---
title: "13 Best Business Brokers in Austin for Selling a Company in 2026"
lang: en
canonical_url: https://www.papermark.com/blog/best-ma-advisors-austin
last_updated: 2026-10-10
published: 2026-10-10
category: [mergers-and-acquisitions]
author: "Marc Seitz"
summary: "The 13 best business brokers in Austin for 2026, with deal sizes, fee structures and sector focus, plus what Texas owners should have ready before going to market."
---

# 13 Best Business Brokers in Austin for Selling a Company in 2026

Here are 13 business brokers in Austin, from Main Street intermediaries listing restaurants and salons to FINRA-registered banks selling software companies. Each entry lists deal size, sector focus and a working link, so you can shortlist by fit rather than by search ranking.

Austin is a seller's market for unglamorous businesses. The metro's growth pulled in tens of thousands of new households, and the companies that serve them - HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, pest control, pool service - now have the recurring revenue and route density that private equity platforms shop for. Home services roll-ups have been buying in Central Texas for years, and their acquisition teams know the market well.

The second Austin category is technology. Bootstrapped SaaS companies, IT managed service providers, agencies and hardware startups that never raised a Series A end up in the same lower middle market process as a machine shop, just with different diligence. Buyers ask about net revenue retention and contract assignment clauses instead of equipment schedules.

Then there is hospitality and construction. Restaurants, bars and food trucks trade constantly around downtown, East Austin and the suburbs, usually to individual buyers using SBA financing. Commercial contractors and specialty trades in the growth corridors along I-35 and 183 sell to both strategics and search funds. Almost no single broker covers all four categories well, which is the main reason to read past the first page of results.

  Every adviser on this list will ask where your documents are going to live
  before they take the mandate. A **data room for Austin M&A** is the
  permissioned workspace that holds your maintenance agreements and route
  schedules, your customer contracts and your add-back workbook while several
  buyers review them at once.

Comparing more than one metro? The [M&A advisors database](https://www.papermark.com/ma-advisors?market=Austin) holds every firm we have researched and opens filtered to Austin, so you can line these 13 up against each other on deal size and sector.

## Quick list of business brokers in Austin

- **Corporate Investment**: Austin and San Antonio firm advising owners since 1984.
- **Westlake Securities**: Austin middle market investment bank with a large deal count.
- **CGK Business Sales**: Austin M&A firm for companies from $1.5M to $100M in revenue.
- **Viking Mergers & Acquisitions**: Burnet Road office of a firm with a published close rate.
- **Lion Business Advisors**: Bee Cave advisor focused on trades and owner-operated businesses.
- **Benchmark International**: Global mid-market M&A firm with an Austin office.
- **Austin Growth Capital**: Austin investment bank running M&A and capital markets deals.
- **Griggs Business Brokers**: Austin brokerage selling Texas businesses since 1996.
- **Austin Business Brokers**: Local broker with roughly 199 transactions since 2005.
- **Texas Business Brokers**: Austin-based, performance-only fee model, statewide offices.
- **First Choice Business Brokers Austin**: Bee Caves Road office of a national network.
- **Tinsley Medical Practice Brokers**: Austin specialist in medical and dental practice sales.
- **PGP Advisory**: Central Texas advisor for companies at $2M to $20M in revenue.

## How to get yes from business brokers in Austin

Austin brokers are not short of listings, so the ones worth hiring are selective. What they are checking is whether your business can survive a buyer's quality of earnings review. That means accrual financials, a tax return that reconciles to them, and an add-back schedule where every line has a document behind it. A truck registered to your spouse and a phone bill you cannot produce will both get thrown out of the earnings number.

Recurring revenue is the second thing they look for, and it is what separates a $2M HVAC business with 900 maintenance agreements from a $2M HVAC business that lives on replacement jobs. For software and services companies, the equivalent is contracted revenue with assignable agreements. Change-of-control clauses in your largest customer contracts can cost you a turn of EBITDA if a buyer thinks the revenue walks at closing.

