M&A
M&A Intelligence · Southern Europe & DACH · Weekly

Your business is worth
less than you think.
Until it isn't.

The inside view on selling your business. What buyers actually pay for, how deals really close, and what makes owners leave millions on the table — from someone who sits on the other side of the table professionally.

Free. Weekly. No broker mandate. Unsubscribe anytime.
Issue 01 — What your business is actually worth to a buyer today
Southern Europe · DACH · M&A Intelligence
Issue 02 — Why most SME sales take 3 years and how to cut that to 12 months
Weekly · Free to start · CHF 29/mo Pro access
Issue 03 — The 5 things a buyer checks in the first 48 hours of due diligence
No pitch. No mandate. Just the truth about deals.
Issue 01 — What your business is actually worth to a buyer today
Southern Europe · DACH · M&A Intelligence
Issue 02 — Why most SME sales take 3 years and how to cut that to 12 months
Weekly · Free to start · CHF 29/mo Pro access
Issue 03 — The 5 things a buyer checks in the first 48 hours of due diligence
No pitch. No mandate. Just the truth about deals.
The problem
01
You think your business is worth what you put into it
Decades of hard work, reinvested profits, a team you built from nothing. The number in your head is based on effort. Buyers don't pay for effort — they pay for future cash flows, defensible margins, and risk they can underwrite. The gap between those two numbers is where most deals die.
02
Your advisors have a conflict of interest
Brokers earn when you sell. Bankers earn on deal size. Everyone in the room has an incentive misaligned with yours. You need someone who will tell you when not to sell, what to fix before you go to market, and which buyers to avoid — before you sign anything.
03
The process takes years because sellers go in unprepared
The average SME sale in Europe takes 18–36 months. Most of that time is wasted on the wrong buyers, poor information memorandums, and due diligence surprises that could have been resolved before the process started. A prepared seller closes in 9–12 months.
04
Cultural fit closes deals. Nobody talks about it.
Most transactions happen because the owner already knows the buyer — through their network, through a sector event, through a mutual contact. Cold processes with financial buyers rarely close for SMEs. The right buyer is usually closer than you think.
What you get

One issue per week. One thing you didn't know about selling your business.

I
Valuation intelligence
Real multiples, real comparables. How buyers in your sector are pricing deals right now — not EBITDA rules of thumb, but what's actually happening across Southern Europe and DACH.
II
Deal anatomy
How transactions are structured, where value leaks happen, what earn-outs mean for you, and which deal terms matter more than the headline price. Written by someone who has lived these negotiations.
III
Process & preparation
What to fix 18 months before going to market. How to prepare your data room. What buyers find in due diligence that kills deals — and how to neutralise it before they do.
Why trust this

Written by someone who sits on the other side of the table

I work as an M&A and business development analyst at an operating company. I have been inside acquisitions — not as an advisor billing hours, but as the person deciding whether to buy. I know what sellers do that kills their deal, and what makes a company genuinely attractive to a strategic acquirer.

I hold a CFA Level II and have been involved in transactions across Southern Europe, DACH, and Latin America — from greenfield investments to full acquisitions. No mandate to win. No fee riding on your decision. Just the truth about how deals work.

CFA Level II M&A Analyst Southern Europe DACH Greenfield & M&A Logistics Sector
CHF 2–15M
Business size this newsletter is built for
18–36 mo
Average time a poorly prepared SME sale takes in Europe
9–12 mo
What a prepared seller with the right buyers can achieve
Zero
Broker mandates. No conflict of interest. Ever.
Coming issues
Issue 01
Your business is not worth what you put into it. Here's what a buyer actually pays for.
The most expensive misconception in SME M&A — and the framework buyers use to arrive at a number that will surprise you.
Read the brief →
Issue 02
Why most SME sales take 3 years — and how to cut that to 12 months.
The timeline isn't determined by the market. It's determined by how prepared the seller is before the first buyer conversation.
Read the brief →
Issue 03
The 5 things a buyer checks in the first 48 hours of due diligence.
Most deals that collapse in DD were already dead before they started. Here's what kills momentum fast — and how to be ready.
Read the brief →
Plans
Free
CHF 0/ month
Start here. One insight per week, no credit card, no commitment.
  • Weekly brief — one concept, one real deal example
  • Valuation framework overview
  • Public issue archive
  • Community Q&A digest
Pro
CHF 29/ month
For business owners who are serious about a transaction in the next 1–3 years.
  • Everything in Free
  • Full deep-dive analysis each week
  • Comparable transaction data by sector
  • Valuation frameworks with worked examples
  • Reader Q&A — submit your own situation
  • Deal structure library — earn-outs, SPA terms, W&I explained
  • Early access to Valuation Snapshot service

Know what your business is worth
before someone else tells you.

Free. Weekly. Written by someone with no mandate to sell you anything.