Mergers & Acquisitions Step 2: Locating
The second step in the M&A process is locating. At this point in the process, the buyer has already established their strategy for acquisition related growth. This step is all about how buyers go about finding businesses for sale. Their are several different starting points:
- Check industry associations or trade groups;
- Talk to business brokers or M&A advisors;
- Check resources like websites that list businesses for sale;
- Reach out to owners directly
After you've found the right acquisition target, get a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), because you'll want this process to be confidential on both the buyer and seller side. Buyers may also want to gather the last few years of financial documents before signing the Letter of Intent and diving into due diligence and the investigating step.






