How Sitavo works: buying and selling businesses
The full journey of buying and selling a business on Sitavo for buyers, sellers and advisers: listing, NDA, offer or auction, agreement and handover.
6 min readUpdated
Sitavo is a Danish marketplace for buying and selling businesses. Sellers create a listing, buyers find a business for sale, and the two parties meet directly on the platform — with messages, NDAs, data rooms, offers and a deal process that takes you from first contact to handover. This page gives you the overview of the whole journey for sellers, buyers and advisers, with links to the guides that go into detail.
What can you buy and sell?
The marketplace covers both online and offline businesses, whole companies and stakes. You can browse every listing under businesses for sale and filter by category, price, region, figures and sale format.
- Online businesses: websites, webshops, domains, SaaS, apps, content sites, online courses and digital products, plugins, communities and newsletters, and digital services.
- Offline businesses: shops, restaurants and cafés, trades and construction, services and consulting, manufacturing, trade and wholesale, transport, health and wellness, property, energy, hotels and accommodation, IT and technology, and automotive.
- Co-owners and investors: you can sell a stake or look for an investor. See find a co-owner.
- Leasing out the business: some owners would rather lease out the operation than sell it. See business leasing.
Sell a business: the seller’s journey
- Prepare the sale. Gather accounts, key figures and documentation, and find a realistic price level. The seller guide and business valuation get you started, and the sale price estimate gives a price range based on the accounts.
- Create the listing via Create listing. You can import figures from the Danish business register (CVR), get AI help with the text and save a draft until you are ready. See Create a listing.
- Choose sale format and confidentiality. You choose fixed price, offers, a bidding round or an auction (see below), and whether the listing is public, discreet or requires an NDA. See visibility and NDA.
- Respond to buyers. Enquiries, NDA requests and offers are gathered in your account. You decide who gets access to figures and the data room.
- Accept an offer and complete the deal step by step. Once it is done, the listing is marked as sold — and you can choose to anonymise the sale so the public page does not show what was sold by whom.
Buy a business: the buyer’s journey
- Find the business through search, categories or AI search, and save a search alert so you hear about new listings. See Find a business for sale.
- Message the seller with your questions and ask for a meeting or a demo. See Contact the seller.
- Sign the NDA if the seller requires one, and get access to exact figures and the data room.
- Investigate the business thoroughly with the pre-purchase checklist — figures, customers, contracts, ownership and risks.
- Make an offer, or buy at a fixed price with Buy now when the seller offers it. See Make an offer and financing a business acquisition.
Four ways to sell: fixed price, offers, bidding round and auction
| Sale format | How it works | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed price | The buyer can buy with Buy now at the asking price. The deal starts directly at the agreement step, and the business is reserved for the buyer while the deal runs. | Smaller, simple sales with a clear price |
| Offers welcome | You show an asking price (or «Price not disclosed») and buyers make offers. You can accept, decline or counter. A minimum offer rejects low offers automatically. | Most sales where the price is negotiated |
| Bidding round | You set a deadline for offers. The offers work like ordinary offers — binding only once you have both confirmed the agreement — and you choose which offer to accept. | When several buyers are interested and you want momentum |
| Auction | Binding, public bids with a starting bid, bid increment and an optional hidden reserve price. At the end, the highest bid wins if the reserve has been met. | When you want the market price within a fixed period |
Read about the difference between an open bidding round and an auction, binding bids and automatic bidding in Bidding round and auction, and about answering offers in Receive offers.
From accepted offer to completed deal
Once an offer is accepted, you share a deal room that shows where you are and who needs to do what. The steps are the same for buyer and seller:
- Offer — the offer is accepted and the deal has started.
- Letter of intent — only if the seller has chosen it. The default is «Quick deal» without a letter of intent.
- Agreement — you confirm price and terms. If the seller has chosen «Use Sitavo’s agreements», you get a purchase agreement, asset list and transfer declaration filled in with the deal’s details at no charge. You can also use your own documents.
- Payment — the buyer pays directly to the seller’s account or through escrow, and the seller confirms receipt. Part of the price can be paid in instalments with a loan agreement.
