Business brokers in Madison, WI should get you full value and keep the sale private. Tidewater Business Brokerage has worked that way since 1997 in business sales across Wisconsin.
Sell your business in Dane County with us, and buyers trying to enter the Madison market compete for yours.
A member of our deal team reads every message and replies within one business day.
We handle every inquiry in confidence.
Your company’s value works like a confidence score. Buyers pay more when they trust your books, your team, and your customers. A confidential Madison business valuation shows where they will push back.
A sale pulls in lawyers, CPAs, lenders, and buyers. We handle every one of those calls, so you stay focused on the company.
Virtually every sale follows the same eight steps. Our team owns each one, and you always know where your deal stands.
Pricing starts with your cash flow and what comparable companies sold for. You get a private number to plan around before any buyer hears about it.
A detailed prospectus tells your story. A blind profile carries it to buyers through listing sites, mailers, phone calls, and our trade networks.
Our team calls every buyer who asks. Only buyers whose fit we substantiate learn which company is for sale.
Competing offers land on one table, and price is only one line of each. We weigh terms, structure, and timing alongside price.
We review your books, site, and staff and clear open questions before they stall the deal.
Lenders differ on what they will fund. We draw on more than 30 SBA and investment banking relationships to place your buyer with the one that fits.
Your attorney drafts the purchase agreement. We handle the loan documents, the lease, and every vendor contract that moves to the buyer.
Funds and signatures come together on one closing day we set. A planned handover follows, so your staff and customers meet the new owner with confidence.
In the Madison area, clinics need licensed staff and contractors need good crews. Service firms need long customer ties. Growth in Sun Prairie, Fitchburg, Verona, and Middleton keeps all three busy. Buyers like that demand, but they pay for what still works after you step back.
That is why packaging matters as much as marketing. Before your company reaches a buyer, we build a prospectus that shows the team, contracts, and systems that let it run without you. Buyers who see that compete harder for it. Our Brookfield office is about an hour east on I-94, and owners in Waukesha and across southeastern Wisconsin get the same approach.
The groups and ratings buyers and lenders check before they make an offer
Buyers price a Madison-area company by what keeps it earning: the contracts, the crew, the patient list. We lead with whichever of those you have built.
Owner, Plastics Manufacturing | Verified Seller, Google
"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."
Founder, Technology | Verified Seller, Google
"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."
Principal | Verified Seller, Google
Before you tell anyone about a sale, you want to know what your company is worth, how long it takes, and who finds out. The answers below start there and go further.
From the initial consultation to the last signature, your business broker in the Madison area takes it all on. We price the company, package it, and screen every buyer. You keep your days for customers and staff.
Plenty of people want to buy a business in Madison right now. They include local owners, rivals in your trade, private equity groups, and buyers from out of state. The suburbs have grown faster than the city, and buyers follow that growth.
As a business broker in Madison, WI, we lead with general businesses. Service and trades firms come next, then contractors and builders, then healthcare practices. Most earn $1M to $50M a year. We also sell manufacturing businesses in Madison, from machine shops to full plants.
As business brokers in Dane County, we sell firms all around Madison. That means Middleton, Verona, Fitchburg, Sun Prairie, DeForest, Waunakee, and Monona. The same team also works the rest of south central Wisconsin.
We give you a confidential valuation based on the most probable sale price of the company. As a business broker in the Madison area, we also look at who would buy it. Local owners, outside firms, and private equity each pay in their own way.
A Broker Opinion of Value tells you what your company would likely bring, with nothing listed. Owners use a BOV every few years to see how their decisions are moving the value of the company, not only as a pre-sale step. It costs $1,695, or up to $3,500 with real estate. If you list with us later, that fee turns into a credit toward your engagement.
Hiring Madison business brokers makes sense when you want many buyers in the room, not just one. When one buyer is at the table, that buyer sets the price. When five serious buyers want the same company, you do.
To sell a business in Madison, you start with an initial consultation. A valuation and a prospectus come next. Your blind profile then reaches buyers, and we substantiate each one before details change hands. Offers, the buyer’s review, the loan, and closing follow in that order.
A Madison-area sale usually needs seven to 16 months after listing. The exact span turns on your industry type, the strength of your financials, and your asking price. It also turns on the terms of the transaction, which are not always about price.
Business brokers in Dane County use different fee models, and ours is tied to your outcome. You pay no retainer and no listing fee. Our compensation is a success fee, and it comes due only at closing.
We use best efforts to maintain your confidentiality throughout the entire process. The first thing a buyer sees is a blind profile without your name. Your staff, customers, and competitors usually learn of the sale only after closing, and site visits run on your schedule.
Tax on a sale depends on how the deal is set up, so your CPA sets the final number. In general, you pay federal tax on the gain plus Wisconsin income tax. The state does not tax part of a qualifying long-term gain. Tidewater works to preserve a beneficial allocation of purchase price in your favor and keeps your CPA and attorney in the loop on terms.
We have more buyers calling than we have good businesses to sell. Anyone looking to buy a business in Madison runs into the same short supply. That gap lets you set your role after closing, how your team moves over, and when you hand off the keys. Tell us the life you want after the sale, and we hold each finalist offer to it.
Ask for a confidential valuation. We base it on what buyers pay for companies like yours today. You hear the number first, and nothing happens with it unless you decide it should.
Or call now: (414) 459-1195 | 
Confidential Process
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."