Manufacturing operations, food processors, machine shops, printing and signage businesses, and wholesale distributors make up Ontario's industrial-and-manufacturing resale family. This group more often involves owned real property and long-standing supplier or customer contracts than a typical leasehold business, which shifts diligence toward environmental review and contract assignability rather than lease terms or inventory counts.
Owned real property brings environmental diligence into scope — Where the business owns its facility, common across manufacturing, food processing and machine-shop operations, a Phase I, and sometimes Phase II, environmental site assessment is typically part of diligence given decades of industrial use on many sites. This is a routine, expected step rather than a sign of a specific concern.
Supply and customer contracts often carry consent requirements — OEM agreements, retailer-listing arrangements and major supply contracts frequently include change-of-control or assignment-consent clauses, and securing that consent is often the deal's central legal task. Losing a key contract at the point of sale can materially affect what the business is actually worth to the buyer.
Share sales become more common as the business grows — At the larger end of this family, a share sale is often preferred specifically to keep supply and customer contracts attached to the existing corporate entity and to take advantage of tax treatment available to qualifying shares. Smaller operations more often use a straightforward asset purchase.
Equipment financing and, occasionally, labour agreements shape the deal — Specialized equipment across this family is frequently financed, making a PPSA lien search standard practice, and where a plant is unionized, any collective agreement needs to be reviewed for how it carries forward under new ownership.
Browse the specific industrial and manufacturing business types below for the property and contract details particular to each.
Lower volume, highest average value of the main-street-adjacent segments; $500K–$20M+; commonly SHARE sales to preserve OEM/supply contracts and access the QSBC exemption.
Small and mid-size food-processing and co-packing operations; typically $500K–$10M+, often share sales to preserve CFIA/retailer-listing relationships and supply contracts.
CNC machining, metal fabrication and job shops; typically $300K–$5M; often share sales to preserve OEM/supplier contracts and specialized-equipment lease continuity.
Commercial printers, sign shops and large-format print businesses; typically $150K–$2M; asset sales built around equipment and recurring client contracts.
B2B wholesale distributors and importers; typically $300K–$8M; often share sales to preserve supplier and customer contracts intact through the change of ownership.
†Typical patterns across Canadian deals — not a quote or advice; every deal is confirmed on its own facts.
No open-ended hourly surprises — the cost is confirmed in writing before any work begins.
| Type of work | Fee | How it's confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| Straightforward purchase or sale | Starting from $3,388.87 Our charges · taxes included | Confirmed in writing once we see the agreement. |
| Larger or more complex deal | Quoted to scope | Short call → fixed written quote before any work begins. |
| Searches, filings & third-party fees | At cost | Itemized on your invoice, not marked up. |
A smaller machine shop, print business or distributor selling to a hands-on buyer, with straightforward equipment and supplier-contract review.
Start my file →A larger manufacturing or food-processing business with owned real property, OEM supply contracts, and a share-sale structure to work through.
Book a consultation →Not sure which you are? That's our job to figure out, not yours. As a rough guide, most deals under a couple of million dollars are the first kind — above that, you're usually in Mergers & Acquisitions territory.
Because owned industrial real property often carries a longer history of on-site processes than a typical leased retail or office space, an environmental Phase I assessment, and sometimes Phase II, is typically standard diligence in this family. It's a routine step for owned facilities in this sector rather than an indication of a known issue.
It depends on size, but share sales become more common as the business grows, largely to preserve supply and customer contracts under the existing corporate entity and to take advantage of available tax treatment. Smaller operations in this family more often use a straightforward asset purchase instead.
Many of these contracts include change-of-control or assignment-consent clauses, so securing the counterparty's consent is typically a core part of the deal rather than an assumption. Losing an important supply or customer relationship at the point of sale can meaningfully affect the business's value to the buyer.
It can. Where a plant operates under a collective agreement, that agreement needs to be reviewed for how it continues, or needs to be addressed, under the new ownership. This is a distinct diligence item that doesn't typically come up in non-unionized businesses elsewhere in the program.
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