A sale is judged eighteen months after the closing. That is when the principal knows whether they sold what they wanted to sell, at the price they had in mind, in conditions that allow them to turn the page in peace. Or whether the deal went against them, in haste and weariness, leaving an aftertaste they cannot quite name.

Selling your company means parting with something you will never be able to buy back. Every detail counts: the timing, the narrative handed to acquirers, the legal structure, the personal taxation, the quality of the audits. Arcadia Partners advises owners and founders of mid-market companies in their sale, with the conviction that value is built in the twenty-four months that precede the mandate, not during.

The preparation work systematically precedes the launch of the process. We formalise the strategic narrative, identify the points of fragility that will be scrutinised in due diligence, and structure the personal taxation so that the family keeps as much as possible after tax. This phase lasts between six and eighteen months depending on the situation.

The sale process itself is conducted in a discreet and targeted way. We do not believe in mass processes addressed to hundreds of acquirers: for the companies we advise, a short list of ten to twenty qualified acquirers, each approached individually with a tailored narrative, produces a better outcome than an info memo sent to two hundred mailboxes. We remain on the front line, alongside the principal, all the way to closing.