The third check is owner dependence. If you hold the licence, sign every estimate and know all the pricing, a broker has to sell a transition plan as well as a business. Before you talk to anyone, it is worth comparing the [best virtual data rooms](/blog/best-virtual-data-rooms.md), because how you hand over documents shapes how fast the process moves.

1. Three years of financial statements and matching tax returns
2. A year-to-date profit and loss with prior year comparison
3. A documented add-back and owner compensation schedule
4. Revenue by customer with concentration percentages
5. Recurring contracts, service agreements and their assignment terms
6. Leases, vehicle and equipment schedules, licences and permits

Share that set as a permissioned link rather than a zip file. You keep the ability to revoke access, you see who actually opened the financials, and you avoid three versions of the same profit and loss circulating in inboxes.

_No credit card required._

## How to find business brokers in Austin

Fee structure is the fastest way to sort Austin firms into tiers, because the fee tells you what process you are buying. A flat percentage means a listing. A retainer plus a tiered success fee means a managed auction with a research phase behind it.

| Deal size | Typical fee model | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Under $1M | 10% commission, 12% to 15% on the smallest deals | Marketplace listing, individual and SBA buyers |
| $1M to $5M | 8% to 10%, sometimes a small retainer | Curated outreach plus marketplace exposure |
| $5M to $30M | Retainer $5,000 to $25,000 monthly plus Double Lehman | Managed process, PE and strategic buyer lists |
| Above $30M | Retainer plus negotiated success fee | Full investment bank process with a research team |

- **Sector proof**: Ask for three closed deals in your industry, not three logos. Home services and SaaS buyer lists have almost no overlap.
- **Credentials**: The CBI from the IBBA and the M&AMI from M&A Source both require coursework and closed transactions. In Texas, TABB also awards a Board Certified Broker designation.
- **FINRA registration**: If your sale is structured as a stock sale, the advisor earning a success fee should sit under a registered broker-dealer.
- **Buyer mix**: Ask what share of last year's closings went to private equity, strategics and individuals.
- **Who runs the deal**: Confirm whether the person pitching you will also handle buyer calls and diligence.
- **Marketing plan**: A named target list beats a promise to post the listing on three marketplaces.
- **Tail and exclusivity**: Check the length of the exclusive period and how long the tail survives termination.
- **References**: Ask for one seller who closed and one whose deal fell apart.

## How to approach business brokers in Austin

Interview three firms before signing anything, and give each the same information so the answers are comparable. The valuation opinion you get back is a sales document until someone shows you the comparable transactions behind it.

A worked example makes the difference concrete. Take a Round Rock plumbing company with $4.5M in revenue, $850K of adjusted EBITDA and about 1,100 maintenance agreements. One firm quoted a $6.8M asking price and proposed a marketplace listing. A second quoted $5.1M, but proposed a targeted process aimed at 25 private equity backed home services platforms already buying in Texas, plus six regional strategics. The owner took the lower number and the better process. Diligence ran 70 days, the recurring agreements survived a technician retention review, and the business closed above the second firm's quote once the buyer credited the contracted revenue. Businesses valued between $5M and $50M typically trade near 6.5x EBITDA, so the gap was never about the multiple. It was about who saw the deal.

1. Send a blind summary first: industry, revenue, EBITDA or SDE, location, reason for selling.
2. Ask for a written valuation opinion with comparables attached.
3. Ask how many live engagements the named advisor is carrying right now.
4. Compare buyer lists, not marketing brochures.
5. Read the engagement letter's exclusivity, tail and expense clauses before discussing fees.
6. Agree the NDA and buyer approval workflow up front.
7. Decide how diligence documents will be shared and who controls access.

