How do I sell my marketing agency in Singapore without clients or staff finding out?
Off-market and NDA-gated. Nothing is publicly listed and nothing carries your name. Early materials use a reference code instead of your agency name and address, and buyers see identifying details only after signing an NDA you have approved by name. Client names are usually shared later still, once a buyer is serious. You decide when your team and your clients are told, and most owners do that after the deal is signed.
What is my marketing agency worth?
An agency is priced off normalised earnings, meaning the accounts adjusted for owner-specific costs so a buyer sees the real earning power. It is valued on fee income, never on gross billings that include media spend passed through to platforms. What moves the number most is the share of retained revenue, client concentration and tenure, and whether a leadership team beyond you holds the relationships. Owner-operated agencies in Singapore typically change hands at roughly 2.5 to 3.5 times normalised EBITDA, with up to about 5 times only for larger, retainer-led agencies with competing buyers. We give you a written valuation under NDA, for a fixed fee credited against our success fee if you sell with us.
Who buys marketing and digital agencies in Singapore?
Mostly larger agencies and agency groups adding a capability or a client base, regional and international networks looking for a Singapore presence, consultancies and technology firms adding marketing services, and senior managers buying the agency they already help run. Some private equity-backed platforms also assemble groups of agencies. Each values the same agency differently, often on its clients and its specialist skills, which is why approaching several quietly usually beats accepting the first approach.
What if my biggest clients only stay because of me?
That is the most common concern in agency sales, and buyers probe it early. It does not make the agency unsellable, but it shapes the deal. Where relationships sit with the founder, buyers usually ask for a transition period and tie part of the price to client retention. The best protection is to start moving relationships to your senior team before going to market, and to raise the dependency yourself, with a plan, rather than let a buyer find it in due diligence.
What does Clearmere charge to sell a marketing agency?
Our sale fee is success-based and paid on completion: no sale, no fee. A written valuation is a separate fixed fee, agreed and paid before we start, and credited in full against our success fee if you sign with us within 6 months and the sale completes. The first conversation, a short questionnaire and our written recommendation on which valuation fits are free and carry no obligation.
Will I have to accept an earn-out?
Often part of the price is deferred or linked to performance, particularly where revenue depends on a handful of clients or on you personally. That is normal in agency deals and not necessarily a bad outcome, but the terms decide what you actually receive: how long it runs, what is measured, who controls the decisions that affect it, and what happens if the buyer merges or restructures the agency. We negotiate those terms carefully and aim to maximise what you receive in cash at completion.
