Short answer. To sell a payments, fintech or SaaS company worth $10 million to $80 million, expect a success fee of roughly 2% to 5.5% of the sale price, lower as the deal gets larger, plus a monthly retainer that is often credited at closing. In the Firmex M&A Fee Guide 2023-24, a survey of 189 US M&A advisors, the typical success fee was 6.3% on a $5 million deal, 3.9% at $20 million and 2.0% at $100 million.
The four parts of a fee agreement
The success fee is a percentage of the sale price, paid at closing out of proceeds.
The retainer is a monthly or upfront payment during the process. About three of four advisors in the survey charge one. Of those who bill monthly, two-thirds charge $5,000 to $10,000 a month, and a little over half of advisors credit what you paid against the success fee.
The minimum fee is a floor on the success fee regardless of price. Three of four advisors set one, and it matters most on smaller deals.
The tail is the period after the engagement ends during which the fee is still owed if you sell to a buyer the advisor introduced.
Worked examples at $10M, $30M and $80M
| Sale price | Success fee, typical range | Fee in dollars |
|---|---|---|
| $10 million | About 4.5% to 5.5% | $450,000 to $550,000 |
| $30 million | About 3.0% to 3.5% | $900,000 to $1.05 million |
| $80 million | About 2.2% to 2.5% | $1.76 million to $2.0 million |
These three ranges are 733Park's interpolation between the survey's $5 million, $20 million and $100 million figures. They are a market reference, not a quote.
Three structures, and what each pays your advisor to do
About half of advisors use a declining scale, the Lehman formula and its variants, where the percentage steps down as the price steps up. About three in ten use one flat percentage. About one in six use an accelerator, where the percentage rises on value above an agreed threshold.
The accelerator is the one to study as a seller. Take a $30 million sale with a $27 million threshold, 3% below it and 6% above it. The advisor earns $810,000 on the first $27 million and $180,000 on the last $3 million. You keep $2.82 million of that last $3 million, and your advisor has been paid most for the dollars that were hardest to get. That is an illustration, not a quoted fee.
What payments and software sellers should ask that generic guides skip
- What counts as the sale price: cash at closing only, or also earnouts, seller notes and rollover equity? Is the fee on those paid when you receive them?
- In a merchant portfolio or ISO sale, is the fee on the full purchase price or on what is paid at closing, when part of the price depends on attrition after the sale?
- Is the retainer credited against the success fee?
- How long is the tail, and does it cover only buyers the advisor introduced?
- Who does the work once the engagement letter is signed?
How 733Park approaches it
A modest retainer credited at closing and a success fee that rewards price above your target. The exact terms depend on the deal and are set in the engagement letter. More on the reasoning: What Does an M&A Advisor Charge to Sell a Company?
The fee is one line in the math. What you keep is the number that matters, and that starts with what the business is worth. Run the valuation calculator, read what you keep after the sale, or see the 10 questions to ask before hiring an M&A advisor.