WHAT WE DO
We help owners sell their businesses.
We represent owners selling their company. We find the right buyer, manage the process, and negotiate the deal, with as much attention to structure as price. The aim is a transaction that reflects the business's value and the owner's priorities.
We also arrange financing and recapitalization. Some owners need capital, a partner, or a different balance sheet. Where that is the better route, we say so and do that work.
HOW WE WORK
Prepared. Defended. Structured.
01. Prepared
A 50-year-old company owned by one person or one family often lacks the things a buyer's lender expects to see. A board of directors. A clean capitalization table. Minute books. Regular monthly financial reporting. Audited statements. Written procedures that reduce dependence on knowledge living in one person's head.
The business may be strong while its records and procedures have not caught up. We identify what a buyer and a lender will look for, tell you what is worth addressing and in what order before a process starts.
Discovering those gaps during diligence gives a buyer more reasons to push on price.
02. Defended
Value is shaped by financial performance over the last 3 to 5 years, current-year performance, forward revenue including signed contracts and client agreements, and the qualities that make a business hard to replace: a niche position, low competition, products in demand, long-standing client relationships, long-tenured staff.
For manufacturers, buyers look closely at what would be hard to rebuild: where production sits, how resilient the supply chain is, whether there is pricing power, and whether the capability could be replicated somewhere else.
The years it took to build the company matter deeply to the owner. Buyers still price the business on what they can underwrite.
We establish a defensible number up front and tell you when our view of the market differs from yours.
03. Structured
Price is one term among many. Who the buyer is, how the deal is financed, what is paid at close and what is paid later, how long you stay, what happens to your people. Each of those changes what a transaction is actually worth to you.
What a business is worth to one buyer and what it is worth to another are rarely the same number. The premium usually sits in what the acquisition solves for them.
Structure can make a lower headline price the better deal.
FEES
No retainer or deposit.
For sale and refinancing mandates, our fee is 1% to 5% of the total transaction, paid at close. Carrara charges no retainer or deposit.
We take a small number of mandates each year. Where we are not the right firm for a business, we say so early and part on good terms.
Who we work with
We work with owners considering a sale, a succession, or a recapitalization.
Best fit
Founder-owned and second- or third-generation businesses in manufacturing, home services such as HVAC, plumbing, electrical, pest control and security, and public utility work such as sewers and water supply. Revenue above $5 million with EBITDA at or above 10%.
Usually not a fit
Businesses under $5 million in revenue, one-person operations, and technology-heavy companies. If that is you, we may say so early and decline the mandate.
Other advisory work
Carrara also works selectively on real estate advisory, acquisitions, private investment and board roles.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
Straight answers. Senior attention. Discretion throughout.
You deal with senior people from the first conversation through to close.
Before we sign, you will hear our honest view of what the market is likely to support, including when it is lower than the number you had in mind.
Your employees are considered, your timeline is respected, and your name is protected throughout.