“We hired Chris Wrightson to assist us with succession and sale of our practice and were very happy we did. Not only is Chris professional, diligent and a trusted adviser, we received 9 offers in writing and with Chris’ assistance achieved price and payment terms at the top of the market range. We would highly recommend Chris to anyone thinking about succession and sale of their business.”

Keith and Jenny Powell, Powell Capel Securities
 
 
“I just wanted to let you know I’ve settled today for my business. I would like to thank you sincerely for your assistance without which I doubt I could have achieved the result.”

Greg Daly
 
 
“Chris provided us advice and assistance on acquiring another practice that saved us money, time and reduced the risk in making the acquisition. We run a large successful business and between us have significant business experience however were surprised by what we didn’t know about reducing risk, making the transaction a success and how to finance the deal. His knowledge and professional approach sets him apart from his competitors and we will use his expertise again.”

James Bevis, Dimension IV
 
 
“Chris has provided us with succession planning, sale and acquisition services and has generated significant shareholder value that we might otherwise not have achieved. And he reduced risk in the process! As a larger business we knew we needed assistance. We knew we didn’t have all the knowledge required and there was too much at risk to get it wrong. We hired Chris; the work he has put in and results we have achieved have been exceptional.”

Gareth Hall, Partner Lifestyle Financial Services
 
 
“Chris, thanks so much for your assistance with selling the practice, your advice made this event far less stressful than it could have been. I thought selling my practice would be relatively easy and your work to assist me with the sale paid for itself many times over – a number of people had told me what they thought the business should be worth and this advice proved to be well below the final sale multiple we achieved.

Preparing the information required for purchasers was not what I expected, however the tools, templates and process made the task easier. I was surprised and delighted that from the point in time of offering my practice for sale to signing a term sheet was less than 8 weeks and the sale was completed within the next 8 weeks. Clearly, looking back, using your services maximised our sale price and significantly reduced the time to complete a sale in what turned out to be a far more complex task than I had expected. I would be happy to recommend you to anyone that needs to maximise their practice value and reduce transaction risk during the transaction process and the earn out period.”

Thanks so much for all your effort and the result!

Trevor Fernandez
 
 
“Finding an acquisition is difficult, transacting is another challenge again, the transaction terms, tax and legal entity considerations are complex for both the buyer and the seller. I’ve seen 4 separate lawyers, 3 accountants and my 10 minutes with Chris on the phone was better than the countless hours spent elsewhere. It was refreshing to speak to someone with experience and confidence in what is a very ambiguous area. I would strongly recommend Chris’ services if you are considering sale or succession planning.”

Michael Patman, Director, Patman Planning Group
 
 
“We spent two years trying to sell our business unsuccessfully with the assistance of our dealer group. We then engaged Chris Wrightson and received five offers in writing with price and terms well above what we had been offered previously. We thought we would have sold the business within 4 months however 8 months later, after working hard with one of the buyers to complete a transaction, we agreed terms with another buyer that included an above market multiple of recurring revenue and no performance measures for purchase price payments.

Without Chris’ assistance, persistence, knowledge and experience we could not have achieved the same result. Paying for his services was money well spent!”

Bob and Vivienne Lentell, Lentell and Lentell Financial Services
 
 
“We wanted an adviser who we could trust and preferably someone from Sydney who we thought could attract a broader market of potential buyers and manage the process. We received eight documented formal offers and achieved a price at the top end of the market with 100% paid up front.”

“We were happy to provide Chris with a testimonial for anyone considering the sale of their business.”

Les Woodland and Bill McGee, Woodland McGee Financial Services Pty Ltd
 
 
“After some time of trying to progress equity negotiations without an expert we decided that we needed help. As a large three partner firm based in Brisbane CBD we realised that we needed an expert in this area to help us reach the outcome that we wanted. Chris’ knowledge of the process and issues we would face were excellent and ensured there were no surprises. Just as important Chris was empathetic to our needs and constantly did what he said he would do. Once the sale was finalised Chris remained available to help with some transitional issues as well.

We recommend Chris to anyone who is looking for an adviser they can trust; his professionalism, honesty and diligence delivered us a great result; it was worth every dollar we spent.”

Harald Berents, Managing Partner, MeritPlan Brisbane
 
 
“Thanks for your assistance, it delivered us a better outcome then we could have achieved by ourselves and gave us the confidence required to complete a transaction. When we started the process of selling the business I thought it would be easy and did not realise how long it would take and how much was involved. A combination of little experience in conducting a transaction and buyers with previous transaction experience made me realise half way through the process that it was very unlikely that I would achieve a better result for myself (and other shareholders, clients and staff) than an adviser with knowledge and experience in this field.

Your knowledge and experience was invaluable and I would not have had the confidence I needed and achieved the outcomes I did without your assistance. Thanks for all your effort.”

Ralph Ryan, Proprietor, Retireinvest Newcastle
 
 
“Succession planning and value realisation are critical decisions to get right in the financial planning journey. When we turned our attention to these, we realised we needed an external party to assist us in the structural issues and to represent us in running and negotiating the process.

We recognised that the process would take some time and did not want this to draw our attention away from running the business, providing quality service to our clients and continuing to build. The advice, detailed transaction knowledge and professional service we received from Chris Wrightson at Centurion Partners helped us achieve a result that we would not have achieved otherwise.

Chris, many thanks for your help, professionalism and dedication to the task. The three principals of the practice happily recommend your services to anyone considering their succession planning and value realisation options.”

