In 2024, Principals facing the loss of up £250,000 in deferred payments from the sale of their wealth management company asked us to step in. Each needed someone on their side.  We recovered the entire loss sum.

In our lowest-value case, a business owner invested just £3,500. Through our intervention, we recovered £55,000 that could have been lost. That single engagement delivered:

  • £51.5k net gain
  • 15.7× ROI
  • 1,471% return

We didn’t seek out conflict. But our resolution service has proven comparatively far cheaper than legal fees.

And once our involvement is complete, our clients move forward into retirement, new ventures, or managing their portfolios. They feel firmly back in control of their future.

But let’s discuss why conflicts start…

 

Deferred Consideration & Earn-Outs

  • Many buyers structure deals with a portion of the price paid over time (deferred payments, earn-outs).
  • Sellers often discover buyers are slow to release payments or reinterpret performance conditions in ways that reduce what is owed.
  • This creates friction: what the seller thought was guaranteed becomes conditional, disputed, or delayed.

Cultural & Operational Misalignment

  • Even if the financial terms are sound, integration can expose cultural clashes such as how clients are serviced, how staff are treated, or how compliance is managed.
  • Sellers may feel promises made in the deal are not being honoured once the buyer takes control.
  • These disputes often aren’t legal at first, but personal then “this isn’t what we agreed” becomes a trigger point for further action.

Information Gaps & Due Diligence Tension

  • Buyers are trained to find fault: EBITDA adjustments, compliance checks, tax exposure, regulatory risks.
  • Sellers feel stripped bare in due diligence, and small issues can snowball into mistrust.
  • When disclosure letters, warranties, or indemnities get tested, it can quickly turn adversarial.

Why conflict happens in your deals

Because your transactions are in regulated, high-trust industries, where:

  • Capital values are large, but margins of error are small.
  • Buyers try to protect downside with aggressive terms.
  • Sellers expect the goodwill built over decades to be respected.

 

The mismatch between the buyer’s protection and the seller’s expectation is mostly where the conflict sparks.

 

Acknowledgements

“The Plot” is an thought series created by AND Capital Projects LTD.

It is forever dedicated to the memory of Julie Wilson, whose inspiration, resilience, and forward-

thinking spirit helped to shape its creation.