Selling a Business · Calgary
Selling a Business in Calgary
An exit isn’t another transaction. It’s the one that puts a number on everything you’ve built, and the one you can’t rehearse. The gap between a good outcome and a great one is decided long before the term sheet, in how the company is prepared and how the deal is structured. Obsidian represents Calgary owners through the sale, to protect your interests and capture every dollar of the value you created.
What we handle
What we handle through your sale
Sales here run under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) and the Securities Act (Alberta), with approvals, consents, and change-of-control clauses that can delay a close if they’re missed. We manage the legal path so it runs clean.
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Exit readiness & diligence prep
Before a buyer arrives, we help you clean house (corporate records, contracts, IP, and employment), finding and fixing the red flags first, so diligence strengthens your position instead of handing the other side leverage.
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Sell-side representation
We run a disciplined process from first conversation to final signature, presenting the company in its strongest light and negotiating the letter of intent and definitive agreement to lock in your terms.
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Deal structure
Asset sale, share sale, earn-outs, rollovers, and vendor take-backs, structured to balance tax, risk, and the cash that actually lands in your hands.
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Tax-smart structuring
Working with your accountants on the lifetime capital-gains exemption, holding-company planning, and timing, because a sale is as much about what you keep as what you sell.
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Succession & management buyouts
Sometimes the right buyer is already in the building. We structure management buyouts and succession plans that reward the team you trust and keep the business running through the handover.
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After the close
Earn-outs, non-competes, transition services, and indemnities: we make sure you understand exactly what you’ve agreed to before you sign, not after.
How a sale runs
From handshake to funds in the account
Stage 01
Get exit-ready
We clean house first (records, contracts, IP, employment), finding and fixing the red flags so diligence works in your favor, not the buyer’s.
Stage 02
Structure the deal
Asset sale, share sale, earn-outs, rollovers, and vendor take-backs, structured with your accountants to balance tax, risk, and the cash that lands in your hands.
Stage 03
Run the process
A disciplined sell-side process from first conversation to final signature, negotiating the letter of intent and definitive agreement to lock in your terms.
Stage 04
After the close
Earn-outs, non-competes, transition services, and indemnities, so you understand exactly what you’ve agreed to before you sign, not after.
Common questions
Selling your business, answered
Do I need a lawyer to sell my business?
If the business has real value and matters to you, yes. The terms of a sale are legally binding and easy to get wrong, and the right lawyer earns their fee many times over by protecting your price and your downside. Selling without one is the most expensive saving most owners ever make.
How much does it cost to sell a business?
Legal fees are typically scoped to the deal's size and complexity, often a fixed or capped fee for the sale process plus diligence work. Against the value of the transaction and the price terms at stake, it's a small fraction. We’ll scope it clearly before starting.
When should I start preparing to sell?
Years before you sell, ideally. The strongest exits are built on preparation, clean records, durable contracts, and a business that runs without you. Starting early is what lets diligence work in your favor.
Start here
The exit is the one deal you only do once. Let’s get it right.
Tell us where the business is and what you want out of the sale. One focused conversation, no obligation.