The more the company depends on you, the less it is worth
Stepping back from operations improves your quality of life today — and raises the price on the day you sell. It is the same work.
- Member of the Hauts-de-Seine BarToque no. 1733
- Professional secrecyFrom the very first conversation
- 45 minutes by video callWith the lawyer who would handle the matter
- Complimentary, no commitmentNo sales follow-up
- Written preliminary reportDelivered within 5 working days
- 5.0 Google rating
“Very good support. He took the time to understand my situation and to explain things to me clearly.”
“A very human lawyer who truly listens to his clients.”
“Beyond his unquestionable technical skills, I appreciated how well he listened and how quickly he understood what was at stake for me personally.”
“I wanted to leave a review because tax is often a complex and stressful subject, but here I found truly reassuring support.”
“One of the best services I have ever received, in any field.”
“A professional who listens, with the rigour always to find the right solution!”
“I wanted to reduce my tax burden. The first meeting was excellent: Maître Pateoueille immediately understood my issue and my tax situation.”
“An excellent lawyer who quickly grasped my tax issue and gave me a more than relevant answer.”
“At last, a tax lawyer who lives up to expectations.”
“Excellent support, with expertise I greatly appreciated.”
“Precise, professional support, suited to my needs.”
From the first conversation to a company that runs without you
A video call with the lawyer who would handle the matter — not a salesperson. You leave with a frank opinion, even if the answer is no.
Discount scoring, risk map, value range. The document is yours to keep, even if you go no further.
Six workstreams run in parallel, with a 90-minute call each week. At the end: a company that runs without you, and a value case.
Tick what applies to your company
Each box you tick is a negotiating point the buyer will use. Nothing is sent: this is for you alone.
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A low, deliberately cautious assumption. This estimate applies market ranges to an average multiple of 5.5×; it takes no account of your sector, the recurrence of your revenue or the acquirer’s profile. It is neither a valuation nor a commitment to a sale price.
What holds the company together is exactly what drives its value down
You are indispensable: that is what made it grow. But a buyer buys what carries on without you — every decision that comes back up to you becomes a discount.
Holding company, property company, contracts, asset ownership. The structure stops being a sticking point.
Your 8 to 15 critical processes formalised in an operations manual. The company becomes readable.
Repetitive tasks given the right tools, with your teams. Time freed up, and an organisation that can be replicated.
Indispensable people are identified, prepared and retained.
Operating procedures, decision rules, internal capsules: your know-how becomes an asset.
Adjusted earnings, supported document by document, and a data room that answers questions before they are asked.
Time, a team that makes decisions, and a company that runs without you — even if you never sell.
A defensible multiple, a larger share paid at closing, and less of the price made conditional.
Everything is connected: the sooner it is done, the better you live — and the more the company is worth.
You want breathing room, or you are selling soon
Both lead to the same work: making the company able to run without you.
You come to the table with a well-built file, adjusted figures and written answers. You negotiate, rather than having the buyer’s timetable imposed on you.
You win back room in your week, your managers become more autonomous, and the company’s value rises at the same time. A sale remains an option, not an obligation.
The work is the same. Only the exit date changes.
Twenty-five years. Seventy hours a week.
One day, you will want to hand over. Without selling short what you have built.
Weekends sacrificed, and decisions taken alone on Sunday evenings.
A company that holds together because you are there, every day.
Know-how that no one has ever written down, and that lives in your head.
And no one across the table measuring what it has cost.
Commensurate with the effort. Not the first figure a buyer puts on the table.
Winning back room in your week, before a sale is even discussed.
An exit that looks like the one you imagined. Chosen, not imposed.
Being advised by people who have already carried out these transactions, and who tell you plainly.
On the day of the sale, none of this shows in the price. Unless the file has been prepared.
A buyer calls you. Here is what happens, in order.
Nothing hostile: the normal mechanics of an acquisition — which work against an unprepared file.
The timetable becomes the buyer’s.
An indicative price, subject to conditions. It is the figure you will remember.
Accounts, contracts, key people. Every grey area becomes a negotiating point.
What you warrant, and for how long.
And the headline price is not paid in a single sum.
12 to 24 months of imposed transition support, if the company does not hold up without you.
The stronger your file, the larger the share paid at closing.
Dependence on the owner comes at a price, and it can be quantified
of absence, phone switched off: what happens?
The answer is already a value estimate: what the buyer is buying is a cash flow that continues after you leave.
SMEs with 10 to 49 employees concentrate their critical decisions on a single person.
discount on the multiple when the owner is deemed irreplaceable. It is the buyer’s first negotiating point, and it can be dealt with in advance.
The point is not to replace you, but to document what can be documented. Covering everything is never the aim; reaching the threshold of credibility for a buyer is.
How a company is valued, in practice
You will not change your earnings in thirteen weeks. You will change the multiple.
And how a prepared company is broken down
The discounts are always the same, and each has its own workstream
What the buyer takes off the price, the order of magnitude of each discount, and the workstream that closes it.
Six workstreams run in parallel, not in sequence
The legal work starts first because it depends on third parties. The operational audit feeds into all the others. The value case cannot begin until week 11.
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What you receive, before any commitment
A 45-minute conversation, then a document delivered within 5 working days. It is useful to you even if you go no further.
Legal, operational, people, data and AI, financial.
What due diligence will find, ranked by impact and likelihood.
The multiple you can defend today, and the one the programme aims for.
The thirteen weeks, the order of work and the expected workload.
This is not a report handed to you. It is a company you transform.
90 minutes in a fixed slot. We decide and work jointly on the current deliverable.
Ready-to-complete documents and analysis grids to make progress between sessions.
An internal lead, and your key managers on workstreams 2, 4 and 5. The work stays in-house.
Within 24 hours: decisions recorded, an action plan of no more than 5 tasks, red flags.
A specialist who has already handled these transactions, on both sides of the table
Holding companies, LBOs, sales, group reorganisations: he has handled these matters on both sides of the table. He knows where an acquirer applies pressure to bring the price down — and, over thirteen weeks, he weighs the decisions with you.
Around him, a corporate lawyer, a valuation expert and an employment law expert, brought in as the workstreams require — and for you, a single point of contact through to signing.
Toque no. 1733
92400 Courbevoie — La Défense, France
+33 6 42 27 40 13
What our clients say
Excerpts from reviews published on the firm’s Google listing, across all types of engagement.
“I wanted to reduce my tax burden. The first meeting was excellent: Maître Pateoueille immediately understood my issue and my tax situation.”
“Beyond his unquestionable technical skills, I appreciated how well he listened and how quickly he understood what was at stake for me personally.”
“An excellent lawyer who quickly grasped my tax issue and gave me a more than relevant answer.”
“I wanted to leave a review because tax is often a complex and stressful subject, but here I found truly reassuring support.”
“A professional who listens, with the rigour always to find the right solution!”
“A very human lawyer who truly listens to his clients.”
The objections we hear
The preliminary assessment is complimentary. And it stays that way.
No free trial that turns into a paid one, no sales follow-up. A conversation, a written document, and a decision that is yours.
He conducts the preliminary assessment himself, and he would handle the matter. Not a salesperson.
Know what your company is worth, before someone else tells you
Three steps before you commit. You remain in control of the timetable and the decision.