Brett Stene, Partner & Senior Adviser, KnowledgebankIQ Pty Limited
 
 
Our firm needed to build a succession plan and we started our work on succession planning and value realisation, thinking we could solve this ourselves, however as we progressed we were concerned about our lack of knowledge, experience and apparent options. Your work with the four of us individually and collectively was invaluable in helping us to move forward and test thoughts and ideas as we went along. When we needed to identify suitable third parties to transact with a choice of 20 groups and the receipt of 7 offer documents was not only confidence building, it provided us with choice and control over how we moved forward.

Chris many thanks for your help, professionalism and dedication to the task. Your transaction and market place knowledge was invaluable to us when negotiating and we would happily recommend your services to anyone considering their succession planning and value realisation options.

Simon Hanley, Proprietor Retireinvest
 
 
“Over a number of years I attempted to use an internal succession plan to transition my business from a single adviser to multiple advisers practice to ensure the ongoing service to my clients and protect the value of my business.

Unfortunately the adviser I entered the agreement with to start the succession transition was not the right fit and after 3years and many thousands of dollars out of pocket, I decided to try Chris Wrightson.

Over the years I had been tuning into Chris’s online tutorials and very informative information on succession and Financial Planning business sales.

I really liked the content of his logical processes and decided to engage Chris to handle my business succession process. I am so glad I did as his attention to detail and logical strategy steps helped me to decide to sell my practice.

I have no doubt Chris helped maximise our practise sale price, terms and achieve the desired outcome for our clients.

The sale/succession journey took much, much longer than I anticipated and without Chris’s help and guidance I would not have achieved the great result we achieved.

Once again Chris, thank you. Hind sight is a wonderful thing, perhaps if I had engaged Chris before the first succession attempt I believe I would have saved many thousands of dollars and the 3 years I can never get back.

Remember a wise man once said “It is better to learn from someone else’s mistake, it is less costly that way”. I encourage you to listen to Chris‘s succession tutorials and engage him first and I am sure you will not be disappointed.”

Tony Summers, Advanced Planning, SMSF Specialist Adviser, AFP®, FAFA
 

“It’s interesting that when ‘Advisers’ require advice they either seldom seek it; or leave it too late. I’ve engaged with Chris to ascertain what our practice options are – inclusive of further acquisition; and eventual succession. Much of what required dialogue were ‘sounding-board’ issues. You know….the stuff you think you have your head around, but need to discuss it with an experienced hand.
Of course, as well as the opportunity to discuss these issues, what also eventuates from these discussions are potential opportunities and issues that you didn’t know existed; or that may arise.
Chris’s experience in Practice Acquisition, Sale and Succession is immense. His decades of complete immersion in so many financial and multi-disciplined advisory companies, coupled with his research into what it is that we are actually seeking, provided us a great sounding-board. It also resulted in us being able to explore additional tangents – some of which were new to us.
Sometimes in life and business you discover a resource that you can lean-on with complete confidence. A resource that is a ‘given’. Chris and his company provide this to our practice. When you have invested so much of your working life in your business, accurate advice with practical outcomes regarding your future is predominant. We now know where to access this advice. It provides us with conviction.

Stephen Walliss, Financial Planner and Corporate Adviser at WallissOrr Advisory

 
 
“I was considering a transaction and arranged to send Chris some data and speak to him by phone, within 10 minutes he had identified 2 significant issues that had the potential to impact the value by thousands of dollars – issues I was not aware of based on current regulation.
Chris has years of knowledge and experience and that makes a difference if you are seeking advice. I would recommend Chris if you are thinking of buying or selling a financial planning practice.”

Nathan Ide, Managing Director at Private Capital Management
 
 
“I engaged Chris to assist with the implementation of our succession plan and in particular the first step of selling some equity to a key person. Chris was very helpful both as a sounding board to think through the issues as well as to provide the implementation framework and documents. Chris is very strong on detail and process and I would recommend him to anyone who is serious about succession planning or selling equity. He will ensure that it happens and is done professionally.”

Justin Hooper, Managing Director at Sentinel Wealth
 
 
“I am very happy to recommend Chris Wrightson from Centurion Market Makers to anyone considering the sale of their practice. His process for preparing us and our business made a significant difference to the way we could engage prospective purchasers and agree price and terms. Centurions access to the market place for prospective purchasers was extensive with 30 buyers reviewing the opportunity via Chris and his team. We received 5 detailed offers in writing within a few weeks and were very happy with the price and terms negotiated. Chris and his team were professional and kept us informed every step of the way, we felt we had an adviser we could trust to act in our best interests.”

Val Nigol, Principal Owner at Financial Freedom Solutions
 
 
“I have been super impressed and most grateful for the services you have provided. Paying for your services has probably been the single greatest investment I have ever made, with the sale price of the practice being influenced by at least 10x that in my opinion. Your willingness to provide assistance and advice in the process has enabled me to move forward with a sale in a timeframe that any ordinary business owner would simply disbelieve, which has made the process a lot less stressful and time consuming than I thought could have been possible. Thanks again, and if anyone needs to speak to someone about the need for your IM product I would be happy to for you to pass on my details.”

Matthew King, Director/Certified Financial Planner at Infuse Financial

 
 
“Our next challenge was finding someone who we could trust and how do you know who is really knowledgeable and can add value in a transaction? Chris Wrightson advised us and simplified the process to reach commercial agreement, added value to the transaction while ensuring we got the commercial outcome we wanted. Chris is professional, diligent and an adviser you can trust to guide you to success in a transaction, we would recommend Chris to anyone considering a transaction.”

Matthew Oake, Director/Financial Adviser at Private Wealth Partners