## Comparison of business brokers in Austin

| # | Firm | Typical deal size | Focus sectors |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Corporate Investment | $1M to $50M | Manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, construction |
| 2 | Westlake Securities | Middle market | Energy, distribution, logistics, services |
| 3 | CGK Business Sales | $1.5M to $100M revenue | Healthcare, construction, IT services, hospitality |
| 4 | Viking Mergers & Acquisitions | $1M to $100M | Technology, medical, automotive, services |
| 5 | Lion Business Advisors | $1M to $50M | HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, dental |
| 6 | Benchmark International | Mid-market | Generalist across industries |
| 7 | Austin Growth Capital | Privately held companies | M&A and capital markets, generalist |
| 8 | Griggs Business Brokers | Small to lower mid | Local operating and professional businesses |
| 9 | Austin Business Brokers | Main Street | Trades, retail, food service, auto, B2B industrial |
| 10 | Texas Business Brokers | Main Street to lower mid | Ecommerce, restaurants, retail, construction, tech |
| 11 | First Choice Austin | Main Street to mid market | Generalist local businesses |
| 12 | Tinsley Medical Practice Brokers | Practice transactions | Medical and dental practices, med spas |
| 13 | PGP Advisory | $2M to $20M revenue | Industrial manufacturing, construction, healthcare |

## 1. Corporate Investment

Corporate Investment has offices on North MoPac in Austin and in San Antonio, and has been advising Texas owners since 1984. It splits its work between lower middle market M&A in the $2M to $20M range and business brokerage from $1M to $5M, with transactions executed through Statesman Corporate Finance, a FINRA and SIPC member.

- Deal size: $1M to $50M
- Sectors: Manufacturing, distribution, B2B services, healthcare, construction, home services
- Location: Austin and San Antonio, TX
- Website: [Corporate Investment](https://corpinvest.com/)
- Notable: Founded 1984, more than 400 businesses sold, managing directors hold the M&AMI designation

## 2. Westlake Securities

Westlake Securities is an Austin middle market investment bank based on Wild Basin Road, with additional offices in San Antonio, Houston, Boerne, Tampa and Greenville. The firm advises on sell-side M&A, capital placements and growth strategy for owner-led companies rather than large corporates.

- Deal size: Middle market
- Sectors: Energy, chemical distribution, logistics, business services
- Location: Austin, TX
- Website: [Westlake Securities](https://www.westlakesecurities.com/)
- Notable: More than 400 companies advised and over $6.7B in transaction value across 23 years

## 3. CGK Business Sales

CGK Business Sales works out of Bee Caves Road and represents Greater Austin owners with at least $1.5M in annual revenue, up to about $100M. The team is unusually credentialed for a brokerage, with CFA and CAIA charterholders alongside its intermediaries, and covers a broad set of Central Texas industries.

- Deal size: $1.5M to $100M in revenue
- Sectors: Healthcare, construction, manufacturing, hospitality, IT services, home services
- Location: Austin, TX
- Website: [CGK Business Sales](https://cgkbusinesssales.com/)
- Notable: Members of the IBBA and M&A Source

## 4. Viking Mergers & Acquisitions

Viking runs its Austin market office on Burnet Road and separates its practice into business brokerage for valuations from $1M to $10M and M&A advisory from $10M to $100M. Recent Austin transactions have included cybersecurity and IT, medical aesthetics and automotive services businesses.

- Deal size: $1M to $10M brokerage, $10M to $100M M&A
- Sectors: Technology, medical, automotive, business and consumer services
- Location: Austin, TX
- Website: [Viking Mergers & Acquisitions](https://www.vikingmergers.com/market/business-brokers-austin-tx/)
- Notable: Founded 1996, more than 950 businesses sold at a published 85% close rate

## 5. Lion Business Advisors

Lion Business Advisors is headquartered in Bee Cave with additional Texas offices, and concentrates on trades and owner-operated companies: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, pest control, commercial cleaning, staffing, and dental and medical practices. It handles businesses valued between $1M and $50M, split between adjusted SDE up to $1M and adjusted EBITDA above $1M.

- Deal size: $1M to $50M
- Sectors: Home services trades, construction, staffing, dental and medical practices
- Location: Bee Cave, TX
- Website: [Lion Business Advisors](https://lionbusinessbrokers.com/)
- Notable: CBI and CEPA credentials, members of TABB, IBBA and AM&AA

## 6. Benchmark International

Benchmark International is a global mid-market M&A firm with a US office in Austin alongside Denver, Los Angeles, Nashville and Tampa. Its model is built around wide international buyer outreach, which suits owners who think the best acquirer may not be in Texas.

