Should Business Owners Consider Being Acquihired?
Acquihiring has long been popular in the tech start-up world.
For UK business owners looking to exit in the near term, being acquihired is growing in appeal and worth considering a couple years before exiting.
Acquihiring vs Acquiring
Acquihiring is a strategic talent acquisition move. A larger company acquires a smaller one primarily for the skills, expertise and talent of its staff, rather than its products or services. Exit terms can be flexible.
What Does This Mean for Exiting Owners?
Some businesses naturally have scarce, specialist expertise amongst their ranks. Optimising this talent asset as part of your exit strategy has several benefits over traditional M&A:
Financial Payday — You still get a liquidity event without a full M&A process. Valuation may focus on talent over revenue or EBITDA multiples.
Intact Culture — Your team spirit and culture stay together, which drove your success.
Job Security — Acquihiring often avoids redundancies post-acquisition as staff are the key assets.
Simple Integration — Less business integration needed so your team can focus on operations.
Speed — Acquihiring can happen much faster than conventional M&A, meaning a shorter process.
Is Acquihiring Right for You?
Consider acquihiring if:
- You have a strong team whose skills warrant a premium.
- Your product doesn’t scale easily but talent can be applied elsewhere.
- You want an exit and payout within 1–2 years.
Key Takeaways
For the right UK SMEs, being acquihired enables you to:
- Realise strong valuation and payout for your efforts.
- Protect your team culture under a new parent.
- Avoid lengthy, complex M&A processes.
- Focus on your next venture.
Acquihiring won’t suit all businesses or sectors. But for owners exploring options to maximise valuation, it can be an attractive alternative to conventional M&A.
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