Three firms are circling. Two are close on price. One brought the partner with the better story. The price is one signal. The last three exits the firm did in your sector are the bigger one.
This page is for the owner choosing between PE buyers who all look acceptable on the surface.
Pick the firm whose last three exits in your sector are the kind of outcome you would still be proud of. Not the firm with the highest price. Not the firm whose partner you liked most. The pattern of past exits is the most honest signal of what your exit will actually look like.
The question names the pressure. Business owner coaching starts after the pressure is visible.
Read the buyer's last three exits in your sector. Call the sellers, not the references the firm sent.
Identify which partner will actually own your account post-close and confirm they will still be at the firm in three years.
Read the playbook the firm uses across portfolio companies.
The price is one signal. The pattern is the bigger one.
A good PE buyer for your company has done three exits in your sector that the sellers would do again, has a partner who will own your account through close and after, has a playbook that fits your operating reality, and pays a price that does not require breaking the company to defend.
A bad PE buyer fails one or more of those tests.
Ask which partner will own the account.
Ask for the names of the last three CEOs the firm acquired and let you call them directly.
Ask what changed in the first 100 days at those companies.
Ask what the firm does when a portfolio company misses plan for two consecutive quarters.
Ask what the firm's exit plan is for your sector and the timeline.
Pick the firm whose last three exits in your sector were the kind of outcome you would still be proud of. Not the firm with the highest price. Not the firm whose partner you liked most in the second meeting. The pattern of past exits is the most honest signal of what the next exit will look like.
banker retainer, multi-firm diligence costs, internal time across three parallel processes, the slowdown in operations that every parallel-bid process causes
the owner who picked the highest price and the wrong playbook can lose post-close compounding because the firm breaks the operating model to defend its thesis
the partner in the meetings is a partner doing sales. The partner who will actually own your account post-close is often someone else who has not been introduced yet
The price is the visible signal. The hidden decision is which firm's playbook your company will live through for the next two to five years and which partner will be in the meetings when it matters.
A PE buyer choice is not one question. It is price, pattern, partner, and post-close behavior pretending to be one number. Cute trick. Expensive trick.
Do not choose yet. Compare the buyer's last three exits in your sector and ask whether those sellers would sign again after living through the second year.
Get the named post-close owner in writing. The person who charms the dinner table is useful. The person who stays accountable after a missed quarter is the buyer.
Ask what changes in the first 100 days, what does not change, and what happens when the plan misses twice. "Operating excellence" is not an answer. It is a brochure wearing shoes.
Use business coaching. Bring the LOIs, firm list, sector reference notes, debt assumptions, board context, and the one buyer you want to like more than the facts allow.
The point is not to collect another opinion. The point is to name the hidden decision well enough that the next move is not theater.
The terms underneath the offer.
Capital DecisionsControl, dilution, and exit dynamics.
GovernanceThe board after close is the structure you actually signed.
Exit and SuccessionDecisions under the transaction, not the transaction.
PricingUse this after the pattern is clear.
Request scoped quoteUse this if the transition involves the team or the principals.
If you want Stan to read the live decision, use the business coaching route and describe the firms in plain language.
When the choice is one live decision, Business Coaching is the route. When the team and principals are part of the work, business owner coaching scope should be named first.
