Deal Advisory is an Adelaide-based M&A advisory firm. We help owners across South Australia and the Northern Territory sell businesses valued between $1M and $20M. Our team are active investors and operators, so we approach every sale the way an owner would.
Our director, Oliver Ciancio, owns and operates businesses in South Australia alongside the advisory practice, so we have sat on the owner's side of the table: making payroll, hiring, state licensing, ReturnToWorkSA, and deciding when the time is right to sell. That changes how we advise.
We price a business the way a buyer in this market will price it, not off an east-coast template. We know which acquirers are active in SA, and we can meet them across a table rather than on a Teams call.
We understand that in a state this size, discretion is the difference between a clean sale and a rumour. Our clients' businesses are the ones we drive past every day.
Every part of your engagement is done in Adelaide by our own team. No offshore analysts, no outsourced writing, no call centre. The people you meet are the people doing the work. Your financials, your customer list and your reasons for selling stay inside a small team you can name. In a market where everyone knows everyone, that matters more than it does in Sydney.
No buyer learns your business's name until we have vetted them and they have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). That NDA-first rule is at the centre of every sale we run.
A short profile with no name, address or identifying detail.
We qualify each buyer before they sign.
Identifying details and financials go only to signed buyers.
We don't advertise your business on public listing sites. We approach qualified buyers directly through our private networks, so we control who hears about the opportunity and when.
Buyers see the anonymous teaser first. Only once they are vetted and have signed an NDA do they learn who you are. Financials and deeper information are then released in stages as their interest firms up.
With nothing listed publicly and every identifying detail behind an NDA, your sale stays within a small group. You keep running the business day to day, and you decide when to tell staff, customers and suppliers.
Many business sales are listed on public sites and left to wait for enquiries. We find and approach buyers ourselves and run your sale from start to finish.
Our fees are published, so you know what a sale will cost before you sign anything. Every engagement starts with a free, no-obligation scoping session and a tailored proposal with pricing included.
Fully redeemable against the success fee
Of the final sale value
The success fee is a percentage of your final sale price, so the more your business sells for, the more we earn. Our interests stay tied to yours from the first meeting to settlement.
The retainer is credited against the success fee when your business sells, so on a completed sale it does not add to your total cost.
Our sale process typically takes 4 to 12 months, depending on your business's complexity and market conditions. Planning can start well before that if you want to prepare early.
We define your goals, assess what the business is worth and bring in key advisors to set your sale strategy and timeline.
We prepare the anonymous teaser, the information memorandum and supporting documents, and build a list of potential buyers.
We approach qualified buyers directly through our private networks, vet them, and release information only under NDA.
We guide you through due diligence, negotiation and deal structuring through to completion, while you keep running the business.
Recent sales we have advised on. Business names stay confidential.
It varies by broker. Our fees are published: a monthly retainer of $3,000 to $5,000, fully redeemable against a success fee of 3% to 8% of the final sale value. Buy-side and exit planning work is $200 to $500 an hour.
You pay no success fee unless your business sells, because it is a percentage of the final sale price. The monthly retainer is payable while we work on your sale and is credited against the success fee when it sells.
Check they are registered to sell businesses in South Australia, publish their fees and can show recent sales like yours. Ask how they find buyers, how they protect confidentiality, and who will actually run your sale.
We never disclose your business's identity without a signed NDA. Buyers first see an anonymous teaser, we vet them before they sign, and we release details in stages. Nothing is advertised on public listing sites.
Our sale process typically takes 4 to 12 months. Preparation takes 1 to 2 months, buyer attraction 1 to 9 months and sale execution 1 to 3 months. Timing depends on your business's complexity and market conditions.
We specialise in businesses valued between $1M and $20M, from established SMEs to mid-market companies.
Request a free, confidential appraisal. We'll give you a realistic view of what your business could sell for, who is likely to buy it and what a sale would cost. There's no obligation, and nothing is shared without your say-so.
Request a free appraisalCall 1300 412 149
