Confidential simulation
How much will you keep after the sale?
Between the negotiated price and what actually lands in your account, the gap comes down to a few parameters. Estimate your net seller proceeds in a few minutes, for a Belgian or French company.
2 minutes Free and no commitment 100% confidential
Tool developed in collaboration with Bignon Lebray,
a business law firm with expertise in taxation.
Simulation
Step 1 / 3
- Country of the company
- France
- Ownership structure
- As an individual
- Expected sale price
- 3 M€
Estimated net proceeds
2,6 – 2,9 M€
A wide range. It narrows as soon as you enter the acquisition value of your shares.
From price to net
What you negotiate is not what you collect
Four items separate the headline price from your net proceeds. The heaviest is almost always tax, and it is also the one you have the most control over, provided you start in time.
Illustrative example (French company held directly, €3M price)
Scale starting at €2M
- Negotiated priceThe figure in the letter of intent
- 3,00 M€
- Price adjustmentsNet debt, working capital, warranties
- − 0,05 M€
- Transaction costsAdvisors, audits, legal documents
- − 0,06 M€
- Capital gains taxIncome tax and social contributions
- − 0,24 M€
- Net proceedsWhat lands in your account
- 2,65 M€
Simplified assumptions, for illustration only. Your net depends on your acquisition value, how you hold your shares and the structure of the price: this is what the simulator calculates.
The method
What drives your net proceeds
The calculation starts from the regime applicable in your country, then narrows along six parameters. Two owners selling at the same price almost never pocket the same amount.
The company's country and your tax residence
Belgium and France do not treat capital gains the same way. A founder who lives in one country and sells a company in the other falls under a third calculation.
Ownership: direct or through a holding company
The same price does not leave the same net amount depending on whether the shares are held personally or by a company. And money sitting in a holding company is not yet in your pocket.
The acquisition value of your shares
Subscribed capital, buybacks of partners' shares, successive contributions, revaluations. This is what gets deducted from the sale price, and it is the most often underestimated item.
The history of your stake
Holding period, percentage of the capital, past transactions on the shares. Several regimes are triggered at these thresholds, in either direction.
The price structure
Deferred consideration, earn-out, vendor loan, reinvestment in the buyer's capital. You are not taxed at the same time or on the same base.
What you will do with the sale proceeds
Professional reinvestment, reinvesting the proceeds, gifting to your children before the sale. Some decisions change the calculation, but only if they are made before signing.
Belgium or France
Two countries, two tax logics
The simulator covers both regimes. Here, in broad strokes, is what sets them apart for an SME founder.
| Belgium | France | |
|---|---|---|
| Shares held directly | Long exempt under normal management of private assets, capital gains have fallen under a new regime since 2026, with its own treatment for significant shareholdings. | Flat-rate taxation or, by election, the progressive scale, plus social contributions. A relief may apply when the founder retires. |
| Shares held through a holding company | Capital gains on shares largely exempt, subject to conditions on shareholding, holding period and taxation of the subsidiary. | Participation exemption regime: exemption subject to a share of costs and expenses, after two years of ownership. |
| Point of caution | Structures that sell the company to your own company can be requalified. Form matters as much as substance. | The contribution-then-sale structure defers the tax, but requires reinvesting part of the proceeds within strict deadlines. |
| Estate planning lever | Gifting the shares before the sale, to be organized with care so that it cannot be challenged. | A gift before the sale combined with a Dutreil agreement, to be planned in advance to wipe out all or part of the capital gain transferred. |
This information is general and does not replace the advice of your counsel. The rules built into the simulator were reviewed with the tax lawyers of Bignon Lebray and reflect the law in force on the date of the simulation.
The right time
The levers are set before signing, not after
Most legitimate optimizations come with a time condition. Once the letter of intent is signed, most doors are already closed.
-
2 to 3 years before
Structure your ownership
- Do you need a holding company?
- Reconstruct the real acquisition value
- Clean up the cap table
-
18 to 24 months before
Organize the transfer
- Gift to your children before the sale
- Retirement timeline
- Bring managers into the capital
-
Before the LOI
Negotiate the price structure
- Share paid at closing
- Seller financing and earn-out
- Reinvesting in the capital
-
Before signing
Secure your net proceeds
- Contribution-sale and reinvestment
- Asset and liability warranty
- Final simulation validated
Confidentiality
No one needs to know you are considering it
You entrust us with a price and an ownership structure. Three rules apply from the very first second.
No disclosure
Your assumptions are not passed on to anyone, intermediary or database. They are only used to produce your estimate.
No solicitation
Neither you, nor your partners, nor your accountant are contacted. You alone decide whether there is a next step and whether you want to talk.
Anonymous to start
The first two steps require no identifying information. You only identify yourself if you want to receive the details in writing.
What if you sold to your employees?
Selling to your team is not a fire sale. PurpleShares facilitates and finances the deal so your employees can take over the company: you exit at a fair price, with a payment structure built around your net proceeds.
After the simulation
From an indicative calculation to a precise estimate
The simulator gives you a range. Bignon Lebray, the firm we designed it with, gives you a figure. Once your report is generated, contact its tax lawyers directly for a precise estimate of the tax on your sale.
You stay in control
The firm receives nothing from us. You are the one who contacts them, with your report if you wish.
A quantified estimate
Your full situation is taken into account: holdings, personal assets, marital property regime, reinvestment plans.
A structured first conversation
The firm tells you upfront the terms of its engagement. No commitment beforehand.
Partner firm · Lille office
Got your report? Have a tax lawyer put a figure on your situation.
Bignon Lebray, a business law firm with expertise in taxation, worked with PurpleShares on the tool's results for France.
- Address
- 4, rue des Canonniers, CS 10009
59041 Lille Cedex - Phone
- +33 (0)3 20 06 93 93
- Website
- bignonlebray.com
Attach your simulation report to your message. PurpleShares receives no compensation on the firm's services.
Resources
Learn more about the tax on your sale
Between a sale prepared three to five years in advance and one decided in a hurry, the difference in net proceeds amounts to years of earnings.
Let's talk about your project
Thinking about transferring your company ?
Every situation is different. Let's talk in full confidence about your goals, your priorities and the options that may be open to you.
How it works
One simulation, three steps
A few questions, no data to dig out of your files. You get your net seller proceeds at the end of step 3, and you can stop before that. We do not ask for your contact details.
Step 1
Your company
Country of the company, year founded, expected sale price. Enough to identify the tax regime that applies to your deal.
Applicable regime
Step 2
Your ownership
Held directly or through a holding company, share of the capital, acquisition value of your shares. This is what sets the taxable base for the calculation.
Taxable base
Step 3
Your deal
Price structure, payment schedule, reinvestment plans. You receive your net proceeds and the impact of each assumption.
Estimated net proceeds