Insights and perspectives
Insights features commentary from KitsWest Capital on business valuation, business brokerage, and business financing matters affecting owner-managed and privately held businesses across BC and Alberta.
Our articles focus on practical issues relevant to founders, shareholders, and management teams evaluating business sales, acquisitions, financing decisions, recapitalizations, ownership transitions, and broader strategic alternatives.
Based in Vancouver, we publish content intended to help small to mid-market owner-managed businesses in BC and Alberta better understand the issues that often arise before, during, and after important financial and strategic decisions.
Topics we cover
Our Insights content is focused on practical issues across three core advisory areas:
Business valuation
Articles on what drives value, how businesses are assessed, and how valuation fits into succession planning, ownership discussions, financing matters, and transaction decisions.
Business sales & acquisitions
Commentary on preparing a business for sale, evaluating offers, acquisition strategy, transaction readiness, and broader ownership transition matters.
Business financing
Insights on debt structures, refinancing initiatives, acquisition financing, recapitalizations, and the broader financing decisions that affect flexibility and long-term value.
Confidentiality and NDAs in a private company sale
Confidentiality in a business sale requires more than an NDA. Learn how staged disclosure, data rooms and buyer controls protect sensitive information.
What a buy-side M&A advisor does in Canada
A buy-side M&A advisor helps define, value, finance and negotiate an acquisition. Learn what the advisor does and when a full mandate is worthwhile.
What to Include in a Letter of Intent to Buy a Business
What a buyer’s letter of intent should say on price, structure, financing, exclusivity and conditions, with an illustrative LOI for a $4M acquisition.
Minority and marketability discounts in Canadian private companies
Minority and marketability discounts can materially reduce private-company share value. Learn when they apply, how they compound and what supports them.
Departure tax and deemed dispositions when leaving Canada
Leaving Canada can trigger tax on unsold private-company shares. Learn how fair market value is established for the departure-date deemed disposition.
Business valuation in shareholder disputes and oppression claims
How private-company shares are valued in shareholder disputes, including valuation dates, normalized earnings, control discounts and oppression claims.
How to find and approach a business to buy in Canada
How to define acquisition criteria, build an off-market target list, approach owners and turn a long Canadian business search into one credible deal.
Business valuation in Victoria and Nanaimo: What drives value
How location, buyer depth, owner dependence and sector mix affect business value in Victoria, Nanaimo and across Vancouver Island communities and markets.
Working Capital Facilities for Owner-Managed Businesses
How operating lines are sized, what a borrowing base really advances against, what the facility costs, and why owners ask too late and too small.
Bolt-On Acquisitions: Growing by Buying a Competitor
How buying a competitor changes your size and your multiple at the same time, what makes a good target, and how bolt-ons get financed.
CBV vs CVA: Which Valuation Credential Matters in Canada
CBV is the Canadian designation, CVA is American. What each requires and which one holds up with CRA, the courts and lenders.
Selling a Healthcare, Dental, or Veterinary Practice in BC
What dental, medical and veterinary practices sell for in BC, who the colleges allow to buy, and why owner dependence drives the price.
Commercial Mortgages in BC
How commercial mortgages work in BC: loan to value, debt service coverage, how the rate is set, who lends, and renewal risk.
Reps, Warranties, and Holdbacks in a Business Sale
What sellers actually sign up to after closing: survival periods, caps, baskets, holdbacks, and the clauses worth negotiating.
Selling a Business in Edmonton
What Edmonton businesses sell for, why the buyer pool differs from Calgary, and how cyclicality, safety record and backlog affect price.
Business Line of Credit vs Term Debt
When to use an operating line and when to use term debt, how each is priced and covenanted, and the mistake that quietly drains working capital.
Normalized EBITDA and Add-Backs Explained
How normalized EBITDA works, which add-backs buyers accept, and why a well-documented schedule is worth real money on the price.
Selling a Commercial Real Estate or Property Services Business in BC
What commercial real estate and property services businesses sell for in BC, and why contract quality and retention drive the number.
Due Diligence in a Private Company Sale
What happens during due diligence in a Canadian private company sale, and how to prepare so the agreed price survives to closing.
Selling a Distribution or Wholesale Business in BC
What distribution and wholesale businesses sell for in BC, and how inventory, customer concentration, and working capital move the final number.
Who our insights are for
Our articles are written for owner-managed and privately held businesses, founders and shareholders, management teams, and the accountants and legal advisors who support them.
The objective is not to provide generic market commentary. It is to deliver decision-oriented content tied to the situations that small to mid-market private companies in BC and Alberta commonly face.
Related advisory services
The issues discussed in our Insights section often connect directly to our advisory work.
Business valuation
Independent valuation advice for transaction, planning, financing, shareholder, and compliance-related purposes.
Business sales & acquisitions
Advisory on business sales, acquisitions, ownership transitions, unsolicited offers, and broader strategic transaction matters.
Explore Business Sales & Acquisitions
Debt & capital advisory
Advice on acquisition financing, refinancing initiatives, recapitalizations, growth capital, and broader business financing matters.
Mike Busch, CPA, CBV · Managing Partner
Mike brings nearly a decade of experience across investment banking, corporate finance, valuations, and restructuring. Earlier in his career, Mike advised businesses across Canada and the United States on transactions ranging from business sales and acquisitions to capital raises, refinancings, and corporate restructurings at Big Four firms and mid-market investment banks. Mike is a member of CPABC and CBV Institute.
Discuss a valuation, financing, or M&A matter
If you are evaluating a business sale, acquisition, refinancing initiative, recapitalization, financing process, unsolicited offer, or valuation assignment, we welcome a confidential discussion.
KitsWest Capital
595 Howe Street, Suite 306
Vancouver, BC V6C 2T5
Advising owner-managed and privately held businesses across British Columbia and Alberta.
Our associations
Our principals are members of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) and CBV Institute. KitsWest Capital is a member of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.
