Sell your agency
Selling your agency, with founders who have sold businesses of their own
Selling the business you built is one of the biggest decisions you will make. At Motion Advisory Partners we help agency founders work out what they want, prepare properly, find buyers who fit and negotiate terms that hold up after completion.
- Who this is for
- Founders and shareholders of agencies and related businesses exploring a full or partial sale, or responding to an approach.
- Who you will work with
- Rick Palmer and Rob Reid, founding partners.
- Recent deal
- FUEL and 53Six
Start with objectives
What does a good outcome look like for you?
Price is one part of the answer. The rest is personal and commercial: timing, your future role, the people in the business, the buyer's plan and how much of the value is certain on the day you complete.
We spend time on this before anything else, because the objectives shape the buyers we approach, the structure we negotiate and the way we run the process. A founder who wants to step back within two years needs a different buyer from one who wants to lead a bigger platform for a decade.
- Value. What the business is worth to different buyers, and the difference between headline value and the cash that reaches shareholders. See enterprise value and equity value.
- Buyer suitability. Strategic fit, culture, the credibility of the plan and what the buyer will do with your clients and team.
- Deal structure. Cash at completion, deferred consideration, earnouts and rollover equity all carry different risks and rewards.
- Your future role. Staying, transitioning or leaving, and the terms that go with each.
- The people in the business. Retention, incentives and communication, which often matter as much to founders as the number.
An illustrative approach
Every sale is different and the sequence flexes to suit the business and the market. This is the shape of our work. It is a guide, not a fixed programme.
Objectives and options
Partner led conversations to establish what you want, whether a sale is the right route now, and what the realistic alternatives are. Sometimes the answer is to wait and prepare.
Preparation
Financial information, revenue quality, client concentration, leadership and contracts, organised so that buyers can understand the business quickly and value it properly. Our preparation page and guide go into detail.
Positioning
The story of the business: what it does distinctively, why clients choose it, where growth comes from and why it fits a buyer's strategy. Written for the buyers who matter.
Identifying suitable buyers
Research, intelligence and relationships, supported by technology, to map strategic, investor backed and international buyers whose plans your business would advance. Quality of fit over length of list.
Managing a process
Confidential approaches, information flow, management meetings, indicative and final offers, and keeping competitive tension where it helps you. The partners run the conversations.
Negotiation
Value, structure, protections and the detail of heads of terms, informed by having sat on the founder's side of this table ourselves.
Completion support
Working alongside your legal and tax advisors through due diligence, the sale agreement and completion mechanics, and staying close until the deal is done.
Recent deal
Our recent work on the sell side
We advised 53Six on its acquisition by FUEL, working closely with the founders of both agencies to bring them together within the group.
All our dealsWe advised 53Six on its acquisition by FUEL. Announced 9 October 2026.
Read the announcementPartner involvement
The people who start the conversation see it through
We are deliberately lean and partner led. Rick and Rob have built, bought, sold, scaled and invested in businesses themselves, which means the advice comes from people who have made these decisions with their own companies.
Rick Palmer
Founding partner. Founder, investor and M&A advisor, with numerous transactions led in marketing, creative and technology businesses.
Rob Reid
Founding partner. Founder and advisor across multiple creative, media and investment businesses, involved in hundreds of international transactions.
Questions
Common questions about selling
General answers to help you get your bearings. For advice on your own situation, talk to us.
How long does a sale take?
It varies with preparation, the buyer group, due diligence and how quickly decisions are made on both sides. We do not quote standard timings, because they tend to be wrong in both directions. What we can do early is identify the things most likely to slow a process and deal with them before it starts.
Should I respond to an unsolicited approach?
Treat it as information, not an offer. Before sharing anything, decide what you want, understand what the business might be worth to others and consider whether a wider process would serve you better. Our guide on choosing the right buyer covers the trade-offs.
Will I have to stay after the sale?
Often, for a period, particularly where part of the consideration is deferred or contingent. The length and terms are negotiable and depend on the buyer's plan and your objectives. It is one of the first things we discuss.
What do buyers want to see?
Clean, consistent financial information, visibility of future revenue, a sensible spread of clients, a leadership team that does not depend entirely on the founder, and a clear reason the business wins work. Our article on what acquirers look for goes further.
What is an earnout and should I accept one?
An earnout is contingent consideration paid later if agreed conditions are met. It can bridge a gap between what a buyer will pay now and what you believe the business is worth, but it carries risk. See the glossary entry and the deal structure guide.
How are your fees structured?
We agree fees for each engagement and discuss them openly at the outset. The structure depends on the scope and nature of the work, so we do not publish a schedule. What we can say is how the work is organised: in four week sprints, each with agreed objectives and outputs, so you can see what you are getting and decide sprint by sprint.
How long do we have to commit for?
One sprint at a time. We work in four week sprints with clear objectives agreed at the start of each, and you choose whether to continue at the end of each one. Many advisory engagements ask for a long commitment up front; ours is designed so that you never have to.
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What is your agency worth?
Twenty quick questions, about three minutes, and an indicative range built on the multiples acquirers are paying now, with the three things that would move it. Nothing to sign up to.
Related resources
Thinking about a sale?
A confidential conversation with a founding partner. No documents needed and no obligation.