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A buyer called about your company. What now? What to do before you call back
What to ask on the first call, what not to send yet, and how to know your own number first.
Selling
8 min read
Figures: PitchBook Q2 2026Market Pulse through Q2 2026Read November 12, 2026
Legend Atty · Founder, BridgeBook
Published
Who's calling, and why now?
The short answer: take the call, ask who they are and what they've bought, and don't send numbers yet. A first call isn't an offer. By PitchBook's estimate, about three of every four U.S. private equity buyouts in the second quarter of 2026 were add-ons[1]. So ask which kind of buy this is, and know your own range first.
- Companies U.S. funds owned
- 13,509[1]Second quarter of 2026
- Add-on buyouts
- 885[1]An estimate: about three of every four U.S. buyouts, Q2 2026
- See themselves as sellers
- 79%[2]Companies with $25,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 in revenue, November 2025
Funds own a lot of companies and hold a lot of money they haven't spent. U.S. private equity firms owned 13,509 companies in the second quarter of 2026. They held $1,067,500,000,000 not yet invested as of September 30, 2025, by PitchBook's count[1].
Much of that money goes to add-ons: companies a fund buys to join one it already owns. PitchBook put it this way: "Platform buyout count fell 34% to 289, as sponsors bolted assets onto existing portfolio companies."[1] A sponsor is the fund. So the caller may want your company as a piece of something bigger.
You're also not the only owner thinking about it. Citizens surveyed companies with $25,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 in revenue in November 2025. Of those, 79% saw themselves as possible sellers, and 61% as buyers[2].
What should you ask on the first call?
Six questions, and write down the answers. A first call is a buyer building a list, so you can ask as much as you answer. These are our advice, not a rule anyone publishes.
A first-call card
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Whose money is this? | A fund, a family office and a company in your field buy for different reasons and pay in different ways. |
| Would we be a platform or an add-on? | A platform is a fund's first company in an industry. An add-on joins one it already owns. |
| What have you bought near our size? | Ask for names you can look up. A buyer that has closed at your size knows the work ahead. |
| How would you pay for it? | Cash at closing, a loan, a note to you, an earnout or shares you keep. Each lands differently. |
| What would you need to see, and when? | Their list tells you how serious they are and how much of your time it will take. |
| What's your timing? | A buyer with a deadline behaves differently from one building a list for next year. |
Our advice, not a published list.
Then thank them and say you'll call back. You don't owe a buyer an answer on the first call, or a number.
What can you send now, and what waits?
Little goes out before an NDA. A buyer will often send their own NDA after the first call. Have your attorney read it before you sign: check how long it lasts and whether it stops them hiring your people.
What to send, and when
| What they ask for | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| What the company does, where it works and roughly how big it is, as a range | Send now | It's mostly public already, and it lets them say if you fit. |
| Monthly numbers, three years of results and tax returns | After an NDA your attorney has read | An NDA is a signed promise to keep what you share private. |
| Your add-backs, the owner costs you add back to profit, with the paper behind each | After an NDA your attorney has read | They'll test every add-back, so send it with its receipts. |
| Names of customers, staff and main suppliers, and their contracts | Not yet | These usually wait for a signed letter of intent, the offer you agree to, and a buyer you've checked. |
Common practice, our advice. Your attorney may want it tighter.
If they're a competitor, go slower still. A competitor who reads your customer list and walks away still knows it. More on keeping a sale private.
Is one buyer enough?
Rarely. One buyer is a price. Several is a market. With one, you learn what that buyer will pay. With three side by side, you learn which terms each will give ground on.
Larger sales usually draw more than one. In IBBA's Q2 2026 survey of advisors, 87% of deals over $5,000,000 drew at least three offers, and 33% drew ten or more[3]. That survey groups deals by sale price, not by yearly sales.
Several buyers also change the terms. A buyer who knows others are bidding asks for less time alone with you. One law firm's data on private equity deals says it plainly: in a hot auction, buyers often get no exclusivity[4]. Exclusivity is a set period when you can't talk to other buyers. Who buys a company your size.
Know your number before the second call
A buyer will ask what you want. Have a range of your own before they name theirs. Buyers price EBITDA: yearly profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Type your sales and your margin below.
