Organise that work before inviting offers. You need enough understanding of your practice and your options to question advice, assess a buyer and recognise what a proposed deal would require of you.
Decide what you want from the sale
Write down when you want to leave ownership and when you want to stop consulting. Those dates may be different.
Then define what you are prepared to sell. It might be the whole practice, a shareholding or selected business assets. If you own the premises, decide whether you want to sell them or become the new owner's landlord. Discuss the structure and its tax implications with your accountant and lawyer early.
If there are several owners, each should record their priorities before comparing answers. Establish who would accept ongoing clinical work, deferred payments or retained equity. Resolve differences before asking a buyer to make a proposal.
Choose advisers and agree their roles
Your accountant can prepare and explain the financial information. An independent valuer can assess the practice's value. Your lawyer should advise on the structure, agreements and obligations that arise from the sale.
If you engage a broker or another sale adviser, ask who they represent, which buyers they would approach and how they will assess those buyers. Obtain the engagement terms and fees in writing, including what becomes payable if the sale does not complete. Check any exclusivity and termination provisions before signing.
The Australian Government's business sale guide recommends considering professional help and defining what is included in the sale. Keep responsibility for your own decisions: ask advisers to explain the reasoning behind their recommendations.
Prepare the evidence and the practice
A buyer will need to understand how the practice earns money and what will continue under new ownership. Start with your financial statements, current management accounts and an accountant-prepared explanation of sustainable profit. Separate the owner's clinical and management work from the return on owning the business. Proxeno's guide to what your practice is worth explains the valuation questions to work through.
Build a document list covering:
- Ownership and any shareholder or partnership agreements.
- GP service or employment agreements, staff arrangements and the current roster.
- The premises lease, renewal options and other tenancy agreements.
- Financial records, supporting income agreements and the earnings reconciliation.
- Operating systems, accreditation records and the proposed transition plan.
The Medius GP sale readiness checklist provides a fuller starting point. Identify what is missing, who will obtain it and when. If your practice depends on you for recruitment, rostering or daily decisions, plan how those responsibilities will transfer.
Approach buyers with a reason to buy your practice
Consider which buyers could fund the purchase, operate the practice and accept your preferred arrangements. The list may include an existing GP, a nearby independent practice or a larger operator. Investigate why your practice would suit each one before making contact.
My target would be three qualified buyers to compare. That is a planning target; the available buyers will depend on the practice and the market. DAK Group's discussion of multiple buyers explains how alternatives can strengthen a seller's negotiating position. It does not establish that every practice can attract three offers.
Ask who makes the acquisition decision, how the purchase would be funded and what the buyer intends for the practice. Where possible, speak with owners who have already sold to them. Use those conversations to test how the buyer handled the transition and honoured agreed arrangements.
Control the information you share
Agree with your advisers what to disclose at each stage. An initial overview can establish whether a buyer is interested before you release more detailed commercial information through an agreed confidentiality process.
Patient and employee information require separate care. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner recommends considering de-identified information during due diligence and controlling access to material that contains personal information. A confidentiality agreement does not replace privacy obligations. OAIC guidance on selling a business.
Use aggregated practice activity information where appropriate. Have your lawyer assess any proposed disclosure of identifiable records, including the relevant health privacy requirements, before giving a prospective buyer access.
Compare the terms of each offer
Compare what each buyer is acquiring, their payment schedule and the work they require of you afterwards. Record the clinical sessions, management duties, service fee arrangements and any equity you would retain.
An earnout ties part of the payment to future performance. Vendor finance leaves an amount owing to the seller. Adam Mazzaferro's Medius article on vendor finance, earnouts and staged equity explains these structures and the need to define their terms carefully.
Have your accountant compare the financial outcomes and your lawyer examine the obligations. Ask them to review any heads of agreement or exclusivity request before you sign. Keep a written record of unresolved points so a headline price does not obscure the work still required to reach an agreement.
Work through due diligence and the contract
Due diligence lets the buyer and their advisers test the information supporting the offer. Business Queensland's guide to completing a sale describes the review of finances, operations, assets and agreements.
Nominate who will coordinate requests and maintain a record of answers and documents supplied. When a buyer proposes a price change, ask them to identify the finding and explain its financial effect. Review that explanation with your accountant.
Your lawyer should document the agreed price, payment arrangements, conditions, liabilities and handover obligations. Identify any lease or contract consents needed for completion and who will obtain them. Build those tasks into the timetable.
Plan the handover before settlement
Agree who will communicate with GPs and staff, what they will be told and when. Have the employment arrangements reviewed for the particular transaction. The Fair Work Ombudsman explains that a transfer of business can affect employee entitlements; the detail depends on the circumstances.
Patient communication and records arrangements also need a plan. MDA National's guidance on leaving or selling a practice covers advance notice, continuing care and access to records. Confirm the requirements for your jurisdiction with your legal and medical indemnity advisers.
Document the practical handover too: systems access, supplier contacts, responsibility for outstanding tasks and your availability after settlement. A buyer's proposed settlement date needs to allow time for these arrangements.
Start with the work you can do now
The time needed to sell will depend on preparation, buyer availability, funding, due diligence and any required consents. Ask for a timetable that identifies those dependencies and the person responsible for each task.
Proxeno offers a process you can run yourself or with a consultant alongside you. It helps organise the practice information, record the owners' preferences and identify buyers worth approaching. Your accountant handles the financial advice, your lawyer handles the contract and an independent valuer handles valuation. Explore the seller process.
Start with the free business acuity assessment to identify operational gaps. Use the results to agree a preparation plan with your advisers before approaching buyers.