For a healthy mid-market company, total transaction costs are often discussed as about 3% to 10% of the sale price. Smaller deals sit toward the higher end of that percent. The advisory fee is usually the largest line. International Business Brokerage & Realty writes its own fee in an engagement letter. These are planning ranges, not a quote and not a valuation multiple. A success fee is a percent of proceeds. A multiple is a number applied to earnings. Keep this page separate from the MSP Valuation Primer.
| Cost | Typical published range | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| M&A advisory / success fee | Often discussed around 1% to 8% of deal value, inside a wider 3% to 10% success-fee conversation at some advisory firms | The broker or advisor |
| Legal counsel | Often discussed from the tens of thousands into several hundred thousand on larger deals | Drafting and negotiation |
| Quality of earnings | Often discussed from roughly $30k into six figures as the file gets larger | Accountants testing the earnings |
| Tax and wealth planning | Varies with the structure | What you keep after tax |
| Retainers and expenses | Stated in the engagement | Work before a buyer is under LOI |
Why the fee is usually a success fee
Most sell-side engagements pay the advisor mainly when a deal closes. The percent often steps down as the price gets larger. A retainer, when there is one, is often credited against that success fee. Breakwater M&A, for example, describes its own success fee publicly as ranging from 3% to 10% depending on size, plus a smaller upfront amount credited at closing. That is their card, not ours.
A fee is justified only if the process is worth it to you. Nobody on this site can promise that an advisor’s work will raise the price by more than the fee.
What MSP owners add to the bill
Deal structure changes the after-tax result: cash at close, an earnout, and an equity rollover are different. Preparation changes diligence. An MSP that shows up with a clean MRR schedule, assignable contracts, and a cyber baseline spends less of the process reconstructing basic facts. That preparation has a cost in time. It is still cheaper than a retrade.
What this means here
Ask what the cost buys: a confidential set of buyers, a CIM, and someone comparing LOI structure. If you want that conversation for an MSP of about 10 to 300 people in the Southeast, including Central Florida and the Space Coast, use the sell-side intake. If you are buying, the fee conversation is different and starts on the buy-side form.