Sell-Side M&A Advisory in Singapore for SME Founders

What sell-side M&A advisory is

Every deal has two sides, and each side usually has its own advisers. Sell-side work is done for the owner who is selling: preparing the business, deciding which buyers to approach, running the process, negotiating price and terms, and managing the buyer's investigation. Buy-side work is done for the acquirer. An adviser should act for one side only in a given deal, because the two sides want opposite things on almost every term.

A sell-side adviser (some founders search for a sell-side M&A advisor; it is the same role) is not the same as a business broker. A broker mainly finds and introduces buyers, often through a listing. A sell-side adviser runs a full sale process and negotiates the outcome. Neither model is wrong; the question is fit. Our five questions to choose an M&A adviser help you test any firm, including us.

What we do for a founder who is selling

Our job is to help you sell your business quietly, with leverage and certainty. In practice that comes down to three things.

• Find the buyers who should own your company. We work from a credible buyer universe rather than a mass mailing: each buyer's financial capacity is pre-qualified, strategic fit is assessed and acquisition track record is checked before anyone sees your name.
• Create competition and get you ready for it. We engineer the process so buyers compete: parallel tracks, controlled release of information, and readiness gaps closed before a buyer's diligence team finds them.
• Protect the price to the finish. We manage flow, diligence and emotion through to signing, to prevent a retrade: a buyer cutting the agreed price after exclusivity.

Before launch you receive an information memorandum, a data room and a defined set of buyer criteria. The sale itself runs in the five stages set out below.

Who we advise: founder-led SMEs

We advise founders and owners of founder-led small and medium enterprises in Singapore and Southeast Asia who are thinking about selling their company. If you are weighing a sale but not yet sure, that is a normal place to start a conversation.

Our process is built around three worries we hear from founders:

• staff, competitors or customers hearing about the sale before you are ready;
• a buyer dropping the price after due diligence;
• selling to someone who destroys what you built or mistreats your team.

The five stages of a sale

Selling a private company in Singapore usually runs in five stages. Our guide how to sell your business in Singapore explains each one, along with share sale versus business sale and the stamp duty, tax, ACRA, employee and PDPA rules. How we work shows how we run each stage.

1. Preparation: readiness assessment, normalised EBITDA, positioning and the buyer profile.
2. Quiet marketing: an anonymous teaser to screened buyers; name and numbers only after an NDA and a capacity check.
3. Offers and the letter of intent: indicative offers, aiming for several credible bidders at the same time, then exclusivity for one under a letter of intent.
4. Due diligence: the buyer tests financials, contracts, tax, employees, legal and operational risk through a structured question-and-answer process.
5. Completion: the sale and purchase agreement is signed, conditions are satisfied, funds move and ownership transfers.

How we charge

You pay a retainer up front. Any success fee is paid only when you close.

Offer-or-Refund Promise: if we cannot generate at least one qualified written IOI/LOI from a screened buyer within 12 weeks after launch, we refund the upfront retainer fee. Conditions apply, view details.

We do not quote fees on this page. For what M&A advisers typically charge in the market, and how retainers and success fees work, see our guide to M&A adviser fees in Singapore.

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.

Buyer reach

As at 18 October 2026, our buyer register maps 2,488 potential acquirers, including 413 private equity buyers and 1,662 trade buyers. Of the buyers whose headquarters we can identify, 82% are based outside Singapore; in all, they are headquartered in 32 countries. Mapped means on our register, not a relationship; only screened buyers ever receive your teaser.

You can check how many acquirers cover your own sector and market, free, on Ayebot, the AI deal engine built by Aye Bot Pte. Ltd. For the breakdown by buyer type and sector, read who buys companies in Singapore.

Questions founders ask

What does a sell-side M&A adviser do?

A sell-side adviser works for the owner who is selling. The work is preparing the business, deciding which buyers to approach, running the process, negotiating price and terms, and managing the buyer's investigation. An adviser should act for one side only in a given deal.

How is a sell-side M&A adviser different from a business broker?

A sell-side adviser runs and negotiates a full process; a broker mainly introduces buyers, often through a listing. A complex company with several possible buyer types usually benefits from a full process, while a small, simple business may not need one. Choose by fit, not by label.

How do you keep a sale confidential?

The process is NDA-first with staged disclosure. A short, anonymous teaser goes only to screened buyers, and none sees your name or numbers before signing a non-disclosure agreement and passing a capacity check. The aim is that staff, customers and competitors do not know a sale is happening until the right time.

How does Growth Alliance Capital charge?

You pay a retainer up front. Any success fee is paid only when you close. Our Offer-or-Refund Promise refunds the upfront retainer if we cannot generate at least one qualified written IOI/LOI from a screened buyer within 12 weeks after launch; conditions apply. For what advisers typically charge in the market, see our fee guide.

Who would buy my company?

Usually a company in your industry. As at 18 October 2026, our buyer register maps 2,488 potential acquirers: 1,662 trade buyers and 413 private equity firms, with the rest family offices, other investors and buyers not yet classified. Our guide to who buys companies in Singapore breaks this down by sector.

Do you only work with Singapore companies?

No. We advise founder-led SMEs in Singapore and Southeast Asia, and our buyer register reaches well beyond Singapore: of the buyers whose headquarters we can identify, 82% are based outside Singapore; in all, they are headquartered in 32 countries.

How long does selling a company take?

There is no reliable official benchmark for a private SME sale. In our experience the elapsed time is measured in months rather than weeks, and preparation before launch is the variable most within the founder's control. The founders who sell best typically begin two to three years ahead.

More answers: how to choose an M&A adviser, M&A adviser fees in Singapore, who buys companies in Singapore and all guides for founders. 中文读者请看 中文版。