Most owners selling a Swiss mid-sized company do it once. The process that follows is unfamiliar, runs for six to nine months, and is decided long before the first buyer is contacted.
Preparation is where price is set
By the time a buyer sees the numbers, the room to improve them has gone. Preparation means reviewing the figures a buyer will scrutinise, correcting what can still be corrected, and establishing a defensible valuation range with the owner before the market is approached.
The process runs to a timetable
A controlled process has a shortlist of strategic and financial buyers, a staged release of information, indicative offers, due diligence in a managed data room, and negotiation through to signing. The timetable is what preserves competitive tension.
Confidentiality is a structural problem
Owners are rarely worried about price alone. They are worried that staff, customers and competitors learn of the sale before it is agreed. That constraint shapes how many buyers are approached and in what sequence.