Is my company ready for a transmission?

Philippe runs a commercial HVAC business in Wavre. Installation and maintenance of climate systems for offices, retail, and light industrial sites. A business he had built and run for fifty-six years.

When a serious buyer approached him, Philippe was ready to talk. The business was profitable. Maintenance contracts were stable and recurring. He had a loyal team. From the outside, it looked like a clean deal.

The due diligence told a different story. The buyer's team spent six weeks inside the business. What they found was not fraud or hidden losses. What they found was dependency. Philippe quoted every contract above fifty thousand euros himself. His operations lead had never run a quarterly client review without Philippe present. There was no documented procedure for the most complex installation type. The financial reporting showed total revenue and total cost, but gave no view of which contract types were actually profitable.

The buyer came back with a revised offer. Significantly lower. And with a condition: Philippe would need to stay in the business for three years post-sale to manage the transition. That was not the exit Philippe had planned.

The business was worth less than Philippe expected. Not because of its financial performance. Because of what would happen to that performance the day Philippe walked out the door.