Tidewater Business Brokerage is the business broker Chicago owners hire when the goal is the highest price, not the fastest exit. We have sold businesses across Chicago and the Chicagoland metro since 1997, backed by a national buyer network and 2,100+ private equity relationships.
Confidentiality is our primary concern. Your inquiry will never be disclosed to a third party and your email address will never be sold.
100% Confidential.
You only do this once. The owners who get the most for their business are the ones who started planning before they had to. That is the conversation we have with Chicago owners every week, whether you are 12 months out or 12 minutes from the offer call.
You built the business. You should not have to learn how to sell one on top of running it. We handle your valuation, marketing, qualification, negotiation, and closing logistics so you stay focused on the company while we move the deal forward.
We have closed hundreds of deals this way since 1997. Each step is built to keep the deal moving while you stay focused on running the company.
We analyze four years of revenue, cash flow, and assets to establish what your business is actually worth in today’s Chicago market.
We build a blind profile and put it in front of qualified buyers nationally and globally. Your name stays off it until they sign an NDA.
We qualify every interested party for strategic fit, financial capacity, and serious intent before they get access to your information.
We manage offers, counters, and deal terms so you get the strongest price the market will pay and the structure that protects what you want after the sale.
We coordinate buyers, lenders, attorneys, accountants, and landlords so the process moves and the deal does not stall on a paperwork question.
We help your buyer secure financing through lenders, SBA programs, and investor partners, so a funding gap never costs you the deal.
We work alongside your attorney on the purchase agreement, lending documents, and the transition of vendor and lease relationships.
We finalize timelines, manage the transition, and keep the handover structured so you walk out clean.
Selling a business in Chicago is not the same as selling one in the suburbs. Your buyer pool is bigger, with sophisticated strategic acquirers, food and beverage roll-ups, hospitality groups, and dozens of private equity firms based in the Loop, West Loop, and Fulton Market. That sounds like an advantage, and it is, but only if your broker can identify which of those buyers will pay the most for your specific company. When one buyer is at the table, that buyer sets the price. When five qualified buyers want the same company, you do. The difference on a city deal often runs into the hundreds of thousands.
The deal itself is also harder in the city. Commercial lease assignment needs landlord sign-off, zoning is tighter, and city buyers dig deeper in due diligence. We have been working through these exact issues in Chicago since 1997, so we know what is coming and when.
Your Chicago business broker, backed by national networks
We sell businesses in the industries that power the Chicago economy. Whether you run a food manufacturing operation, a professional services firm, or a hospitality group, we know which buyers are actively acquiring and how to get them competing for what you have built.
Verified Seller
"As a woman founder in the tech space, I was nervous about selling my company. Tidewater Business Brokerage handled everything with professionalism and care from start to close."
Verified Seller
"The deal nearly fell apart three separate times, but this team never wavered. Their dedication, calm approach, and buyer relationships kept everything on track to a successful close."
Verified Seller
Answers to common questions from Chicago business owners considering a sale, valuation, or confidential consultation.
A Chicago business broker manages your sale from valuation through closing so you can keep running the company. That covers setting the price, finding and qualifying buyers, running negotiations, managing due diligence, and coordinating the close. There is no public listing and no sign in the window. The whole process stays confidential, so your employees, your customers, and your competitors do not find out until the deal is done.
Hire one if you want the highest price and a clean exit. Owners who go it alone usually reach fewer buyers, take the first offer that comes in, and spend months managing a process they have never run before. We bring multiple qualified buyers to the table, manage due diligence end to end, and keep the sale confidential the whole way through. And because we work on a success fee, we only earn when your deal closes on terms you accept.
You can, and most owners who do leave money on the table. Owners who sell independently typically close at 20 to 40 percent below full market value. A broker brings pricing accuracy, qualified buyer outreach, and negotiation expertise that consistently produces a stronger outcome and more favorable terms. The likelihood of a transaction closing also improves significantly when an experienced expert manages the process.
