Mergers & Acquisitions

Your business is worth what a qualified buyer will pay for it, which comes down to your operational processes, cash flow, assets, strategic positioning, and demand in your industry. Tidewater builds a confidential valuation on those real numbers rather than a generic formula, so you enter the market knowing your true figure.

Valuation starts with your normalized cash flow, measured as EBITDA. We weigh the business's dependency on you and its strategic significance alongside the multiples buyers actually pay for comparable companies in your sector, so the number reflects what your specific business will command today.

Selling with Tidewater carries no retainers and no listing fees. We earn our success fee only when your business sells, so our pay depends entirely on closing your deal. The one paid item is a standalone valuation, which credits toward your engagement if you list with us.

Confidentiality sits at the center of how Tidewater works. Buyers first receive only a blind profile with no company name or location, and identifying details come after a signed NDA and once we confirm they are a serious fit. We manage the process so your team and competitors do not learn of the sale prematurely.

Most Midwest business sales close somewhere between six and sixteen months from listing. The real drivers are your industry, the strength of your financials, your pricing, and the terms of the transaction, which often move the timeline more than price alone. Tidewater guides you through every stage.

Selling on your own is possible, but most owner-led sales stall once diligence, financing, and negotiations begin, and many never close. A broker manages a confidential, competitive process and holds the deal together. Tidewater closes the majority of the deals it takes to contract, which is above the industry norm.

Tidewater markets your company to an active network of 2,100 private equity firms with live acquisition mandates, plus hundreds and thousands of prospective buyers. We take your deal directly to the buyers most likely to pay a premium. Thirty years of experience brings the substantial benefit of repeat buyers.

A business broker manages the full sale of your company, from valuation and confidential marketing to confirming buyers are a serious fit, negotiating terms, and coordinating the close. Tidewater sits at the center of every conversation between attorneys, CPAs, bankers, buyers, and regulatory bodies, so you keep running your business while the transaction moves steadily forward.

Tidewater's specialty is machining, manufacturing, fabrication, and plastics, where buyer demand runs high and businesses often trade at stronger multiples. We also sell home improvement, technology, healthcare, and commercial service businesses. Across all of them the job is the same: understanding how buyers value your equipment, your workforce, and your facilities, and pricing the business accordingly.

Tidewater represents sellers across Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, with offices in Brookfield and Rosemont and brokers covering nine markets in both states. We focus on the suburbs and industrial corridors where the region's manufacturers and established businesses operate, rather than the downtown retail districts of the major cities. We also represent sellers nationally across the United States.

Business brokerage generally covers Main Street and lower middle market companies, while M&A advisory handles larger, more complex transactions with shareholder-level negotiation and deal structuring. Tidewater provides both under one controlled process, so your company is matched to the right approach as its size and complexity require.

Much of what you keep depends on how the purchase price is allocated across goodwill, equipment, and other assets. Tidewater structures that allocation in your favor and coordinates with your CPA and attorney throughout, so the deal terms protect your after-tax proceeds, not only the headline sale price.

Most buyers fund an acquisition through a mix of their own capital, SBA or conventional financing, seller financing, rollover equity, and capital raises. Tidewater maintains more than 30 lender relationships and matches each buyer to the institution whose appetite fits the deal, which reduces initial financing hurdles.

Tidewater has sold companies confidentially since 1997 and closes the majority of the deals it takes to contract. We accept roughly half of the listings we review, so every engagement receives our full attention, our full buyer network, and a proprietary controlled process refined over nearly thirty years.

Tidewater predominantly represents sellers exclusively. That single focus keeps our interests fully aligned with yours, because our entire process and our compensation are built around getting you the strongest possible outcome when your business sells.