Sending a Letter of Intent (LOI)
A Letter of Intent is the offer you put in front of a seller or broker once you've decided you want the deal. Here's how Searcher OS helps you send one, and what's coming next for drafting it in the app.
What a Letter of Intent does
An LOI is a short, mostly non-binding document that lays out the price and the main terms you're proposing. It tells the seller you're serious, it gives their attorney something real to react to, and it usually opens an exclusivity window so you can run due diligence without the business being shopped to other buyers.
A solid LOI typically covers:
- Purchase price and how it breaks down (cash at close, seller note, earnout, rollover)
- Deal structure (asset vs. stock purchase)
- Due diligence period and an exclusivity / no-shop window
- Which terms are binding (usually exclusivity and confidentiality) and which aren't
Where the LOI lives in a deal
The LOI step sits at the LOI stage of your pipeline. When a deal reaches that stage, open it and you'll find two actions in the workspace: Draft LOI and Send LOI.
- Send LOI opens a pre-written cover email addressed to your broker, ready for you to attach your LOI and send. This is the part that's live today.
- Draft LOI is where in-app drafting will live. It's in development right now, so it shows a short note instead of the editor. More on that below.
Sending your LOI to the broker
Once you've prepared your LOI document, Send LOI handles the outreach. It builds the email so you don't start from a blank page.
- Open the deal at the LOI stage and click Send LOI.
- Review the pre-filled email. The broker's address, a subject line, and a cover note that references your attached LOI are already filled in. Edit any of them.
- Click Send Email to open the message in your email client, or Copy to Clipboard if you'd rather paste it somewhere yourself.
- Attach your LOI document in your email client before you hit send. Browsers can't add the attachment for you, so the modal reminds you to attach it from your computer.
If you haven't set a default email client yet, you'll be asked to pick one the first time. You can change it later from the email client settings.
What sending does to the deal
The send is logged against the deal so your activity history stays accurate without extra bookkeeping.
- The outbound email is recorded on the deal's activity timeline.
- You keep the deal at the LOI stage, or move it forward on the board once the offer is out.
The activity log records when you opened the email to send it. If you close your email client without actually sending, move the deal back yourself.
In-app drafting (in development)
We're building a generator that drafts the full LOI for you, right inside the deal. Today the Draft LOI button shows a short heads-up that it's on the way. Here's what it's designed to do.
- Personalized to the seller. It pulls from your call notes and deal history to reflect what the seller actually cares about, in their own words, instead of a generic template.
- Mapped to your credentials. It matches your background to each of the seller's priorities so the offer reads as a real fit, not just a number.
- Editable and versioned. You'll refine the draft in an in-app editor, save versions as you negotiate, and export a clean copy to send.
Want this sooner? Click Draft LOI on a deal and send us feedback. It helps us prioritize.
Have your attorney review it
An LOI is a starting point, not legal advice. It's a draft to get the conversation moving. Have a qualified M&A attorney review the terms before you send it, especially the parts that are binding.