Finding acquisition opportunities in Singapore
Most founder-led companies worth buying are not on a business-for-sale listing. Their owners have not decided to sell, or they will only consider a buyer who approaches them properly and keeps the conversation quiet. That is where a buy-side search starts: from your criteria, not from whatever happens to be advertised.
- Criteria: sector, geography, size, profitability, ownership and what the target must add to your business.
- Search: a screen of the industry against those criteria, including companies whose owners have never advertised a sale.
- Approach: a confidential approach to each owner.
- Shortlist: the owners willing to talk, with what we have learnt about each business.
How a buy-side deal runs
- Strategy: why you are buying and what you can pay.
- Target search and approach: the screen and the confidential approaches above.
- Valuation and offer: what the business is worth to you, and an indicative offer or letter of intent. Our guide to M&A valuation methods explains how buyers price a business.
- Due diligence: financial, legal, tax and commercial checks. See our due diligence checklist of what a buyer checks in a Singapore SME.
- Structure and completion: share or asset deal, earn-outs, escrow and the sale and purchase agreement. See deal structuring in M&A.
One side per deal
We act for either the buyer or the seller in any transaction, never both. If you are a business owner thinking of selling, see our sell-side M&A advisory instead.
Track record
- S$200m+ in transactions closed since 2014. This is a career figure for co-founder Gwee Yi Chen, in Singapore dollars, including his years at Nihon M&A.
- S$750m in signed sell-side mandates, as at October 2026, in Singapore dollars, as an aggregate.
We name a client only with that client's consent.
Questions people ask
Where do I find M&A opportunities in Singapore?
Business-for-sale listings show only the owners who have chosen to advertise, and most are small. Many good founder-led companies are not openly for sale; their owners will talk to the right buyer if approached properly. A buy-side adviser finds these companies by screening an industry against your criteria and making confidential approaches on your behalf.
What does a buy-side M&A advisor do?
A buy-side adviser works for the buyer. The work is agreeing the acquisition criteria, searching for and screening targets, approaching owners confidentially, valuing the business, structuring and negotiating the offer, coordinating due diligence and getting to completion.
Do you act for both the buyer and the seller in the same deal?
No. We act for one side only in any deal: either the buyer or the seller, never both.
What size of acquisition do you work on?
Acquisitions of founder-led companies valued at S$10m to S$200m in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Can a foreign company buy a business in Singapore?
Yes. Foreign companies buy Singapore companies regularly, usually by buying the shares of the Singapore company. Some regulated sectors have extra approvals, and every buyer needs local legal and tax advice on the specific deal. Our due diligence checklist lists what a buyer should check.
How long does an acquisition take?
There is no reliable official benchmark for a private SME deal. Target search, approach and negotiation are measured in months rather than weeks, and the owner's readiness to sell is usually the variable that sets the pace.
More: mergers and acquisitions in Singapore, due diligence before buying a business in Singapore, trade buyer or private equity and all guides.