- Handover — domains, logins, keys, contracts and assets are transferred using a checklist.
- Completed — the listing is marked as sold, you get a proof of purchase, and you can review each other.
See each step in detail in the deal process, payment in paying for a business and the practical side in handover.
Advisers: broker, lawyer or accountant
Both parties can bring in an adviser. You find a business broker, lawyer or accountant under Find an adviser and give exactly the access you want — the adviser can prepare offers, replies and agreements but can never accept, sign or pay on your behalf. Advisory firms work in the Adviser portal. Read more in Advisers on Sitavo.
What does it cost?
| What | Price |
|---|---|
| Account, search, messages, NDA, data room, offers, auctions and the entire deal process | Free |
| Listings — as many as you like | Free |
| Sitavo’s agreements when the seller chooses them, and the proof of purchase | Free |
| Commission or success fee on the sale price | None |
| Listing package Visible or Premium (optional, once per listing) | DKK 165 / 495 |
| Deal package Basic or Plus (optional, per deal, can be split 50/50) | DKK 1,295 / 3,295 |
As a new seller you can try the full Premium package free for 14 days on one listing. Featured listings are also shown across Sitavo’s network of lookup sites — including DanskAdresseAPI, DanskCVRAPI and Findvirk — where people look up companies, industries and addresses. Buyers and sellers have no subscriptions; only advisory firms can choose the Adviser Plus subscription. See What does it cost? and Listing packages and add-ons.
What Sitavo does — and does not do
- Sitavo provides the tools: listings, messages, NDAs, data rooms, offers, auctions, agreements, payment registration, a handover checklist and a proof of purchase.
- The deal itself is between buyer and seller. The purchase price goes from buyer to seller or through an escrow arrangement you agree on. Sitavo does not receive the money and cannot reverse a transfer.
- Sitavo does not give legal or tax advice. For larger deals, share deals and physical businesses with leases and employees, bring in a lawyer and an accountant. Read, for example, about tax on selling a business.
If you need help
The help centre answers most questions. If something goes wrong in a deal, or you need Sitavo, create a case under Help and cases — and follow it from start to finish. See Help, cases and disputes.
Getting started
- If you are buying: create an account, read the pre-purchase checklist and save a search alert.
- If you are selling: read the seller guide and create your listing via Create listing.
- If you are an adviser: read Advisers on Sitavo and apply via Become an adviser.
- Whatever your role: read Trading safely before you share documents or pay.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Creating listings, receiving offers, using NDAs and data rooms and completing the deal are free. Sitavo charges no commission and no success fee. You only pay if you choose a listing package for more visibility or a deal package with agreements.
In an open bidding round the seller sets a deadline, and offers only become binding once both parties have confirmed the agreement. In an auction the bids are public and binding for the buyer, and the highest bid wins at the end if any reserve price has been met.
No. The buyer pays directly to the seller or through an escrow arrangement the parties agree on. Sitavo records the payment and the seller’s confirmation in the deal process but never receives the money.
It is not required, but we recommend it for larger deals, share deals and physical businesses with leases and staff. You can invite your adviser into the deal with exactly the access you choose.
Yes. The same free account is used for buying and selling, and you can switch between the roles at any time.
Did you find the answer to your question?
Related articles
- Create an account on SitavoCreate a free private or business account with email or Google, confirm your email with a 6-digit code, and start buying or selling.
- Advisers on Sitavo: brokers, lawyers and accountantsFind a business broker, lawyer or accountant, give access with precise permissions, and see how the Adviser portal, Basic and Adviser Plus work.
- The deal process step by stepFrom accepted offer to completed deal: letter of intent, agreement and documents, payment directly between you, handover, deadlines and proof of purchase.
- Sell your business: create a listing in 5 stepsHow to put your business up for sale on Sitavo: the five steps of the listing guide, price and offer format, visibility, documents and what happens next.
- Trading safely on Sitavo: avoid fraud when buying and sellingHow Sitavo protects buyers and sellers: verification, NDAs, data rooms, protected messages and change alerts — plus warning signs and a checklist.