Buyer readiness assessment
20 questions across strategy, funding, deal team, capacity and process. Retake it and watch your score improve.
The free Acquisition Hub for UK buyers. Get your Buyer Readiness Score, build your targeting workbook and structure deals with confidence, with confidential access to Valius advisers when you find the one.
Buyers who prepare properly do not just win deals. They win the right deals, at the right price, without the late surprises.
The principle behind every Valius acquisition engagement
Three questions and an honest first score. This is the same lens experienced buyers apply to themselves before they commit serious time or money.
Everything a serious buyer needs, saved to your account so your search compounds over months instead of restarting every time.
20 questions across strategy, funding, deal team, capacity and process. Retake it and watch your score improve.
Written acquisition criteria scored for sharpness, plus a long-list pipeline from first contact to diligence.
Turn a headline price into a structure and pressure-test debt, deferred terms and earn-outs before you commit.
Every request that matters, with the red flags that kill deals, tracked item by item.
Twelve in-depth guides across finding, evaluating and closing, with the actions that go straight into your plan.
Book a call or request a callback with a Valius adviser whenever you're ready.
Free · takes under a minute · no card needed
Most acquisitions that fail do so for one of six reasons. The hub is built to surface every one of them before you are emotionally or financially committed.
The price is built on adjusted EBITDA. If the add-backs do not survive scrutiny, the deal reprices or dies late.
One customer over a quarter of revenue changes everything: the multiple, the funding and the risk you are buying.
If the outgoing owner holds the relationships, you need to know before you commit, not after.
How 'normal' working capital is defined decides money that never appears in the headline price.
Some contracts end the moment ownership changes. Discovering them in week ten is expensive.
A lender who re-times their offer at the last minute leaves you exposed. Funders like certainty of process.
Typical private-sale ranges as a multiple of maintainable earnings (EBITDA). Indicative only: every business is priced on its own merits, and your job is to test the earnings behind the headline.
Technology & SaaS
Recurring revenue and low churn push towards the top end
5–9×
Professional services
Owner independence and client retention drive the spread
3–6×
Manufacturing & engineering
Order books, asset base and customer diversification matter
4–6×
Healthcare & care
Regulatory standing and contract quality are key
4–7×
E-commerce & consumer
Brand strength and channel concentration set the range
2.5–4.5×
Construction & trades
Backlog quality and reliance on the owner weigh heavily
2.5–4×
Written by people who have sat on both sides of the table, in plain English, with no jargon unexplained.
Sharp criteria save months of wasted effort. Here is what to define, and what to leave out.
Read the guideMultiples are the headline, but quality of earnings, risk and transferability set the real number.
Read the guideThe requests that matter, the red flags that kill deals, and how findings become price.
Read the guideA clear, four-stage path through the hub. Work it at your pace, and bring in a Valius adviser at any point, confidentially.
Write your criteria: sector, size, geography and price ceiling. Agree your funding envelope.
Build a long list and keep live conversations running. Off-market and broker-led, in parallel.
Test the numbers, price the business properly and put in an offer that gets taken seriously.
Survive diligence, structure the deal and take control on day one.
UK buyers of private businesses: trade buyers making bolt-ons, first-time acquirers taking over a company (MBI or MBO), and search funds or private investors building around a single business.
No. The hub is free: the readiness assessment, targeting workbook, deal builder, diligence room and guide library are all included, with no card needed.
No. Your criteria, pipeline and diligence work are private to you. Nothing is shared with sellers, brokers or anyone else without your permission.
Yes. When your search is ready, a Valius adviser can discuss introductions and off-market opportunities that match your criteria. The hub shows you when you are ready.
Join free for your full Readiness Score, targeting workbook and deal tools, and speak to a Valius adviser in confidence whenever you find the one.
Join the Acquisition Hub (free)Free. Confidential. Your search is never shared.