Buying & Selling A Private Company - Key Stages, Structures & Risks

Introduction

This modular webinar series provides a practical overview of the private company sale process, from early deal preparation through to completion and post-sale matters. It is designed for professionals advising on owner-managed and privately held businesses who need a clear understanding of how deals are structured, how value is assessed and where risk sits between buyer and seller.

You will gain a working knowledge of the lifecycle of a sale, including readiness and documentation, the differences between share and asset transactions and alternative routes such as management buyouts and employee ownership trusts. The series also highlights key commercial and legal issues that can affect pricing, timetable and deal certainty, helping you to spot common pitfalls, manage expectations and approach negotiations more confidently.

What You Will Learn

This webinar series will cover the following:

Module 1 - Deal Preparation: Gain an understanding of the business sale lifecycle from preparing a company for market, through to completion and post-sale activity

• The key stages of a private company sale from planning to completion
• The roles of business owners, buyers and professional advisers
• Common challenges that can affect timing, value and deal certainty

Module 2 - Preparing a Company for Market: What happens before a business goes to market - readiness, documentation, buyer expectations

• Assessing business readiness for sale
• Preparing financial, legal and operational documentation
• Managing buyer expectations and due diligence requirements

Module 3 - Overview of Different Transaction Structures: Share versus asset sale, MBOs and EOTs

• Share sales versus asset sales
• Management buyouts (MBOs) and employee ownership trusts (EOTs)
• Key legal, commercial and tax considerations

Module 4 - Valuations: Learn about different business valuation mechanisms

• Common valuation methodologies
• Factors that influence business value
• Pricing mechanisms and purchase price adjustments

Module 5 - Buyer versus Seller Risk: Understand buyer and seller risk - liabilities, continuity and negotiation leverage

• Allocation of risk between buyers and sellers
• Warranties, indemnities and liability protections
• Business continuity and negotiating positions

Module 6 - Key Steps of a Business Sale

• Heads of terms and transaction planning
• Due diligence and contract negotiation
• Completion, post-completion matters and common pitfalls

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Monday 23rd November 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 2,400+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.