Size in an advisory firm buys process discipline, research capacity and a brand that opens doors at large corporates. It does not buy attention, and for a lower middle market seller the trade between the two is the whole decision.
Get quotes to sell my business
What scale genuinely provides
Analysts to build and defend a model, sector teams with genuine coverage of large acquirers, and a name that gets a meeting at a corporate development department. For a company large enough to interest those acquirers, that is real and worth paying for.
Where it works against you
A high minimum fee, a file staffed by junior people because yours is the smallest mandate in the room, and a process built for companies ten times your size. A seller who is the least important client of a large firm receives less than they would as the most important client of a small one.
How to tell which you are
Ask where your business would sit in their current mandate list by size, who by name would run it, and how many other deals that person carries. A straight answer here is worth more than any league table, and a firm unwilling to give one has answered anyway.
Questions people ask about largest M&A firms
Do large firms get higher prices?
Where their buyer relationships are better for your business, yes. Otherwise the price comes from competition, which a smaller firm can also create.
What minimum fee should I expect?
Larger firms state higher minimums. If yours would be a large share of your likely price, that is the market telling you to look one tier down.
Is a brand name useful in negotiation?
Marginally, with corporate buyers. It matters far less than having several buyers who want the business.
Should I meet one anyway?
It is worth one meeting to hear how they would run it, and to get their minimum fee in writing. Use what you learn when you put the same questions to two smaller firms.