01 / The ladder
The four stages of disclosure.
Every buyer starts at the bottom and earns each next layer. You set how far your own ladder goes — most sellers never open the last one.
Stage 01 · Open to screened buyers
The blind teaser
Industry, region and broad revenue and earnings bands — enough to interest a real buyer, never enough to name you. No business name, no address, no staff- or customer-identifying detail.
Stage 02 · Behind a signed NDA
The confidential memorandum
The fuller picture — how the business makes money, what transfers with it, the recast figures. Released only after a qualified buyer signs your NDA. You see every signature.
Stage 03 · Recorded, need-to-know access
The data room
The underlying records: financials, contracts, leases. Shared only with buyers far enough along to need them, under access that is logged on your timeline.
Stage 04 · Only if you choose it
A named public listing
Some sellers decide reach matters more than discretion and opt into a named listing. It is never the default, and it stays your decision per mandate.
02 / The people
Who sees what.
- The public sees a blind teaser at most — nothing that identifies you or your business.
- Screened, qualified buyers see the teaser, then sign for the memorandum.
- Buyers in real diligence see the data room, under recorded access.
- The people working your mandate see what their work needs — and every access is on your timeline.
Qualification happens before disclosure, not after. A buyer who cannot show they could plausibly close never gets past the teaser — which is also why confidentiality and buyer quality are the same problem.
03 / The hard rules
What stays sealed.
Your name, your business name, your address and identifying detail are not in the teaser — ever. The memorandum moves only behind a signature. Data-room access is granted per buyer and recorded per document.
You can pause disclosure at any point — a buyer who has seen less stays where they are — and withdrawing your mandate seals what was never released.
04 / The exception
If you choose to go named.
For some businesses a named public listing reaches buyers a blind teaser cannot — the brand itself is the attraction. Where that trade favors you, you can opt into a named listing for your mandate. It is a per-mandate decision, never a default, and the reasoning is discussed with you before anything is published.
05 / Your next step
See it from the inside.
The free exit-readiness check is itself private — no listing, no credit check, no sign to anyone that you asked. It is the same discretion the mandate runs on, applied to the first question.