There is always a reason not to sell your business. Family considerations, key employees, market timing, tax, succession uncertainty, or simply the emotional weight of letting go of something you have built over decades.   But what I have learned over time is this: the most successful exits are rarely reactive. They are deliberately shaped well before a business goes to market.   I recently chatted to two of our executives at DLI, Nitish Mudgal and Taryn Henkel, about what really happens...

In most transactions, we advocate for a structured go-to-market process to create competition and maximise value. Occasionally, however, a different path unfolds: a credible buyer approaches directly.   In a recent transaction in the logistics and IT services sector, the shareholders were approached by an existing client interested in acquiring the business. What followed offers useful lessons on decision-making, trade-offs and the realities of deal execution in selling your business.   The...

In 1989, a teenager started making red braai grid "knypers" (braai tongs) with his father in the garage. By 2025, Johan’s business, LK Products, had become a brand you see everywhere. Pick 'n Pay, Checkers , Builders , and every hardware store. Those red knypers? They’re LK Products. But when it came time to sell, Johan faced a problem most successful manufacturers eventually hit: the business was getting too big for him to add value. Three entities. Complex intercompany relationships....