What comparable actually means
A transaction is comparable to yours along several dimensions at once:
Transaction size. Buyer behaviour, process design and diligence intensity differ between a EUR 5m deal, a EUR 20m deal and a EUR 200m deal.
Industry and business model. Software, services, manufacturing, marketplaces and regulated businesses attract different buyers and are underwritten differently.
Company stage and growth profile. A profitable business growing 10 percent per year and a loss-making business growing 90 percent are sold to different people with different arguments.
Geography. Buyer universes and process conventions vary by market, and cross-border processes add tax, legal and language dimensions.
Counterparty type. Strategic buyer, private equity platform, portfolio bolt-on, venture fund, growth fund and family office each behave differently.
Structure. Majority sale, minority round, secondary component, earn-out, rollover equity and debt financing require different technical experience.
An advisor rarely matches on every dimension. Two or three close matches is a good result.
The worked example
Consider a founder selling a EUR 20m enterprise software company in Germany with recurring revenue and a likely buyer group of mid-market strategics and software-focused private equity.
Advisor A has completed 45 transactions with EUR 2bn aggregate value, mostly industrial and mostly above EUR 100m.
Advisor B has completed 9 transactions, seven of them software, five between EUR 10m and EUR 40m, four sold to software-focused private equity in German-speaking markets.
The headline numbers favour Advisor A. The relevant experience sits with Advisor B: they know which funds are active in that size band, what those funds pay for net revenue retention, which diligence questions arrive, and how those buyers behave when they try to reprice.
This is a hypothetical illustration of the comparison method, not a claim about any particular firm.
How to extract the information
Ask for a short table rather than a narrative. For each transaction the advisor considers comparable: year, sector, approximate size band, counterparty type, geography, and the advisor's personal role.
Then ask which of those they would call the closest single comparable to your situation, and why. The explanation reveals whether they understand your business or are pattern matching on labels.
Confidentiality limits how much can be shared, which is normal. Size bands and counterparty types can usually be described even when names cannot.
Recency matters
Transaction experience decays. Buyer appetite, valuation ranges, debt availability and diligence standards change within eighteen months. A cluster of relevant deals in the past two or three years is worth more than a longer list that ends five years ago.
Ask what has changed in your part of the market in the past year. An advisor who is currently active will answer with specifics on pricing, process length and buyer behaviour.
Where general experience still counts
Comparability is a strong filter, not the only one. Some skills transfer across sectors: process discipline, negotiation, managing diligence workstreams, keeping a competitive dynamic alive, drafting clear materials.
A first-class generalist with two adjacent transactions can outperform a sector specialist with weak process control. The point is to know which you are buying, and to fill the other gap elsewhere, for example with a specialist diligence advisor or a sector-experienced non-executive.
Turning this into a scoring exercise
Score each advisor on six dimensions: size fit, sector fit, stage fit, geography fit, counterparty fit and personal role. Use a simple three-point scale.
Do this before you look at fees. Founders who compare fees first tend to rationalise the cheaper option afterwards. A structured comparison also makes the discussion easier with a board or existing investors who will have their own preferred names.
When you are ready to compare candidates, the CAPLINK advisor directory lets you filter by advisor type, industry experience and location as a starting point.