Know your number first
Industry: All industries
IRS, S corporations with $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 in sales, tax year 2023, our math. Change it to yours.
Your numbers
Pick or type your yearly sales and a margin to see the EBITDA and what our sold-deal data puts on it.
Other publishers' figures, not ours
| Company value | Multiple of EBITDA | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000,000 to $25,000,000 | 5.9x | GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025 |
| $25,000,000 to $50,000,000 | 6.6x | GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025 |
| $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 | 8.7x | GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025 |
| $100,000,000 to $250,000,000 | 10.0x | GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025 |
| $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 | 5.5x | TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026 |
| $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 | 7.3x | TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026 |
| $50,000,000 to $200,000,000 | 9.0x | TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026 |
| $200,000,000 to $500,000,000 | 11.4x | TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026 |
These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.
The valuation asks your sales and profit again, then your name, email and cell phone, and shows a range.
The range is from the sold-deal data behind our calculator, and it stops at companies that sold for $50,000,000. Past that, the block shows no range. Then see how much of a price reaches your bank.
What a dedicated advisor would do from here
The buyer who called can stay in. They just stop being the only one. Here's what happens if you bring the call to us.
- Your advisor looks at who else should see your company, so the caller isn't the only bid.
- We write your listing, and you read and approve it before any buyer does.
- Every buyer signs an NDA for your listing before your name, books or files open.
- You can block anyone, a competitor included.
- The buyer who called can be one of the bidders, on the same terms as the rest.
Here's how we'd run a sale your size, and how long a larger sale takes.
Questions owners ask after the call
Should I take a call from a private equity firm?
Yes, and listen more than you talk. A first call is a buyer building a list. Ask who they are and what they've bought before you share anything.
What should I not send a buyer yet?
Your monthly numbers wait for an NDA your attorney has read. Anything that names customers or staff waits longer, usually for a signed letter of intent.
Is an unsolicited offer a good offer?
You can't tell from one. With one buyer you have a price; with several you have a market.
What is an add-on?
A company a fund buys to join one it already owns. About three of every four U.S. private equity buyouts in the second quarter of 2026 were add-ons, by PitchBook's estimate.
Where these numbers come from
- PitchBook, Q2 2026 US PE Breakdown. Second quarter of 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
- Citizens, M&A Market Set to Broaden as Confidence Surges (2026 M&A Outlook). Survey of November 2025: 276 companies with $25,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 in revenue and 124 private equity firms. Read November 12, 2026.
- IBBA and M&A Source (PR Newswire), The Market Pulse Survey Q2 2026 Reports the Latest Trends in Business Sales up to $50,000,000. Second quarter of 2026: 255 advisors, 181 closed deals. Read November 12, 2026.
- Goodwin, Durations in M&A Exclusivity Periods Increased Significantly Since 2021. 2021 and 2022 deals. Read November 12, 2026.
Outside figures are other publishers', named and dated, and they don't feed our calculator. How we use outside figures
Keep reading
- Larger companiesWho Buys a Company Your SizeThe kinds of buyer for a mid-size company, how each pays, and what each does after closing.
- Larger companiesHow Long It Takes to Sell a Larger CompanyWhat happens in each month of a sale, from getting ready to the wire, and what a first offer commits you to.
- Larger companiesFrom Sale Price to Cash at ClosingWhat comes off the price in the letter before money reaches your bank, in the order it happens.
- SellingHow to sell a businessThe steps from a first valuation to closing day, and what to get ready before buyers look.
- Larger companiesAverage Profit Margin by Company SizeWhat companies your size keep as profit, by size and by industry, from tax returns the IRS publishes.
- Larger companiesWhat a $10,000,000 Company Is WorthWhen buyers stop counting your pay as profit, and who can buy a company this size.
One important decision. Two good places to start.
Before you call them back
Bring what the buyer said. Your advisor tells you what to ask next, what to hold back, and who else should see it.
Your exit credit comes off our success fee at closing and grows with your yearly sales: $5,000 under $5,000,000 in sales ($2,500 for your valuation report, plus $2,500 for your advisor call or for starting your listing), up to $50,000 at $100,000,000 or more.
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