Terms & Conditions

Signing up to SME Market

Signing up, viewing and contacting other users regarding listed business for sale and businesses wanted listings is free of charge. It is not possible to contact users who have listed businesses for sale and businesses wanted unless signed up.

All users will have access to a dashboard in which they can add listings, create email alerts and purchase credits.

SME Market is for the use of industry professionals only however we aim to be as open as possible when admitting users to the platform. We welcome members from M&A advisory firms (buy & sell-side), Registered Business Professionals (Directors, In-house Corporate Development / M&A teams), Investment Bankers, Chartered Accountants, Corporate Finance Advisers, Private Equity Investors, Search Funds, Family Offices, MBI Candidates, Corporate Legal firms and other professionals who acquire/sell businesses. This is not an exhaustive list.

Upon signing up, our team will review the email address of the new user and check the URL details with publicly available resources. A check typically involves visiting the URL of the email address used to sign up. If it is unclear from our initial check as to the validity and relevancy of the new user, we may request additional information. Should we need additional information, we will contact the potential user via the email address provided on sign up. However, this is rare and the majority of users are admitted the promptly on the same day, without the need for SME Market to contact them. We reserve the right to not admit any new user.

Once signed up and fully admitted, users can contact other users regarding specific listings. More on this below.

Confidentially

Confidentiality is extremely important to the M&A Industry. SME Market has been designed with this in mind:

• It is not possible to see or contact another user without being a verified and admitted user.
• It is only possible to contact another user that has listed a business for sale or businesses wanted listing. i.e. it is not possible to find another user and message them directly any other way.
• It is up to the user that has added a listing to respond to the user who has contacted them.
• It is not possible to see a full list of other users at any time.
• SME Market may list a link or profile of an SME Market listing on LinkedIn to maximise interest however for anyone that visits the link, the above still applies.

Communication and Messaging via SME Market

By signing up to SME Market and adding a business for sale and/or businesses wanted listings you are giving permission for other users to message you directly via the site. See the Privacy Policy for more information.

If a user creates an email alert to be notified when a specific listing matching their criteria is added to the website, they are giving permission for SME Market to email them when such a listing is added.
Upon sign-up, a user will receive introductory emails welcoming them to the site and explaining how specific features work. A user can unsubscribe from these at any point via an ‘unsubscribe’ link in the respective emails.

It is only possible to message other users regarding specific listings. Users must only contact another user regarding the listing and not solicit their products or services through the SME Market messaging system. Users must avoid inappropriate language and behavior towards other users. Should you experience this with any user, please report this to SME Market via the Contact Us page.

Credits and Adding a Listing

To add a listing a user must first purchase credits. This can be done via the dashboard. Note this is only possible once signed up and approved as a user.

Credits can be purchased singularly or in bulk packages. The cost per credit varies depending on the package a user chooses.

Credits do not expire and can be used immediately or at any point in the future.

Once a user has purchased a credit(s) they can now add a business for sale listing and/or a businesses wanted listing (Acquisition Criteria). We can transfer credits between users of the same firm however can take up to 3 working days. To transfer credits please inform us via the Contact Us page.

To add a business for sale listing a user must either be a mandated adviser to sell the business (or a majority stake) or be a significant shareholder of the business. The business must have revenue of £1m+ and or Adjusted EBITDA of £100k+. If EBITDA or adjusted EBITDA has not been calculated then Operating Profit / Profit before Tax will suffice but must be £100k+. It is advisable to note the profit metric used within the free text “Business Description” field. All details added must be accurate and the user takes full responsibility for any details added to a listing.

A user has the option to include an attachment with their listing. All attachments must be relevant to the respective business for sale/businesses wanted listing.

A business for sale listing will automatically expire after 6 months to ensure listings are relevant and up to date. The listing will remain on the respective user account and can be relisted for 1 credit.

Should a business listing no longer be available or relevant, we recommend users pause or remove the listing via their account dashboard.

To add a businesses wanted listing, the user must be either be the company looking to acquire, an investor looking to acquire or an adviser working on behalf of an acquisitive client.

We reserve the right to remove a listing at any time. Very occasionally we will correct a typo or make minor grammatical changes to improve the marketability of a listing for the benefit of all involved.

We welcome feedback and ideas of how we can improve the site. Please reach out to us via the Contact Us page with any ideas or suggestions. Thank you.