Off-market listing
An off-market listing is a business for sale that is not publicly advertised on a marketplace or broker website. It is being marketed privately — often to a short list of buyers a broker or advisor already knows — rather than to the open market.
Not every business for sale shows up in a public search. Some sellers, particularly larger or well-known local businesses, prefer to keep a sale quiet from staff, customers and competitors, and ask their broker or advisor to approach a small, pre-screened group of buyers directly instead.
How it differs from a proprietary deal
An off-market listing is still being actively marketed for sale by the seller’s representative — it is simply not public. A proprietary deal, by contrast, is one the buyer found and initiated, often before the owner had even decided to sell. Both avoid open competition, but for different reasons and at different stages of the process.
What a buyer should still expect
- The seller has usually already engaged an advisor or broker, so the process is more formal than a proprietary outreach
- Several other qualified buyers may be seeing the same opportunity, even without any public listing
- The same confidentiality steps apply — an NDA before financial details are shared
Sources
This definition is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Treadstone LawLegal commentaryBuying & Selling a Business
- 02Treadstone LawLegal commentaryKeeping a Business Sale Confidential in Ontario
- 03Canada Revenue AgencyGovernmentSelling a business
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