The short answer
An unsolicited offer signals that a practice is visible and attractive to at least one buyer. It does not indicate what the practice is worth, because a price offered without competing interest is set by the only party in the conversation. The immediate priority is to avoid committing to anything — not to decide whether to sell.
Quick answers
Does an unsolicited offer mean my practice is worth a lot? It means at least one buyer finds it attractive, which is a different question from what it would fetch in a competitive process.
Was I singled out? Usually not — most acquirers work through systematic target lists built from public information about practices in a sector.
Should I send them my financials? Not before a signed non-disclosure agreement, and not without advice on what to include.
Do I have to respond quickly? No — the pace of these conversations is set by whoever is willing to slow them down, and there is no penalty for taking weeks.
Should I tell my staff? Not while you are only exploring, because an exploratory conversation told early becomes a rumour you cannot retract.
Can I find out what else is out there without listing my practice? Yes — a confidential process approaches qualified buyers without the practice being publicly identified.
What if I am not interested at all? A brief, courteous decline is sufficient, and it costs nothing to keep the contact details.
Key takeaways
- An unsolicited offer is evidence of interest in a practice, not evidence of its value.
- A price offered without competing bidders is set by the only buyer in the conversation, with no independent reference to test it against.
- The buyer has usually completed many transactions; a physician-owner is usually completing their first, and that asymmetry is the central feature of the conversation.
- Nothing needs to be decided quickly, and a holding response commits a practice owner to nothing.
- Sharing detailed financial or membership information before a non-disclosure agreement is signed is the most common early mistake.
First, what an unsolicited offer actually means
Someone has identified your practice as a candidate and made contact. Depending on who they are, that contact may have come from a platform group’s development team, an intermediary working on a buyer’s behalf, or occasionally a principal directly. Our guide to who buys concierge medical practices sets out the four buyer types and what each is looking for.
It is worth saying plainly what the unsolicited offer usually is not: personal. Acquirers build target lists systematically, from directories, association listings, market mapping and public information about practices in a sector. A well-run concierge practice of a certain size in a certain region appears on those lists as a matter of course.
That is not a reason to be dismissive. Being on the list means the practice looks like a business worth owning, which is genuine information. It is a reason not to read the unsolicited offer as a verdict on what you have built, or as an opportunity that will not recur.
What an unsolicited offer tells you — and what it does not
| Reading an unsolicited offer accurately. The left column is real information and worth having; the right column is what owners commonly infer from it. What it does tell you | What it does not tell you |
|---|---|
| At least one buyer finds your practice attractive | What your practice is worth |
| Your practice type and size is being acquired | Whether this buyer would pay the most |
| You are visible in the market | Whether other buyers exist |
| Someone has done preliminary work on you | How your practice compares to others they have bought |
| There is a conversation available if you want one | That the opportunity will disappear |
The right-hand column is the important one, and the last row especially. Practices that are attractive to one buyer are generally attractive to others, and an acquirer active enough to approach you is unlikely to leave the sector because you took three months to reply.
The unsolicited offer asymmetry, stated plainly
This is the part most content on the subject leaves out, and it is the single most useful thing to understand.
The person who contacted you does this professionally. They have run this conversation many times, they know what a practice like yours typically trades for, they know which questions extract useful information early, and they know what a first number should be in order to anchor everything that follows.
You are, most likely, doing this once. You know your practice better than they ever will — and almost nothing about the market you have just entered.
That imbalance is not a criticism of anyone. It is structural, and it is exactly why the physician-owner in these conversations should be slowing down while the buyer is speeding up. Every day that passes closes some of the gap. Nothing else does.
What to avoid in the first conversation after an unsolicited offer
Five things, roughly in order of how often they cause difficulty.
Sending financial or membership information before an NDA
The most common early mistake, and it usually happens because the request is reasonable-sounding and the owner wants to seem cooperative. Detailed financials, member counts, fee schedules and retention figures should not leave your practice before a non-disclosure agreement is signed — and ideally not before someone has advised you on what an appropriate first disclosure looks like.
