M&A & Corporate Finance Advisory

Selling your business may be the most important financial decision of your life.

You deserve an adviser who treats it that way. Sterling is a boutique corporate finance firm advising owner-managers on the sale, acquisition and future of the businesses they have spent a lifetime building — led personally, from first conversation to completion.

Senior-led on every mandate CFA charterholder · MBA, Warwick Industrials & business services focus Lower mid-market specialists
A boutique, by design

Most owners sell a business once. We think that deserves the full attention of the person you hired — not a pitch from a partner and delivery by a junior team.

Sterling is deliberately small. You work directly with the adviser running your transaction, from the first conversation to the day the funds clear. No layers, no hand-offs, no diluted attention — just senior judgement applied to the decision that matters most.

Why owners choose Sterling

The advantages of working with a focused firm

A transaction is rarely just financial. It is the culmination of years of work and the start of whatever comes next. Our model is built around getting that right.

01

Senior attention, start to finish

The person you meet is the person who does the work. Every mandate is led personally — your transaction is never delegated to an inexperienced team or treated as one of many.

02

Aligned, transparent, conflict-free

We give honest advice, even when it is uncomfortable. No hidden agendas and no conflicting mandates — fee structures are clear from the outset, and our interests sit squarely with yours.

03

Institutional rigour, human pace

Rigorous analysis, well-built financials and carefully drafted documentation — the standards of a far larger firm, delivered at a pace and in a language that makes sense to you.

04

Complete discretion

Your plans, your numbers and your intentions stay private. We manage every process quietly and control who knows what, and when — protecting your business, your team and your position.

How we help

Advisory across the full ownership journey

Whether you are years from a sale or in the middle of a live process, we meet you where you are — and tell you straight what the right next step is.

Sell-Side M&A

End-to-end sale mandates for owners ready to exit. We map the buyer universe across trade, private equity and management, build a compelling investment case, and run a structured, competitive process — through heads of terms and SPA to completion.

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Buy-Side & Acquisition Search

For acquirers and buy-and-build platforms, we develop the acquisition strategy, originate off-market targets in fragmented markets, open the conversation discreetly, and support valuation, structuring and negotiation through to close.

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Exit Readiness & Value Enhancement

The best outcomes are prepared 12–36 months ahead. We diagnose what a buyer will scrutinise, plug the gaps before they are found, and strengthen the equity story — so you reach the market from a position of strength.

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Independent Valuations

Objective, defensible valuations outside a live deal — for shareholder planning, disputes, buy-outs, tax or simply knowing where you stand. Clear methodology, honest conclusions, no agenda attached to the answer.

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International & Cross-Border

When the right buyer, target or capital sits overseas, we bring genuine cross-border experience — including established corridors into South Asia — and manage the added complexity of advising across markets.

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Strategic & Funding Review

Considering your options but not yet committed? We help you weigh exit, growth and capital alongside one another — financial normalisation, investor narrative and lender introductions — so the path you choose is the right one.

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Sector focus

Deep in industrials & business services

We work across owner-managed businesses of every kind — but our sharpest edge is in industrials and business services: distribution, manufacturing, specialist products and the companies that keep them running.

It is a fragmented, acquisitive market with strong structural tailwinds and active private-equity and trade interest. Knowing how buyers in this space think — what they pay for, and what they discount — is the difference between a good outcome and a great one.

See our transactions
Anchor sector credential

Sale of RSL Group to IPCOM

UK & Ireland commercial & industrial refrigeration distribution — acquired by IPCOM, a leading European technical distribution group.

1946
Heritage business, 10 depots across the UK & Ireland
Cross-border
UK & Ireland target, European acquirer

Transaction experience gained by our founder during his time as Associate Director at Initium Corporate Finance. Representative of sector and process expertise; not a Sterling Corporate Finance mandate.

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The person behind the firm

Aniruddha Roy, CFA

Founder & Principal Adviser

Aniruddha founded Sterling to do M&A the way he believes it should be done: senior-led, honest, and genuinely aligned with the owner. He advises across sell-side and buy-side mandates — from information memoranda and buyer processes to heads of terms and SPA negotiation.

His career spans M&A advisory, private-equity investment and debt and equity finance, most recently as Associate Director at Initium Corporate Finance (formerly BCMS), and earlier with Stockholm-based investment firm Brummer & Partners and as a Vice President in investment banking. That blend of advisory and principal-side experience means he sees a transaction the way the other side of the table does.

CFA® Charterholder MBA — Warwick Business School Background in corporate finance law Ex-Initium · ex-Brummer & Partners

Away from the desk, he is usually found attempting the classical guitar — a reminder that the most rewarding things take patience, practice and a long view. The same is true of building, and selling, a business.

Read our story
Let’s talk

An early, confidential conversation costs nothing — and changes everything.

Whether you are ready to act or simply weighing your options, a quiet conversation is the right place to start. No pressure, no obligation, complete discretion.

STERLING Corporate Finance

Independent corporate finance advisory for owner-managed businesses in the lower mid-market. Senior-led M&A, exit readiness and valuations — with a focus on industrials and business services.

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© 2026 Sterling Corporate Finance Limited. Registered in England & Wales, Company No. 17201807.  The contents of this website are for general information only and do not constitute financial, investment, legal or tax advice.
Built on trust, expertise & discretion.