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Your options, explained plainly

Selling the whole company to the highest bidder is one route, and often not the best one. Owners can sell part and keep control, sell most and keep a stake, sell to their own managers or employees, or pass the business to the next generation.

Each route pays differently, at a different time, with different tax and different consequences for the people who built the company with you. These guides explain each one in plain English, with the same illustrative company used throughout so you can compare them side by side: a family-owned Ohio fabricator with $4 million of EBITDA, valued at $24 million.

Before you decide

What is my business worth?How buyers put a price on an owner-led US company: adjusted EBITDA, multiples, debt and working capital, and the factors that move value up or down.

Sell all of it

Selling your business outrightWhat happens when you sell 100% of a private company, from preparation to closing: buyers, timeline, letters of intent, due diligence, the purchase agreement and what you receive.Selling to private equityHow private equity firms buy companies like yours, why they use debt, what you receive at closing and later, and what to negotiate.Earn-outsAn earn-out pays part of the price for a business only if it hits agreed targets after the sale.Asset sale or stock saleWhy buyers prefer to buy assets and sellers prefer to sell stock, how the choice changes your tax bill for C and S corporations, and the structures that split the difference.

Sell part of it

Majority sale with rollover equityHow a majority recapitalization works: selling 60-80% of your company to a partner, keeping the rest, and sharing in a second sale.Minority investmentHow owners sell 20-40% of a private company to a family office or minority investor, keep control, and what investors ask for in return: board seats, consent rights, preferences and an exit date.Leveraged (dividend) recapitalizationHow a dividend recapitalization lets an owner borrow against the business to take out cash while keeping 100% ownership: how much lenders provide, the costs, the risks and the tax.

Pass it on

Management buy-outHow a management buy-out works, how managers finance it with bank debt, seller notes or a private equity partner, what the seller receives and when, and how to make it fair to both sides.Selling to an ESOPHow an employee stock ownership plan buys a company from its owner, how the price and financing work, the Section 1042 and S corporation tax rules, and who it suits.Family successionHow owners pass a family business to the next generation: gifts and sales to children, the 2026 estate tax exemption, treating active and inactive children fairly, and handing over leadership.

Not sure which route fits?

Most owners aren’t at the start. A 30-minute call is enough to narrow it down.

We’ll give you an indicative view of value and the options that suit your plans.

No obligation, no fee, in confidence.

Book a confidential call
Book a confidential call