Naming a number
You will be asked, directly or otherwise, what you would want. Answering early sets a ceiling before you have any basis for the figure. “I haven’t looked at that yet” is a complete and accurate answer, and it is not evasive — it is true.
Signing anything
Including documents described as routine. An NDA is normal and usually appropriate, though it should still be read by your own counsel. A letter of intent is a different matter entirely, and one it is far too early to be considering — the reasons are set out in our guide to the sale process.
Telling staff
An exploratory conversation shared with the team becomes a rumour within days and reaches members shortly after. In membership medicine that has a direct financial cost, because members who believe the practice is changing hands may simply not renew. Nothing that has happened so far justifies that risk.
Negotiating alone
Not because physician-owners are poor negotiators, but because negotiating without knowing what alternatives exist is not really negotiating. It is accepting or declining.
A holding response to an unsolicited offer
There is a version of “no thank you for now” that keeps every option open, gives away nothing, and does not read as either eager or hostile. Something close to this:
Adapt to your own voice
Thank you for reaching out, and for your interest in the practice.
I’m not currently exploring a transaction, and I’m not in a position to share information about the practice at this stage. If that changes, I’ll be in touch — and I’d be glad to keep your details on file in the meantime.
If you’d like to send some background on your group and the kinds of practices you work with, I’m happy to read it.
What this does: declines nothing permanently, discloses nothing, sets no timeline, and invites the other party to send information rather than request it. That last line is the useful one — it reverses the direction of disclosure, and what arrives tells you a good deal about who you are dealing with.
If you would genuinely never sell, a single courteous sentence is enough. If you might one day, the version above costs nothing and keeps the door ajar.
Questions worth asking about an unsolicited offer, if you do engage
Should you decide to have a conversation, these establish who you are dealing with without disclosing anything about your practice:
- Who is the buyer, and who is behind them? A platform group backed by an investor is a different proposition from an individual physician or a health system. Ask directly.
- How many practices have you acquired, and how many in concierge or DPC specifically? Sector experience shapes everything from valuation approach to what happens afterwards.
- What typically happens to membership pricing after you acquire? A vague answer is itself an answer.
- What do you expect from the selling physician after closing? Length of commitment, clinical role, and whether it is negotiable.
- What happens to existing staff? Ask early, while there is no pressure to accept the response.
- Are you working from a mandate, or exploring? Some approaches are backed by committed capital and a defined remit. Others are relationship-building against a possible future fund.
You are entitled to all of this before disclosing anything at all. A buyer unwilling to answer basic questions about themselves while asking detailed questions about you has told you something useful.
Three positions, three responses to an unsolicited offer
| Matching your response to your actual situation, rather than to the pace of the unsolicited offer. If you are… | The reasonable next step |
|---|---|
| Not selling, now or ever | A brief courteous decline. Keep the contact details; circumstances change, and a name in a file costs nothing. |
| Not selling now, but perhaps in a few years | The holding response above. Then use the interval to understand what your practice would be assessed on — which is the most valuable thing this unsolicited offer has given you. |
| Genuinely open to a transaction | Do not proceed bilaterally by default. Take advice on whether a confidential process approaching several qualified buyers would produce a better outcome, and decide deliberately. |
That third row deserves expanding, because it is where the money is.
Why an unsolicited offer is structurally weaker than a competitive process
Negotiating with one buyer means there is nothing to compare their offer against. Not their price, not their structure, not their post-closing terms. The seller can push, but the buyer knows the seller has no alternative to walk toward — and both parties know it.
A confidential process approaches several qualified buyers in parallel under non-disclosure, which produces the comparison a single negotiation structurally cannot. It takes longer and it costs more to run.
