How working with Saltaire works
You book a free thirty-minute call. If a module fits, we agree a fixed fee in writing and you pay half up front. We do the work and you get it. Then you decide whether to buy another module or stop there. There's no exclusive to sign and no success fee at the end.
Fixed fees. No exclusives. No success fees.
Three steps. The third one is optional.
- 1
Call.
Thirty minutes, free, no pitch. We figure out what you actually need. Sometimes that's one module. Sometimes it's nothing yet, and we'll say so.
- 2
Pick a module.
Fixed fee, agreed in writing, half up front. You know what you're buying and what it costs before any work starts.
- 3
Get the work.
Add another module, or don't. Nothing you buy commits you to the next piece.
What a fixed fee means here
Some modules have a published price. The rest are scoped, because the work depends on the business. Either way the fee is fixed and agreed in writing before work starts.
Published prices
Scoped means priced per engagement after the intro call. It applies to work like running a whole process or assembling a deal team, where the size of the job isn't known until we've talked.
Scoped isn't open-ended. Once the scope is set, the fee is a fixed number in writing, the same as the published ones.
The full menu is on two pages: sell-side and buy-side. For how other advisors charge, see what M&A advisors charge.
How that differs from the usual engagement
| Everyone else | SALTAIRE |
|---|---|
| 12-month exclusiveYou sign away a year before you know whether it's working. | Buy one moduleOne discrete piece of work, with no obligation to buy the next. |
| Success fee at closeA percentage of your life's work, owed when the deal closes. | Fixed fee, agreed up frontIn writing, before any work starts. Half up front. |
| All or nothingEverything comes bundled, whether you need it or not. | Start anywhere, stop anytimeJust the valuation, just the offer review, or the whole process. |
| Advisor gets paid if it closesSo the advisor needs a sale to happen. | Advisor gets paid for the workSo the advice doesn't depend on whether you sell. |
The standard M&A engagement is built for the advisor, not the owner. Everything comes bundled, whether you need it or not — so the owner who just wants a second read on a letter of intent ends up signing a year-long exclusive to get one.
We don't work that way. Every piece of a sell-side process — the valuation, the confidential information memorandum, the buyer outreach, the offer review, the diligence — is something you can buy on its own. If you need all of it, buy all of it, still at a fixed fee. Most owners don't.
What owners and buyers ask first
How much does an M&A advisor cost at Saltaire Partners?
Each module has its own fixed fee, agreed in writing before work starts, with half paid up front. A range of value opinion is $1,000, a confidential information memorandum is $4,000, and an offer evaluation is $500 per offer. Larger engagements, including the full sale process, are scoped after the intro call, then fixed in writing the same way.
What is a fee-for-service M&A advisor?
One who's paid for the work, not the outcome. You buy a defined piece of work, such as a valuation, a confidential information memorandum or a review of an offer, at a fixed fee agreed in writing. There's no exclusive engagement to sign and no success fee at closing.
What happens on the first call?
It's thirty minutes, free and not a pitch, by video or phone. We work out which module fits, if any. Sometimes the answer is none yet. If one does fit, you'll know its fixed fee before you decide anything.
Do I have to buy more than one module?
No. Buy one and stop there, or add the next. Nothing you buy commits you to the next piece, and there's no exclusive to sign.
What size of business does Saltaire Partners work with?
Owner-operated businesses worth roughly $3–100M in enterprise value, on both sides of a sale: owners preparing for or running an exit, and buyers finding and closing acquisitions.
Where is Saltaire Partners based?
In the New York metropolitan area. Calls are by video or phone, with owners and buyers anywhere.
Not sure what you need?
That's what the call is for.
Free. No pitch. No obligation to buy anything.
Thirty minutes
By video or phone, at a time you pick.
We work out what you need
Which module fits, if any. Sometimes the answer is none yet.
You leave with a number
If a module fits, you'll know its fixed fee before you decide anything.