Sometimes the buyer is us.
Lakeshore invests in and acquires Chicagoland businesses. If we want to buy yours, we say so in writing, up front, with terms. No listing period, no marketing, and no commission. You stay free to take the business to market instead, and if we think that would get you more, we'll say so.
Owner-operated Chicagoland businesses, roughly $1 million to $15 million in revenue.
We look at the same businesses we sell: manufacturing and machine shops, distribution and wholesale, the trades (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping), transportation and logistics, professional practices, business services, healthcare services, food producers and printing. In Chicago and Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, and Northwest Indiana by arrangement.
What makes us want to own one: a team that stays after the owner leaves, revenue that repeats (service contracts, maintenance agreements, customers who reorder), and an owner who wants a clean handover rather than a fast one.
We also take minority or majority stakes. Some owners don't want to leave. They want a partner with capital and a CPA's eye on the numbers, so they can grow for another five years and sell a bigger business later.
Six steps. Weeks, not months.
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Value range
The same free range every owner gets, within two business days. Our number starts from the same evidence we'd use to list the business, and the range is yours whatever you decide.
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A conversation
Thirty minutes with a CPA. What you want out of the sale, what stays, how long you'd like to stay on, and whether the business fits what we own.
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A written indication with terms
If we want to buy, you get it in writing: price or a tight range, structure, what happens to the team, your transition, and timing. No verbal "we'd be interested."
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Your advisors vet it
Send it to your attorney and your CPA. We'll answer their questions directly. If they think a market process would do better, listen to them. Sometimes it will.
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Diligence, in weeks
We've already read the books. Diligence is confirming what we've seen, not discovering it, so it runs in weeks rather than the months a stranger needs.
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Close on your timeline
Some owners want out by year end. Some want a two-year transition with a title and a desk. The transition goes in the purchase agreement.
Less process, and the number is the number.
No listing period
No months on the market waiting for the right buyer to notice, and no listing agreement to sign.
No marketing
No blind profile in circulation, no CIM, no buyer list. Your competitors never see a teaser.
No parade of buyers
One prepared buyer, rather than a dozen management meetings with people who may not have the money.
Confidentiality
Your team, customers and competitors don't hear about it until you decide they should.
One decision-maker
You're negotiating with the people who'll own the business, not an intermediary who has to check with a committee.
No commission
Nothing comes off the price to pay a broker.
A market process can bring a higher price.
When a strategic buyer wants your customers and your crew, or a roll-up needs your territory to complete a platform, they may pay more than we would, because the business is worth more to them than to anyone else. We know this because we run those processes. If we think that's true of your business, we'll tell you, and we'll list it instead.
Some owners simply want to see what the market says. That's reasonable. You stay free to list, with us or with anyone else, and there is no penalty for it. And if we don't want to buy, you'll hear that plainly too, along with why.
If we want to buy, you'll know before anything else happens.
We say so in writing, up front, before any listing work begins. That way there is never a question of whether we're advising you or bidding for you. When we're the buyer, we're the buyer, and we'll tell you to have your own attorney and CPA check our math.
No commission comes off the sale. You stay free to walk away and go to market at any point before signing. The written indication and the value range are yours to keep either way.
In a direct sale we're on the other side of the table, and we don't give legal, tax or investment advice as such. Your advisors are the ones looking out for you.
What owners ask before they talk to us as a buyer.
How is selling to Lakeshore different from listing with Lakeshore?
When we list, we're your representative: we price it, market it, and negotiate against the buyer for a 10% success fee. When we buy, we're the buyer: no commission, no marketing, and your attorney and CPA vet our offer. How a listing runs, step by step, is on sell my business in Chicago.
Won't you lowball me because you already know my numbers?
The value range you receive is the same one we'd use to list the business, and it's yours to take to another broker. If our written indication is below the range, the letter says why, and your advisors see everything. If you think the market would pay more, list it. There's no penalty.
Do I have to sell the whole company?
No. We take minority and majority stakes as well as buying outright, for owners who want capital and a partner for another five years of growth. The terms go in the same written indication.
Can I stay on after the sale?
Usually, and often we'd prefer it. The length of your transition, your role and your pay during it are part of the written terms, not an afterthought.
Sell my business in Chicago More owner questions All services and fees Our approach
Ask us whether we'd buy it.
Thirty minutes with a CPA. If the fit is right, you'll have written terms to show your attorney. If it isn't, you'll know why, and what a listing would look like instead.