Select a company to take over and meet the assignor

Verified 31 October 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

After defining your project and defining the type of company you are interested in, you enter the search and selection phase. This step implies that you prepare the meeting with the different ceding heads of company in advance.

1. Research phase

The competition in the recovery market is very strong, you need to stay on the lookout and be sufficiently responsive when an opportunity arises.

In addition to your personal and professional network, there are many prospecting channels and exchanges to carry out your research, such as marketplaces, or the use of a agent can accompany you.

Company marketplaces to be taken over (ad exchange)

These platforms, which take the form of ad exchanges, include:

  • Transenterprise
    Transentreprise is a marketplace offered by consular authorities (CCI: titleContent and CMA: titleContent). It is a general platform dedicated to the transmission of companies, with offers concerning all types of activities.

Transenterprise: linking of companies transferors/purchasers

  • BPI France Transmission Exchange
    This marketplace is fueled by numerous offers from BPI France partners specializing in company transfer (for example, the Fusacq sites, divestment, place des commerces or the association Cédants et Repreneurs d'Affaires (CRA), etc.)

Exchange for the transmission of companies

  • Association Cédants et Repreneurs d'Affaires (CRA)
    (CRA) is a national non-profit association. It is a key player in the transmission of VSEs and SMEs (with the exception of local businesses, such as bakeries, bookstores, hairdressers...).
    In addition to its market place, this association also offers certain services, such as its network of partners/experts accompanying and advising buyers.

Association Cédants et repreneurs d'affaires (CRA)

Please note

France Num also offers a factsheet on these marketplaces for company takeover and transmission. :

Accompaniment by an agent

It is also possible to entrust the search for a company to be taken over to a agent expert in company transmission. This representative may be, in particular:

  • A firm specializing in the sale of business assets or in mergers and acquisitions of SMEs
  • An accountant
  • A business lawyer
  • A notary

Please note

There are also private clubs of entrepreneurs and buyers. Membership is generally paid and allows in particular to access a network of assignors or buyers, training or to participate in events.

2. Selection phase

Your research has paid off, you have spotted several companies standing out. But to what extent does this file correspond to your takeover project?

You must sort based on various criteria, including:

  • Geographical location
  • Sector of activity
  • Turnover
  • Size of the company
  • State of competition

The interview with the company manager allows you to gather information and stand out competing buyers.

Collect information

At this point, you need to get as much information about the company as possible:

  • Detailed presentation of the company : activity, size, turnover, personnel, development potential, production tools, etc.
  • Strengths and weaknesses : what are the areas for improvement?
  • Diversity of customers : how many customers is the company's business based on? Are the contracts long-term or short-term?
  • Level of activity : is activity stable, growing or declining?
  • State of competition : is it a niche market or a very competitive market?
  • Role of the leader : is it important within the company? Was its presence indispensable vis-à-vis partners?
  • Terms and conditions of the transfer : when does he plan to sell the company? Could a transition phase be possible?
  • Disposal price : what price range? to what extent can it be traded?

Make a good impression

This meeting is also an opportunity to hold the attention of the assignor by presenting your project in a structured and coherent way.

A good way to stand out is to design a take-over framing sheet.

This document should present the following information, in one page:

  • Your project : it must be reliable to reassure the assignor
  • Your profile : your determination, your skills and your personal contributions
  • The description of the company that you are looking for
  • THEconsulting team who will accompany you throughout the process (accountants, lawyers, notaries, etc.).

Your buyer's scope sheet must provide sufficient guarantees to the assignor. She must answer the question: Why you rather than another buyer?

One framing form template is available here:

Template for the framing sheet for the buyer of a company

Please note

Do not interrupt your search after the first positive interview. You must be able to study several cases in parallel not to depend on the success of a single.

The meeting with the sellers involves the exchange of sensitive information :

  • Financial Data
  • List of customers and suppliers
  • Strategies and prospects for change
  • Company technological innovations (not yet patented)

The disclosure of this information is inevitable, it allows a effective negotiation and in complete transparency.

However, such information must be protected, in particular from competition. To ensure this protection, you will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement, also called non-disclosure agreement. This agreement will apply for the duration of the negotiations.

The confidentiality agreement obliges you to maintain the secrecy of information and not to disclose it to a third party without the written consent of the assignor.

It is important that the agreement mention the next points :

  • Information covered by confidentiality
  • Persons entitled to receive, communicate and transmit information and under what conditions
  • Duration of the confidentiality obligation.

To learn more about the confidentiality of exchanges in the context of a company takeover, you can consult the following page of Bpifrance: the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

Warning  

Violation of this agreement may lead you to payment of damages for the benefit of the transferor.

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