.
Should I get a valuation before responding to an unsolicited approach?
Absolutely. The single most expensive mistake in SME M&A is engaging with a strategic buyer before knowing the absolute floor equity value below which the deal isn't worth doing. A 5–10 day independent corporate finance valuation pays for itself many times over in that very first negotiation.
How long does a company sale valuation take?
We typically deliver a signed, board-ready M&A report in 5 to 10 business days once we have your financial accounts. For time-sensitive unsolicited offers or rapid due diligence cycles, we can compress this timeline to 5 business days where necessary.
How much does a company sale valuation cost?
We quote a bespoke fixed fee up-front based on the specific size, balance sheet, and complexity of your SME. Groups, recent acquisitions, or pre-exit planning add-ons are scoped accordingly. There are no hourly charges, no hidden costs, and absolutely no success commissions.
Know the defensible number before you talk to a buyer.
- Bespoke fixed fee, quoted within one business day
- Board-ready M&A report in 5–10 business days
- Three valuation methods triangulated — not a broker's guess
- Partner-led from quote to signed report — no junior analysts
- 100% Confidential. Trusted by SME owners across the UK.
Prefer a discreet conversation? +44 7767 629 008 · info@consultEFC.com