- Deal size: Mid-market
- Sectors: Generalist across industries
- Location: Austin, TX
- Website: [Benchmark International](https://www.benchmarkintl.com/)
- Notable: Offices across the US, Europe, Africa and Asia

## 7. Austin Growth Capital

Austin Growth Capital is an independent investment bank on South MoPac that executes M&A and capital markets transactions for privately held businesses, alongside strategy consulting and structured finance work. It is a member of FINRA and SIPC.

- Deal size: Privately held companies
- Sectors: Generalist, M&A and capital raising
- Location: Austin, TX
- Website: [Austin Growth Capital](https://austingrowthcapital.com/)
- Notable: FINRA and SIPC member

## 8. Griggs Business Brokers

Griggs Business Brokers operates from South Capital of Texas Highway and has been selling Texas businesses since 1996. Founder Clarence Griggs is a past president of the Texas Association of Business Brokers, and the firm handles sales, valuations and transition consulting for local owners.

- Deal size: Small to lower middle market
- Sectors: Local operating businesses, professional practices
- Location: Austin, TX
- Website: [Griggs Business Brokers](https://griggsbusinessbrokers.com/)
- Notable: TABB Board Certified Broker, member of TABB and the IBBA

## 9. Austin Business Brokers

Austin Business Brokers is a local brokerage that has completed roughly 199 transactions since 2005 across services, retail, food and beverage, automotive, transportation and light industrial businesses. Its listings skew Main Street, which makes it a realistic fit for owners selling a single location.

- Deal size: Main Street
- Sectors: Trades, retail, food service, automotive, B2B industrial
- Location: Austin, TX
- Website: [Austin Business Brokers](https://www.austinbizbrokers.com/)
- Notable: Roughly 199 completed transactions since 2005

## 10. Texas Business Brokers

Texas Business Brokers is based in Austin with additional offices in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, and works across ecommerce, restaurants, retail, service, wholesale, construction, logistics and technology businesses. Its stated model is entirely performance based, with no upfront costs and a fee only at closing.

- Deal size: Main Street to lower middle market
- Sectors: Ecommerce, restaurants, retail, construction, logistics, technology
- Location: Austin, TX
- Website: [Texas Business Brokers](https://texasbusinessbrokers.com/)
- Notable: No upfront fees, commission paid only on a completed sale

## 11. First Choice Business Brokers Austin

The Austin office of First Choice Business Brokers sits on Bee Caves Road and offers valuation, confidential listing, buyer representation and closing support. It is part of a national network founded in 1994, so local listings also get exposure to out-of-state buyers relocating to Central Texas.

- Deal size: Main Street to middle market
- Sectors: Generalist local operating businesses
- Location: Austin, TX
- Website: [First Choice Business Brokers Austin](https://austin.fcbb.com/)
- Notable: Part of a network established in 1994, IBBA member

## 12. Tinsley Medical Practice Brokers

Tinsley Medical Practice Brokers works only on healthcare practice transitions from its Austin office, covering primary care and specialty practices, dental practices and medical spas. Services include appraisals, acquisitions, buy-ins and partnership structuring, and roughly 40% of its transactions have been outside Texas.

- Deal size: Practice transactions
- Sectors: Medical and dental practices, med spas
- Location: Austin, TX
- Website: [Tinsley Medical Practice Brokers](https://tinsleymedicalpracticebrokers.com/)
- Notable: More than 100 completed practice transactions

## 13. PGP Advisory

PGP Advisory is a Central Texas M&A firm serving Austin and San Antonio owners, focused on companies with $2M to $20M in revenue. Sector coverage is industrial manufacturing, professional services, construction services, healthcare and B2B services, and the firm also advises technology companies nationally.