There are honest reasons to proceed with one buyer anyway: an unusually strong strategic fit, a prior relationship built over years, or an owner who values speed and privacy above maximising price. Those are legitimate choices when made deliberately.
The problem is making that choice by default — because a buyer arrived first, and the conversation simply continued from there. The question worth sitting with is short: if three buyers were interested, would this still be the one I chose? If the answer is yes, proceed with confidence. If it is “I don’t know,” that is the answer.
What this unsolicited offer has actually given you
Regardless of what you do next, something useful has happened. You now know your practice is of a type, size and quality that acquirers pursue. Most physician-owners never receive that information, and many who eventually sell wish they had received it several years earlier — when there was still time to change the things that determine the outcome.
Whether you sell in six months, six years, or never, understanding how your practice would be assessed is worth having. The approach is a prompt to learn that, and it is a good one. It is not a reason to hurry.
Frequently asked questions
Should I accept an unsolicited offer for my medical practice?
Not without knowing what alternatives exist. An unsolicited offer is priced by the only buyer in the conversation, with no competing interest to test it against. The approach is reasonable evidence that the practice is attractive, but it is not an indicator of value.
Why did a buyer contact me out of the blue?
Most acquirers build target lists systematically from directories, association listings and public information about practices in a sector. A well-run practice of a certain size in a certain region appears on those lists routinely. The approach is generally not personal.
What should I not do when a buyer approaches me?
Do not send financial or membership information before a non-disclosure agreement is signed, do not name a price you would accept, do not sign a letter of intent, do not tell staff while you are only exploring, and do not negotiate without knowing what alternatives exist.
How quickly do I need to respond to a buyer’s approach?
There is no obligation to respond quickly. The pace of these conversations is set by whoever is willing to slow them down. A buyer active enough to approach a practice is unlikely to leave the sector because the owner took several weeks or months to reply.
Should I tell my staff that a buyer has approached me?
Not while you are only exploring. An exploratory conversation shared with a team becomes a rumour that reaches members, and in membership medicine that carries a direct financial cost, because members who believe the practice is changing hands may not renew.
What questions should I ask a buyer who approaches me?
Who the buyer is and who is behind them, how many practices they have acquired in concierge or direct primary care specifically, what typically happens to membership pricing after they acquire, what they expect from the selling physician after closing, what happens to existing staff, and whether they are working from a committed mandate.
Is a competitive process better than negotiating with one buyer?
A confidential process approaching several qualified buyers produces a comparison that a single negotiation structurally cannot, though it takes longer and costs more to run. There are honest reasons to proceed with one buyer, including strong strategic fit or a preference for speed and privacy, provided the choice is made deliberately rather than by default.
A seven-day plan after an unsolicited offer
Nothing about an unsolicited offer requires an answer this week. The single most valuable thing an owner can do is slow the conversation down without closing it, and use the time to find out what the practice is actually worth to more than one buyer.
- Day one — acknowledge, commit to nothing. Thank the caller, confirm nothing about your plans, and ask them to put the unsolicited offer in writing.
- Day two — identify who is actually calling. A principal, a platform’s corporate development team and an intermediary paid on success are three different conversations.
- Day three — sign a mutual NDA before anything moves. No financial or membership data leaves the practice until it is in place.
- Day four — get your own baseline. A confidential valuation tells you whether the unsolicited offer is generous, average or opportunistic.
- Day five — appoint advisers. A healthcare transaction attorney and an M&A adviser cost far less than the discount an unadvised owner accepts.
- Day six — decide whether to widen the field. Turning an unsolicited offer into a small competitive process is the highest-return decision available.
- Day seven — reply on your terms. A short, professional response keeps the door open without conceding exclusivity, price or timing.
Related reading
An unsolicited offer is easier to judge once you know how these practices are valued and who else buys them.
- What is a concierge medical practice worth?
- Who buys concierge medical practices — and what each one wants
- How to sell a concierge medicine practice: the full process
- What is a quality of earnings review?
