Buy an agency
Acquisition advisory for buyers who want the right business
Motion Advisory Partners helps strategic buyers, investor backed platforms and ambitious independents define what they are looking for, find it, assess it and complete the transaction. This is advisory work built around your criteria. We do not run a marketplace of businesses for sale.
- Who this is for
- Agency groups, networks, investor backed platforms and founders planning acquisitions in marketing, media, experience, sport, content and marketing technology.
- Recent deal
- Fanatic and Studio Kin
Acquisition objectives
Why buy, and what has to be true for it to work?
Good acquisitions start with a clear reason: a capability the business cannot build fast enough, a market or client base it wants to reach, a team it wants to bring in, or scale that changes its position with clients and investors.
We work with buyers to turn that reason into criteria that can be tested against real businesses. That means being honest about what is essential, what is desirable and what would be a reason to walk away.
- Capability requirements. Disciplines, technology, sector expertise or content capability that the acquisition must bring.
- Market requirements. Geography, client sectors, relationships or audience access.
- Financial shape. Size, profitability, revenue quality and the structures you are able to offer.
- Cultural fit. Leadership style, ways of working and how the founders see their future.
How an acquisition engagement tends to run
An illustrative sequence. The emphasis shifts depending on whether you have a target in mind or are starting from a strategy.
Criteria
Turning strategy into a clear, testable set of acquisition criteria, including the deal structures you can realistically offer and the integration model you intend to use.
Market mapping
Research and intelligence across the relevant sector, supported by data and technology, to identify businesses that fit, including those not currently for sale.
Approaching businesses
Discreet, partner led conversations with founders. How a buyer first appears matters enormously to how a founder responds, and to the price and terms that follow.
Assessing fit
Commercial, financial and cultural assessment before an offer is made, so that the buyer understands revenue quality, client concentration, people dependence and growth drivers.
Negotiation
Value, structure, protections and the terms of heads of terms, with a focus on a deal that works for both sides after completion, when the founders are your colleagues.
Transaction support
Working with your legal, tax and financial advisors through due diligence, documentation and completion mechanics such as locked box or completion accounts.
Integration considerations
Think about the day after completion before you sign
The considerations we raise with every buyer. The right plan depends on the businesses involved.
- Brand and structure. Will the acquired business keep its name, operate as a division or be absorbed? Each choice sends a message to clients and staff.
- Leadership and incentives. Founders' roles, reporting lines and the link between earnout or rollover equity terms and the behaviour you want to encourage.
- Clients. Communication, continuity of relationships and the shared opportunities that justified the deal.
- Systems and finance. Reporting, cash management and the practicalities of working as one group.
- Culture. The part that is hardest to diligence and most often decides whether the acquisition delivers.
Recent deal
Our recent work with an acquirer
We advised Fanatic on its acquisition of Bristol creative agency Studio Kin, strengthening Fanatic's brand and creative capabilities.
All our dealsWe advised Fanatic on the acquisition. 21 October 2026.
Read the announcementQuestions
Common questions from buyers
Do you have businesses for sale?
We do not operate a marketplace or a list of businesses for sale, and we do not share confidential information about businesses we are advising. We help buyers define criteria and map the market, including businesses that are not currently for sale.
Can you help if we already have a target in mind?
Yes. Assessment, approach, negotiation and transaction support can start from a single target as easily as from a strategy.
How do you approach founders on our behalf?
Discreetly, partner to founder, and with respect for the fact that most founders were not looking to sell. Having been on that side of the conversation ourselves shapes how we do it.
Do you work with investors as well as strategic buyers?
Yes. We work with investor backed platforms and their management teams as well as strategic acquirers and independent groups.
Related resources
Planning an acquisition?
Tell us what you are trying to achieve and we will give you a straight view on whether and how we can help.