For business owners
How to find a buyer for your business.
Finding a buyer is not a marketing problem. It is a matching problem. The buyers who complete are almost always the ones who were already looking for what you have, and most of them will never see a listing.
In short: work backwards. Rather than advertising a business and waiting to see who responds, read what acquirers have already published about what they want to buy, shortlist the handful whose criteria genuinely match, and approach those only.
Current BusinessWanted acquisition demand
555
approved acquisition requirements across 14 UK sectors, most recently updated 13 July 2026.
Source: BusinessWanted.com, approved acquisition requirements currently published. Data read 19 September 2026.
Who is actually buying UK businesses
Buyer type shapes everything that follows: how the deal is funded, how much cash is paid at completion, how long you are expected to stay, and what happens to your staff. This is the current mix across every approved requirement on the platform. Trade buyers account for 61% of live demand.
Live requirements by buyer type
- Trade buyer337 (61%)
- Private equity108 (19%)
- Search fund54 (10%)
- High net worth individual42 (8%)
- Investor backed trade group10 (2%)
- Family office4 (1%)
Our note on buyer types explains how each behaves once a transaction starts.
Where buyers are looking
Geography matters more than owners expect. A buyer building regional density will pay more for a business inside their footprint than a larger business outside it.
Target location of live requirements
- UK wide91 (16%)
- Scotland82 (15%)
- England – Midlands80 (14%)
- England – South East76 (14%)
- England – North74 (13%)
- Wales68 (12%)
- Nationwide with regional focus64 (12%)
- Western Europe10 (2%)
Five ways owners find buyers, ranked by exposure
- Responding to a published acquisition requirement. Lowest exposure, because nothing about your business is published and the buyer has already declared their criteria.
- A direct approach to a known competitor or supplier. Low exposure, but a narrow field and an awkward conversation if it stalls.
- An introduction through your accountant or lawyer. Useful, but limited to the buyers in their network.
- A targeted process run by a corporate finance adviser. Higher cost, higher exposure, but genuine competitive tension.
- An open listing on a business for sale marketplace. Widest reach and the highest risk that staff, customers and competitors learn you are selling.
How to approach a buyer without revealing who you are
Send a short anonymous outline: sector, approximate turnover band, region, profitability in broad terms, and why you are exploring a sale. Quote the reference of the requirement you are answering, for example BW000295. That is enough for a serious acquirer to say yes or no. Our team passes the outline to the buyer, and your identity is disclosed only when you authorise it.
Questions to ask before you disclose anything
- How is the acquisition funded, and is the funding committed today?
- How many businesses have you acquired, and when did you last complete?
- What happens to the management team and the staff after completion?
- How much of the price is paid at completion, and how much is deferred or conditional?
- Who advises you, and how quickly can you move to heads of terms?
Common questions
How do I find a buyer for my business?
Start from buyers who have already said what they want to acquire. Approved acquisition requirements on BusinessWanted.com set out sector, size, geography and deal structure, so you can identify the small number of acquirers whose stated criteria match your business rather than approaching the market at large.
Should I approach a buyer directly or use a broker?
A direct approach works where you have identified a specific funded buyer whose requirement matches your business. A broker earns their fee where competitive tension is needed or where no obvious buyer exists. Many owners use a direct introduction first and appoint advisers once terms are being discussed.
How do I protect confidentiality when approaching a buyer?
Say nothing identifying in the first message. A sector, an approximate turnover band, a region and the reason you are exploring a sale are enough for a buyer to say whether they are interested. Identity follows a confidentiality undertaking, and only with your authority.
What makes a buyer credible?
A stated funding position, a clear acquisition rationale, previous completed transactions or a named adviser, and a defined size and sector range. A buyer who is interested in anything is usually buying nothing.
What should my first approach say?
Four short paragraphs: what the business does, approximate scale and profitability, why you are considering a sale, and the reference of the requirement you are responding to. Attach nothing at this stage.
How many buyers should I speak to?
For most owner managed UK companies, three to five credible conversations is the useful range. Fewer leaves you without a comparison. More creates confidentiality risk without improving the outcome.
Source and date. Figures on this page are counted from approved acquisition requirements currently published on BusinessWanted.com, read 19 September 2026. They exclude unapproved enquiries, withdrawn requirements, historic records and third party data, and they change as requirements are added, updated or retired. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. How a requirement is approved is set out in our methodology.
Who is buying businesses like mine · Selling a business · What an acquisition mandate is · Demand by sector · Current UK acquisition demand figures · All owner guidance
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