Tidewater works on a success fee with no upfront cost. There are no retainers, no listing fees, and no monthly invoices. The majority of our compensation is tied to a successful close on terms you sign off on, which keeps our priorities aligned with yours from the first conversation to the last document.
Business brokerage typically covers companies under $5M in revenue. M&A advisory handles larger, more complex transactions. Tidewater operates as both, matching the right level of expertise and attention to each engagement regardless of size.
A real valuation starts with the last four years of your books, since that record is what buyers and lenders trust when they decide what to offer. In Chicago, though, the value on paper is only the floor. With this many strategic acquirers and PE firms competing for city businesses, the right buyer will often pay for something specific you own, your customers, your team, your location, that a spreadsheet never captures. We give you a confidential valuation based on what your business is worth to the buyers most likely to pay the most for it.
Start with a valuation. Most owners find that knowing the actual number shifts how they think about timing and preparation. An initial consultation with our team is confidential and costs nothing.
We start with a confidential consultation. We evaluate the business, prepare a valuation, and put together a professional prospectus that tells the company’s story to qualified buyers before going to market. From there we run a multi-channel campaign across our national and global buyer network and our 2,100+ private equity relationships, qualifying every interested party before any sensitive information changes hands.
Most transactions close within 6 to 16 months of listing. The timeline depends on your industry, the strength of your financials, and how the business is priced. You can speed things up with clean books, a realistic asking price, and a business that does not depend on you to run.
Confidentiality is built into every stage. Buyers only see a blind profile until they sign an NDA with Tidewater. Your company name, address, and financials stay anonymous, and employees, customers, and competitors learn about the sale only after closing.
The market is strong for owners with the right representation. Chicago has more active strategic buyers and private equity firms than any market in the Midwest, with PE firms based in the Loop, West Loop, and Fulton Market and dozens of regional and national acquirers tracking city deals. Demand is steady across the industries Chicago is built on, including food and beverage manufacturing, professional services and B2B, hospitality at scale, and specialty manufacturing. Having that many buyers nearby only pays off when they compete for your company instead of negotiating you down one at a time. That is the part we take care of.
We sell businesses across the entire city and the broader Chicagoland metro, including the Loop, West Loop, Fulton Market, the North Side, Logan Square, Lincoln Park, Pilsen, South Loop, and the industrial corridors out toward Cicero and the South Side. Wherever your business is, you get a team that knows your local market and a buyer network that reaches well beyond it.
Three things tend to show up on a city deal that a suburban deal does not. Commercial lease assignment in Chicago requires landlord cooperation, and the lease has to transfer cleanly or the deal stalls. Zoning is tighter, and a buyer usually wants confirmation that the same use carries forward at the same address. And city buyers are more sophisticated, which helps your price but means due diligence takes longer and your representation has to keep up. We have been working on these issues in Chicago since 1997.
Tidewater represents owners across manufacturing and machining, food and beverage production, professional services and B2B, commercial services, and hospitality, all at $1M+ in annual sales. Our Chicago practice handles companies from $1M to $50M in revenue.
That depends on how the sale is structured and how your business is set up, so the precise number comes from your accountant, not from a web page. In broad terms, the profit on the sale is generally subject to federal capital gains treatment plus Illinois state income tax, and the way the deal is structured can change what you owe significantly. We work alongside your CPA and attorney throughout the process so the structure supports the best after-tax outcome for you, rather than leaving money on the table at closing.
When you try to sell your business, the price matters, but it is not the only thing you are negotiating. The right deal structure also protects the people who built the company with you, the customers who trusted you, and the work you want to do next. We negotiate every term with that in mind, so when you finalize the sale, you do it on terms you would still take a year later.
Get a confidential valuation based on what real Chicago buyers are paying right now, not a generic online estimate. It costs nothing, it stays private, and it could change your timing.
100% Confidential Thinking about selling your business?
Talk to someone who has done it before.
"As the owner of a large plastics manufacturing company, I had high expectations when it came time to sell. Tidewater exceeded every one of them with their process and network."