A transition — to family, to management, to a buyer, or to nobody yet — tests one thing above all: whether the business can explain itself without you in the room. Most Alberta companies cannot, and that is the single biggest reason transitions go badly. We close that gap, and the company keeps the capability long after the paperwork is signed.
Advisors who’ve been through hundreds of transactions on the buyer side know exactly what acquirers look for — and what they use to discount your price. Here’s what we see most often.
Owner add-backs aren’t documented. One-time expenses aren’t normalized. Acquirers apply their own adjustments — and they’re not in your favour.
Working capital disputes are the #1 post-close risk. Most owners don’t know their WC peg or how to negotiate it before signing.
Key-person dependency, customer concentration, undocumented processes — buyers price all of it. You need 3–6 months minimum to de-risk before going to market.
Owners who engage advisors after receiving an LOI are negotiating from weakness. The preparation window is 12–18 months before you want to close.
These are not hypothetical. They come from transitions where the business could not evidence its own performance once someone with money at stake started checking.
If you’re in one of these situations, the window to improve your outcome is open — but it closes as you approach market.
You’re thinking about timing but haven’t engaged an M&A advisor yet. This is the ideal window to close the advisory gap and build a clean data room.
A buyer approached you directly. Before you engage, you need independent valuation support and someone who understands how acquirers think about deal structure.
The business is staying internal, but you need fair valuation, clean financials, and a transition structure that protects both sides.
Your banker is focused on the deal. We focus on your financial data quality and ensure you’re not negotiating against yourself at the table.
Most advisors are either transaction-focused or accounting-focused. Very few come from the buy side. That changes what they can do for you.
| Capability | M&A Lawyers | Accountants | CBV Firms | AJM Solutions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-market data preparation | ✗ | Limited | ✗ | ✓ Core service |
| EBITDA normalization & add-back documentation | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ + buyer-side framing |
| Buyer-side transaction experience | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ PE / IB background |
| Working capital peg negotiation | Limited | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ Explicit advisory |
| Operational risk identification | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ Data diagnostic |
| Independent of deal completion fees | No — deal-fee aligned | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ Flat advisory fee |
| 12–18 month pre-market engagement | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ Core model |
| Data room preparation & quality of earnings | ✗ | Partial | ✗ | ✓ Full preparation |
Nothing here is priced until we have read a sample of your own data and told you in writing what it says. That first look is free. Only then does Phase 1 get scoped, and every phase after it has a fixed scope and explicit deliverables.
Three principals. Each brings a distinct competency. No junior staff on lead engagements.
We do not publish a fee, because an honest one depends entirely on the state of your information — and neither of us knows that until someone has read it. Here is what the work itself involves. The number comes after the first look, not before it.
Where you stand before you commit to a full engagement. Data quality, EBITDA normalization, buyer-readiness gaps. Most owners find this changes their thinking on timeline.
Discovery, strategy development, planning and structuring, implementation support. Scope depends on business complexity, number of shareholders, and whether a transaction is involved.
Multiple shareholders, family disputes, estate freezes, cross-border considerations, or a full transaction. Advisory fees are typically the smaller part once legal and tax work is added.
One thing worth knowing: AJM’s advisory fees are typically the smaller part of the total cost once legal, accounting, and tax work is included. We are explicit upfront about scope — what we cover and what you will need from other professionals — so there are no surprises. Every engagement is scoped and priced only after we have read a sample of your own data and put the first look in front of you in writing. See how the first look works.
Most Alberta owners in the $20M–$150M range reach a transition with a company that still runs on what one person remembers. Closing that gap is what makes the business durable — whether it sells, passes to family, or simply carries on without you in every room.
Book a free first look →
Or book a discovery call
The first look is free and takes about 45 minutes. Or call +1 403 473 8547.
Most of what makes a business sell well — clean margin data, a defensible EBITDA, cash flow you can forecast — is the same work that makes it more profitable to own in the meantime. That is the fractional CFO seat, and it is where most owners should start.