Liquidity on your terms, managed through the issuer's process.
If you hold shares in a late-stage private company, whether as a founder, employee, early investor or fund, we help you assess what can be sold, to whom and how, and we manage the process to close. Positions from $5 million.
Who this is for
- Founders, employees and former employees with vested, transferable shares.
- Early investors and funds seeking liquidity or portfolio rebalancing.
- Holders of interests in SPVs or funds that hold late-stage private company shares.
Not a fit: positions under $5 million; shares the company has said it will not allow to transfer; anyone seeking a guaranteed price or outcome.
How it works
- Conversation. Your position, objectives and timing. No documents.
- NDA and engagement. Confidentiality and our terms in writing, including fees, before information changes hands.
- Verification. Ownership, transfer rights, authority to sign and source of the shares, checked before any buyer is introduced.
- Targeted outreach. To a short list of qualified buyers for whom the transaction is a fit. Never a broadcast. Shared only in an access-controlled data room under NDA.
- Close. The issuer's process (consent, right of first refusal, documentation) managed to settlement.
What we will ask for
The package, as a checklist (a secure data room is opened after the NDA):
- Identity and, for an entity, authority to sell
- The class and number of shares, and how you acquired them
- Grant, purchase or subscription documents
- Vesting and exercise status, where options are involved
- The company's bylaws, stock plan and any investor agreements that restrict transfers
- Any right of first refusal, co-sale or consent requirement, and its timetable
- Lock-ups, trading windows or other limits
- Your size, timing and objectives
- Tax position. You should take advice from your own tax adviser
What shapes the outcome
| Factor | How it generally works |
|---|---|
| Transfer restrictions | Determine whether, how and when shares can move. Some companies restrict transfers heavily or not at all |
| Right of first refusal | The company or its investors may have a right to buy on the same terms, which can delay or displace a buyer |
| Price | Negotiated. It depends on the buyer, the class of shares and the company's own information. We do not predict or promise a price |
| Structure | Direct transfer, SPV or fund interest. Each has its own consent and documentation requirements |
| Information | Buyers need information the company may or may not release. This affects timing and price |
These describe how this kind of transaction generally works. They are not terms we offer or a prediction of an outcome.
Where transactions get stuck
- The company declines or delays consent.
- Right of first refusal exercised after a buyer has spent time and money.
- Price expectations that differ between seller and buyer.
- Ownership documents that are incomplete or hard to find.
- Information rights. The company limits what a buyer may see.
- Tax and timing. Planning that starts after a buyer is found rather than before.
- Layered structures that the company's documents do not permit.
Fees
Our engagement terms, including fees, are agreed in writing at the start. Fees are weighted toward completion. We tell you early if a transaction is unlikely to get done, and why.
Questions
Can you sell shares the company does not allow to be sold? No. We work within the company's transfer rules and tell you early if a sale is unlikely.
What is my stock worth? We do not publish or predict prices. Price is negotiated between you and a buyer.
Do I have to tell my employer or the company? Usually the company is part of the process, for consent or a right of first refusal. We explain what applies to you before you decide.
How is my information protected? Under an NDA, in an access-controlled room where every view is logged. We approach only counterparties for whom the transaction is a genuine fit.
Securities are offered only through Finalis Securities LLC, Member FINRA / SIPC. River Guide Labs, LLC is not a registered broker-dealer, and Finalis Securities LLC and River Guide Labs, LLC are separate, unaffiliated entities. This page is informational and is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Private placements involve a high degree of risk and may be illiquid. Size ranges are typical, not offered terms and not a record of past transactions.