Respond to Cold Outreach From Potential Buyers

Selling Your Canadian Business: A Step-by-Step Guide to Maximizing Value and Securing Your Legacy

For owners of privately-owned Canadian businesses generating $10 to $50 million in annual revenue, receiving an unsolicited call from a potential buyer can be both intriguing and disruptive. These cold outreach attempts—whether from private equity firms, strategic buyers, individual investors, other entrepreneurs, the company’s major customers, major suppliers, or major rivals—often prompt a direct response from business owners, even when they’re not actively looking to sell. While engaging with these inquiries may seem like a logical step to explore opportunities, it can lead to missteps that jeopardize the business’s value, confidentiality, or strategic positioning. Instead, owners should redirect such inquiries to their mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisors. **As an incentive, The Shaughnessy Group offers a complimentary probable opinion of value for your business, with no obligation to engage the firm to sell or hire them as your sell-side advisors.** Here’s why business owners respond to cold outreach and why involving professional advisors is the smarter move.

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