Justin - you mentioned that investments bankers take 1-2% of the selling price. What percentage do all the rest of the closing costs take up (lawyers, etc)? What are these other closing costs?
Lawyers are one of those costs that can be a lot, or controlled, depending on how much negotiation happens. For billion dollar acquisitions usually you will pay $1-2mm in fees in my experience. For smaller acquisitions I've seen anywhere from 100-500k. Those are very loose ballpark numbers.
Other closing costs -- usually there will be an escrow service for any holdbacks. That usually is only tens of thousands of dollars - not expensive relative to deal size.
- Accountants (if you don't have dedicated resources)
- Your time
I can't stress this enough - the last one ends up being your biggest cost (although not direct). I've seen more than enough company's execs struggle with transaction fatigue because you're trying to sell a company while still running one. This is where good bankers/advisors come in.
Other closing costs -- usually there will be an escrow service for any holdbacks. That usually is only tens of thousands of dollars - not expensive relative to deal size.