A Price the Vendor Trusts.
A Number the Funder Will Back.
Every MBO has the same problem at its core: the people negotiating to buy the business are also the people who know it best. That is exactly why vendors, banks and MBO funders all want an independent valuation before they sign off on the price.
We produce ICAEW-grade business valuations for management buyouts and buy-ins across the UK. A signed, documented report that gives the vendor confidence the price is fair, and gives your funder the independent evidence of value their credit committee needs to say yes.
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No obligation. We review every submission personally and respond within one business day.
Insiders Negotiating
Need an Outside Number.
Three obstacles that show up in almost every management buyout, until an independent valuation is on the table.
The buyer already knows everything
Management have access to the numbers, forecasts and risks in a way no outside buyer ever would. That knowledge advantage is exactly what makes vendors nervous about accepting a price the same team has proposed.
Funders will not lend on a number they cannot check
Banks and MBO funders need documented, independent evidence of value before releasing acquisition finance. A valuation produced by the buying management team, with no outside sign-off, rarely satisfies a credit committee alone.
Deferred consideration muddies the real number
Earn-outs and deferred payment structures make it easy to lose track of what the business is actually worth versus how the deal happens to be funded, leaving both sides negotiating against a moving target.
How Defensible Is Your MBO Valuation?
Most management teams overestimate how independent their own numbers look to a vendor or a funder. Take our 5-minute diagnostic to identify the gaps before you approach either.
Management Buyout Valuation Services
Independent, investment-grade business valuation across the full range of UK MBO and MBI structures.
MBO & Retirement Exits
Independent valuation for the classic MBO: a founder or owner retiring and selling to the team who already run the business day to day.
Funder & Lender-Ready MBOs
Reports built for banks, private equity houses and specialist MBO funders whose credit or investment committees need independent evidence of value.
MBI, BIMBO & Carve-Outs
Valuations for external managers buying in, divisional carve-outs sold to their own management, and family business succession deals.
From Instruction to Signed Report
Built to keep your deal moving, not to become the reason it stalls.
Instruction & Scoping
We confirm who the report needs to satisfy, vendor, funder, or HMRC, and agree the deal structure and any deferred consideration upfront.
Analysis and Modelling
DCF, normalised EBITDA multiples, and comparable transaction analysis, with enterprise value kept clearly separate from how the deal is funded.
Report & Funder Support
A signed report ready for the vendor and any funder, with ongoing availability to answer questions from lenders, investors or their advisers.
What Clients Say
Management teams, vendors and funders who trusted Consult EFC at critical moments in an MBO.
“As the management team, we knew what we thought the business was worth, but our funder needed to hear it from someone independent. Kishen’s report gave our lender the confidence to release the acquisition finance.”
“Selling to my own management team felt exposed until I had an independent number. Kishen’s report meant I could negotiate from a documented position rather than just trusting the people buying me out.”
“We joined as an incoming management team on an MBI, and needed a valuation our own investors would trust. The report was rigorous enough that our committee approved the deal without further questions.”
UK MBO Valuation Expert
Big Four Rigour.
Built for MBOs.
Kishen Patel
Founder, Consult EFC · BFP ACA
Kishen is an ICAEW Chartered Accountant with over 12 years of experience across Big Four audit, Investment Banking, and corporate advisory. He trained at Deloitte and has since advised management teams, vendors, and funders on business valuation across MBOs, MBIs and full exits.
He founded Consult EFC to give ambitious UK SMEs and their management teams access to the same calibre of financial thinking and independent business valuation expertise that was previously only available to large corporates, at a fee level that makes sense for a growing business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know before getting started.
A management buyout (MBO) is where the existing management team buys the business from the current owner. A management buy-in (MBI) is where an external manager or management team buys in and takes over the business, usually alongside some form of external funding. Many transactions are a BIMBO, a combination of both, where incoming external management joins existing managers in the buyout.
That inside knowledge is exactly why an independent valuation matters. The management team negotiating to buy the business has access to the numbers, the forecasts and the risks in a way an external buyer never would, which creates an inherent conflict of interest. Vendors, funders and, where relevant, HMRC all want assurance that the price was arrived at independently rather than set by the party with the most to gain from a low number.
Yes. Reports are prepared to the same DCF, EBITDA multiple and comparable transaction methodology used by banks, private equity houses and specialist MBO funders, with full documentation of assumptions and normalisation adjustments so the funder’s own credit or investment committee can rely on it.
Deferred consideration and earn-out structures need to be modelled explicitly rather than ignored, since they change the risk profile and effective value of the deal for both sides. The valuation sets out the enterprise value being negotiated separately from how that value is being funded and paid, so the structure of the deal does not get confused with the underlying worth of the business.
A straightforward MBO valuation typically takes 10 to 15 business days once we have received the required financial information. Where funders need to review drafts or request additional analysis, timelines are agreed upfront so the valuation does not become the bottleneck in completing the deal.
We work on a fixed fee agreed before any work begins. The fee depends on the size and complexity of the business and whether the report needs to satisfy multiple funders or HMRC as well as the vendor. We confirm the fixed fee in writing during the initial conversation so there are no surprises once instructed.
Whether you are buying in, buying out, or funding the deal.
Every MBO valuation is personally prepared and signed off by ICAEW Chartered Accountants. No junior analysts. No templated output. Fixed fees, transparent process.
Used by management teams, vendors and funders across MBO, MBI and BIMBO structures
Reports accepted by banks, private equity funders and, where relevant, HMRC
Turnaround of 10-15 business days for full MBO valuations
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Related Business Valuation Services
Consult EFC provides independent business valuations for management buyouts and buy-ins across the UK, prepared personally by Kishen Patel, an ICAEW Chartered Accountant trained at Deloitte. Reports are built to satisfy the vendor, acquisition finance lenders, private equity funders and, where relevant, HMRC, covering MBOs, MBIs, BIMBOs, divisional carve-outs and family business succession. Deferred consideration and earn-out structures are modelled explicitly, with enterprise value kept separate from deal funding, so every party negotiates from the same defensible number.