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Guides to selling and buying a business in the UAE
Plain writing on what UAE SMEs actually trade for, how a confidential process runs, and what buyers verify before they will fund a transaction.
The buyer-yield test explained for UAE SME sales
Buyers here pay from their own capital, so they ask what the business hands back each year. The four inputs, a worked example, why 25 to 35 percent is the working band, and the ways the test can mislead.
Read the guide 8 October 2026Why exclusive mandates outperform open listings in UAE SME sales
Why one adviser with a written mandate protects confidentiality, pricing and time better than several open listings, what a sound mandate must contain, and the fair objections owners raise before signing.
Read the guide 1 October 2026What a defensible UAE business valuation report contains
A valuation written for a buyer to check, not just an owner to like. The three checks it runs, SDE multiple, buyer yield, asset floor, why every figure needs a source, and the patterns that make a report fall apart the first time a serious buyer reads it.
Read the guide 24 September 2026How buyers verify the profit of a UAE business
The profit line is a claim. How a buyer proves it from VAT returns, bank statements and payroll, the add-backs that survive diligence and the ones that do not, and what a prepared file should hold before anyone asks.
Read the guide 17 September 2026License transfers and why UAE SME deals stall after signing
A signed agreement is not a completed transfer. The license amendment, the immigration file, the bank mandate and the third party consents that decide the timetable, and the five failures that send a finished-looking deal back to the start.
Read the guide 10 September 2026Deferred consideration and post-dated cheques in UAE SME deals
Most of the price is rarely paid on completion day. How the deferred piece gets sized, why post-dated cheques carry it, when an earn-out is worth accepting, and what security a seller should ask for beyond the paper.
Read the guide 3 September 2026How we check a business before we take it to market
We build the buyer's case against a business before either side signs anything: the VAT, bank and payroll triangle, the gratuity liability nobody puts in the file, who can actually sign, and the yield test we run before an owner ever hears a number.
Read the guide 28 August 2026What UAE SMEs actually sell for in 2026
Owner-operated businesses in the AED 2 to 10 million range are trading at 2.0 to 3.5x SDE. Here is why most owner expectations sit above that, what the buyer-yield test actually checks, and what moves a business to the top of the range rather than the bottom of it.
Read the guideNew notes publish regularly as mandates and market conditions give us something worth writing down. There is no promotional content here, only what we would tell a client directly.
Next step
See where your business would sit before you commit to anything.
A written valuation range, with the reasoning behind it, in 48 to 72 hours.