- Deal size: $2M to $20M in revenue
- Sectors: Industrial manufacturing, construction, professional services, healthcare
- Location: Austin and San Antonio, TX
- Website: [PGP Advisory](https://pgpadvisory.com/)
- Notable: Member of the IBBA and TABB

## Why you need secure document sharing in an Austin business sale

An Austin sale usually means the same file set going to very different audiences: SBA lenders underwriting an individual buyer, a private equity associate building a model, and a strategic competitor who would happily learn your pricing. The file itself is the same in all three cases: three years of tax returns and financials, the add-back schedule, customer contracts and concentration, maintenance or recurring service agreements, payroll by role, the lease and the equipment or route schedule.

The third audience is the problem. Home services platforms buying in Central Texas are the same operators competing with you for jobs in Round Rock and Cedar Park, and the software buyer reading your churn analysis may be selling into your accounts already. A competitor that signs the NDA, reads the memorandum and then declines has acquired your pricing, your top ten customers and your labour costs for the price of an email.

What a leak costs in this market is measured in crews and contracts. Technicians in a metro with this much hiring competition will take a call from the platform down the road the week they hear the business is for sale, and in a route-based business the crew is the asset. Commercial customers on annual agreements postpone renewals until ownership is settled, and an SBA lender that hears conflicting stories about the sale slows the credit file. Email attachments cannot be recalled, cannot be watermarked, and tell you nothing about who actually opened them.

## Data room for Austin M&A

![data room analytics for an Austin business sale](https://assets.papermark.io/upload/file_YVZLbYwELYa8SxfjBg3mGe-virtual-data-room-analytics-.png)

_Page-level analytics show which buyers are reading the financials and which are not._

A **data room for Austin M&A** is the permissioned workspace where your broker stages the diligence file and runs several buyers through it at once, without any of them seeing what the others see. It is what advisers mean when they ask whether your documents are ready before they take the mandate.

Papermark is a secure, fully customizable, and developer-friendly data room built for exactly this: a **secure data room for your Austin sale process** that keeps the sensitive parts of the file locked while the process runs.

The first control that matters is NDA gating. A [secure data room](/data-room.md) can require an NDA acceptance before the confidential information memorandum opens, so nothing leaves your broker's hands without a recorded signature. Dynamic watermarking then stamps the viewer's email and access time onto every page, which matters most when a direct competitor is in the process. Granular file-level permissions let you open customer contracts to the one bidder in confirmatory diligence and nobody else.

Page-by-page analytics change how a broker prioritises. A home services buyer who spends fourteen minutes on the maintenance agreement schedule is a live prospect; one who skimmed the teaser and never opened the financials is not. The audit log keeps a record of every view, download and permission change, which is what you want if a buyer later disputes what was disclosed.

The [Data Rooms plan](https://www.papermark.com/pricing.md?view=datarooms) is **€149/month**, or **€99/month billed annually**, with a 7-day free trial, and includes 3 team members, unlimited data rooms, unlimited documents, a custom domain, dynamic watermarking, NDA agreements, and granular file-level permissions.

### Why Papermark as a data room provider for Austin M&A

Most virtual data rooms were built for bankers and priced for them. Papermark is a **secure data room for modern dealmakers**, and it is more customizable and more branded than any other VDR on the market.

- **Security first.** SOC 2 Type II, granular file-level permissions, dynamic watermarking on every page, and NDA agreements that sit on the link itself.
- **Open source and self-hostable.** The codebase is public, and Enterprise can run it in your own environment, which matters when a buyer's IT team asks where the documents actually live.
- **Branded and white-labelled.** Custom domain and full white-labelling, so the room carries your firm's name rather than a vendor's.
- **AI and MCP.** 57 typed MCP tools over the Model Context Protocol let Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT or your own code drive the room, plus a REST API for everything else.
- **Chat with your data room.** Papermark AI answers questions across the room and the documents in it, so you are not scrolling a folder tree to find one clause.
- **Built for Austin deals.** Permissions are set per file, so the sensitive parts of the file can stay locked to final bidders while the general file stays open.

## Did not find the right business broker in Austin?

If your business does not match any of these firms, the direct route is still open. Texas owners regularly sell to a competitor, a franchisee, a long-time manager or a search fund without ever running a listed process.

