A business broker takes a company sale from first conversation to completed licence transfer. In Dubai that covers valuing the business, marketing it without exposing the owner, vetting buyers, running due diligence on the licence and lease, negotiating the terms, drafting the paperwork, and pushing the ownership change through the DED or free zone authority.
That's the short version. Here's what each part actually involves at BFS.
Why a Broker Matters in the Dubai Market
Selling a business here isn't like selling an apartment. There's no public record of what companies sold for, so nobody has a benchmark. Owners usually can't advertise openly without staff, customers and landlords finding out. And from the outside, a buyer has no way of knowing whether a trade licence covers the activities they need, or whether there's an unresolved DHA or DED violation sitting on the file.
Everything below exists to solve one of those problems.
Selling a Business in Dubai
We work out what it's genuinely worth
Almost every owner arrives with a number already in mind. Sometimes it's close. More often it reflects what they've put in over the years, or what a competitor claimed to have got.
We build the number from the accounts:
- Real net profit after every genuine operating cost
- Add-backs for what a new owner wouldn't carry — the owner's salary, personal expenses run through the company, one-off spending
- The multiple the sector actually trades at in this market
Multiples vary far more than people expect. A clinic doesn't price like a gym. A nursery with rent locked for five years is worth noticeably more than the identical nursery with a lease ending next year. Asset-heavy businesses like a car rental fleet need a replacement-cost floor sitting underneath the earnings figure.
You get a defensible range and the working behind it. If your target is too high, we'll say so. A business that sits unsold for a year loses value and loses credibility with the buyer pool.
We market it without exposing you
This is the worry owners raise first. If word spreads before you're ready, staff start looking elsewhere, customers get uneasy, and the landlord starts asking questions.
So the listing goes out blind. Buyers see the sector, the general area, the size and a financial summary. They don't see the trade name, the exact address, or any photo that identifies the premises. Full details are released only after a signed NDA and a credibility check.
From there it goes onto our marketplace, out to our existing buyer database, and across our social channels.
We filter the enquiries down to real buyers
Plenty of people enquire about a business for sale. Very few can complete one.
Every buyer signs a Non-Disclosure Agreement before receiving anything confidential. Before that, we check funding, sector understanding, and whether they're ready to move now rather than "maybe next year." You spend your time on the ones worth meeting.
We build the file that gets you a better price
Buyers judge a business by the documents they're handed. We prepare:
- The teaser — the anonymous one-pager that pulls in enquiries
- The information memorandum — the full profile released after NDA, covering financials, assets, staffing, lease and licence
- Investment proposals with financial tables and charts for larger deals
Businesses with a clean, complete file sell faster and closer to asking. Buyers pay a premium for clarity and discount hard for anything they can't verify.
Buying a Business in Dubai
We find the ones that were never advertised
A lot of the strongest businesses in Dubai never appear on any portal. The owner would sell at the right price but hasn't listed and doesn't plan to.
We approach them directly. Give us the sector, budget, area and licence requirements, and we go looking — rather than only forwarding what's already public. A large share of our completed deals started as an off-market approach.
We check what you're actually buying
This is where deals are made or lost. What we go through with you:
Trade licence — valid, and do the listed activities cover what you intend to do?
Activity codes — the detail buyers miss most often. A cleaning licence may exclude domestic worker supply. One line like that can undo the entire business model you had planned.
Regulatory record — open DHA, KHDA, DED or municipality violations, and whether they follow the licence to the new owner.
Premises — the real rent, Ejari status, remaining lease term, renewal terms, and whether the landlord will approve a change of ownership.
Staff — visa quota, current visa validity, accrued end-of-service liabilities.
Financials — do the bank statements reconcile with the P&L you were shown?
We've reviewed deals where the seller's own pitch deck projected figures that contradicted their filed accounts. That gets flagged before you sign, not after.
We negotiate the whole deal, not just the price
Price is one line. Payment structure, how stock is valued and paid for, whether the owner stays on through handover, who carries existing loans, and what the seller is restricted from doing afterwards all change what you're really paying.
Documentation We Prepare
- Non-Disclosure Agreements
- Sale mandates and agency agreements
- Share Purchase Agreements
- Referral and non-circumvention agreements
- Security deposit and commission receipts
- NOC documents for DED and utility providers
- Invoices and success fee agreements
Licence Transfer and Completion
Signing isn't the finish line. Ownership has to change at the DED or the free zone authority, the licence has to be amended, staff visas transferred, the lease reassigned, and the bank account and utilities moved across.
We stay on the file until the transfer is done and you're the registered owner on paper.
We Work in English, Arabic and French
Our buyers and sellers come from across the region and beyond. Deals move faster when nobody is guessing at what a clause means.
Sectors We Know Best
- Healthcare — clinics, polyclinics, dental and dermatology centres, pharmacies
- Education — KHDA-approved nurseries and kindergartens
- Fitness and sport — gyms, padel clubs, boutique studios
- F&B and hospitality — restaurants, cafés, beach clubs
- Retail and personal care — supermarkets, fashion boutiques, salons, spas
- Services — cleaning companies, car rental, digital agencies
Sector knowledge takes weeks out of a completion. Knowing how DHA processes a clinic licence transfer, or what KHDA needs when a nursery changes hands, is the difference between a three-month deal and a seven-month one.
Common Questions
What does a business broker actually do? A business broker values the company, markets it confidentially, screens and qualifies buyers, coordinates due diligence, negotiates terms, prepares the legal documents, and manages the trade licence transfer through to completion.
Do I need a broker to sell my business in the UAE? No, it isn't required. In practice, owners selling privately struggle with two things — keeping the sale confidential, and separating serious buyers from casual enquiries. They also negotiate without any benchmark for what comparable businesses have sold for.
How long does it take to sell a business in Dubai? A well-prepared, correctly priced business usually takes three to six months from listing to licence transfer. Overpriced businesses, or ones with incomplete financial records, take considerably longer.
How do you value a business in Dubai? Through a multiple of adjusted earnings — net profit with the owner's salary and personal expenses added back. The multiple depends on the sector, how much of the profit depends on the current owner, and how secure the lease and licence are. Asset-heavy businesses are also checked against replacement cost.
What should I check before buying a business in the UAE? At minimum: trade licence validity and activity codes, any open regulatory violations, the real rent and remaining lease term, visa quota and end-of-service liabilities, and whether the bank statements match the reported profit.
Where to Start
Selling? Begin with a valuation. No cost, no obligation, and you'll know what your business is worth in today's market.
Buying? Tell us the sector, budget and area. We'll send what's available now and start approaching owners who haven't listed.
BFS Commercial Brokers L.L.C. License No. 1494107 I-Rise Tower, Barsha Heights, Dubai info@businessesforsale.ae | businessesforsale.ae | Instagram @bfs.dubai
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