If none of the thirteen above fits, the [M&A advisors database](https://www.papermark.com/ma-advisors) lists every firm we have researched by city and by industry, with deal sizes and sectors side by side. Filter to **Austin** to compare these thirteen against each other, or check your industry if you would rather work with a sector specialist.

## FAQ

### How much do business brokers charge in Austin?

Main Street brokers handling deals under about $1M charge 8% to 12% of the sale price, with 10% the common rate and the smallest deals reaching 12% to 15%. Lower middle market advisors add a monthly retainer, usually $5,000 to $25,000, on top of a tiered success fee.

### What percentage do business brokers take?

Under roughly $1M the standard is a flat 10%. Above that most firms use a Double Lehman scale: 10% of the first $1M, 8% of the second, 6% of the third, 4% of the fourth and 2% of everything above $4M.

### Do business brokers need a licence in Texas?

For a pure asset sale with no real property involved, Texas generally does not require a real estate licence, but the answer turns on how the deal is structured. Confirm with the Texas Real Estate Commission if a lease or property transfers, and note that TABB's Board Certified Broker designation is a voluntary credential, not a state licence.

### Do business brokers charge an upfront fee?

It varies by tier. Texas Business Brokers states a fully performance based model with no upfront cost, while lower middle market advisors normally charge $2,000 to $25,000 per month as a retainer that may credit against the success fee at closing.

### How long does it take to sell a business in Austin?

Budget 6 to 12 months from engagement letter to closing. Due diligence alone takes 30 to 90 days after a letter of intent, and one Austin advisor publishes a typical range of 7 to 9 months from listing to close.

### What is my Austin business worth?

Most small businesses trade at 2x to 4x seller's discretionary earnings, and the IBBA Market Pulse put the median small business sale near $350,000 at a 2.7x SDE multiple in Q1 2026. Companies valued between $5M and $50M typically trade around 6.5x EBITDA.

### Do I need a business broker to sell my business?

No, but the value shows up in buyer reach and price tension. A broker who can put 25 or 30 qualified buyers in a process usually recovers a 10% commission through competition, whereas a single unsolicited offer gives you nothing to compare it against.

### What is the difference between a business broker and an M&A advisor?

Brokers list businesses roughly under $1M to $5M on marketplaces and sell mostly to individuals on a flat commission. M&A advisors run curated processes for larger companies, charge a $5,000 to $25,000 monthly retainer plus a tiered success fee, and target private equity and strategic buyers.

### How do brokers screen buyers?

The standard sequence is an NDA, a buyer profile, and proof of funds or SBA pre-qualification before detailed information moves. Brokers also read data room behaviour, since a buyer who spends 10 or more minutes in the financial folder behaves very differently from one who never opens it.

### What documents do I need to sell my business in Texas?

Three years of financial statements and tax returns, a year-to-date profit and loss, an add-back schedule, revenue by customer, recurring contracts, leases, equipment schedules, and any state or municipal licences. A lower middle market diligence request commonly runs 100 to 300 files.

### Who pays the business broker in an Austin sale?

The seller pays in nearly all sell-side engagements, and the fee comes out of proceeds at closing. On a $3M sale at 10% that is $300,000, so calculate your net before you agree a headline price with a buyer.

## Related resources

- [M&A advisors database](https://www.papermark.com/ma-advisors) with every firm we have researched, by city and by industry
- [Papermark data room](/data-room.md) for sharing deal documents with buyers
- [Best virtual data rooms](/blog/best-virtual-data-rooms.md) compared on price and features
- [M&A due diligence checklist](/blog/m-and-a-due-diligence-checklist.md)
- [Due diligence cost](/blog/due-diligence-cost.md) for a lower middle market sale
- [Letter of intent in an acquisition](/blog/letter-of-intent-acquisition.md)
- [ETA acquisition guide](/blog/eta-acquisition-guide.md) for search fund buyers

---

_Markdown version of [this article](https://www.papermark.com/blog/best-ma-advisors-austin) for AI agents and LLMs._
_More Papermark content: [llms.txt](https://www.papermark.com/llms.txt) · [full index](https://www.papermark.com/llms-full.txt)._