MissoulaDallas PE buys in Missoula
Trinity Hunt Partners, a Dallas private equity firm, bought a majority stake in Dayspring Restoration, a Missoula restoration and mitigation company.
PrivSource
Sell a business in Montana
The road from today to the years after a sale runs through Montana's rules. Here it is in the order you will meet them: where you stand, what the state takes, the rules of the sale, who buys, and what the money can do after.
ComplexityLowTax on the gain4.1% 2025Deal volumeVery low
Montana is one of the quietest markets, where the strongest buyers are usually brought in from outside the state. The state's cut of the gain is modest, 4.1% at the top. Little else gets in the way of the sale.
Tax on the gain: Long-term gains have their own schedule; ordinary income tops at 5.9%.
Today
Where you stand
Montana gives a long-term gain its own rate schedule, 4.1 percent at the top, well below the rate on ordinary income.
A small-firm economy: about 141,000 small businesses make up 99 percent of firms and employ two thirds of the workforce, with a photonics cluster in Bozeman.
Small businesses
0
small businesses in Montana, 99.2 percent of all firms in the state.
BoostSuite, citing the SBA, 2025
Share of workers
0.0%
of Montana's workers employed by small businesses, the highest share of any state.
BoostSuite, citing the SBA, 2025
Bozeman holds one of the densest clusters of optics and photonics companies per capita in the country, seeded by Montana State University.
The elements this touches
- TmTime The years before you want out. It feeds the exit-readiness score and never moves the price; every other decision is planned against it.
ListenThe Montana briefing, read aloud
The deal team on what changes when you sell a business in Montana.
Before the letter of intent
What Montana takes
The tax on the gain, and what to settle before a buyer names a price
Net long-term capital gains are taxed on a separate two-rate schedule of 3.0 and 4.1 percent, below the ordinary income rates, and the state levies no estate or inheritance tax.
State tax on the gain
0.0%
Long-term gains have their own schedule; ordinary income tops at 5.9%.
Montana Legislature, 2025
A founder on film
On what he learned about tax on the way to the sale.
Lewis Titus Wastewater purification and manufacturing · Wyoming
Gains have their own schedule
Montana taxes net long-term capital gains on their own schedule, 3.0 percent then 4.1 percent, rather than at the ordinary income rates.
4.1 percent above $21,100
For a single filer in 2025 the 4.1 percent gains rate applies once Montana ordinary income passes about $21,100; below that, 3.0 percent.
No estate or inheritance tax
Montana is not among the twelve states with an estate tax or the five with an inheritance tax in the Tax Foundation's 2025 table.
The rate is the state's top rate on the gain for the year shown, the same figure as the indicator in the hero, so the two can never disagree.
The elements this touches
- TxTax Strategy The deal and entity structure, set before the letter of intent. FNDRS tracks whether it is in place. It never moves the price; it changes what you keep.
- ApAfter-Tax Proceeds What you keep at close. FNDRS records the pre-tax walk-away and the gap to your number. It never moves the price, and the tax on it is a question for your CPA.
Under contract and at closing
The rules of the sale
The rules a sale in Montana runs under
Non-competes are void by statute except in the sale of a business, where they must stay local and reasonable; no dedicated broker licence exists, and no bulk-sale or clearance procedure was found.
01Sale non-competes survive the ban
Montana voids contracts that restrain a trade or profession (MCA 28-2-703), but MCA 28-2-704 allows a non-compete tied to the sale of a business's goodwill.
LegalClarity
02Non-compete limited to nearby counties
A sale-of-business non-compete may cover only the city or county of the principal office plus adjacent ones, and must be limited in time.
NonCompete.com
03No business broker licence
Montana has no licence specific to business brokers; a real estate licence (MCA 37-51-301) is needed only when real property is part of the sale.
HedgeStone Business Advisors
The elements this touches
- LcLegal & Compliance Contracts, licences, and filings in order and enforceable. The FNDRS valuation reads it, and the score moves the multiple.
- DrData Room The documents a buyer will ask for, ready before they ask. FNDRS tracks it in the deal-readiness report card; it decides how fast and how cleanly a deal closes.
One thing you would not guess
Two thirds of Montana's workers draw a paycheck from a small business, the highest share in the country.
Small businesses employ 66.3 percent of Montana's workforce, reported as the highest small-business employment share of any state.
When the process opens
Who buys
Who shows up for a business in Montana
Out-of-state private equity is the visible buyer of Montana service and software companies, from Missoula restoration firms to Bozeman rental and advertising businesses.
BozemanCortina buys Bozeman RV rental
Cortina Partners acquired Blacksford RV Rentals of Bozeman in May 2023, a Montana consumer business with outposts in Las Vegas and Phoenix.
PrivSource, 2023
BozemanNine deals in one quarter
Bozeman software company Advisr was bought by Veylan in September 2025, one of nine deals with a Montana target that William & Wall counted that quarter.
William & Wall, 2025
The elements this touches
- SyStrategic Synergy What one buyer gains that another cannot. The buyer at the table prices it, which is why the sell-side process goes looking for them.
Day 0, and the years after
After the close
What Montana lets the proceeds do
Montana keeps a 90-year rule against perpetuities, so a perpetual dynasty trust is not available in-state; sellers who want one look to neighbouring states.
CloseDay 0
Proceeds land. What the state keeps of them is settled above; what it lets them do from here is below.
MCA 72-2-100290 yrs
Montana follows the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities (MCA 72-2-1002): a trust interest must vest within lives in being plus 21 years, or 90 years.
Constitution bans perpetuities
Montana's constitution bans perpetuities, one of nine such states, so a truly perpetual trust cannot be set up under Montana law.
WealthWhere FNDRS comes in
The post-exit wealth plan is the third act of the same engagement, and it starts in diligence, before the letter of intent, when a move or a trust can still change the answer.
FNDRSThe elements this touches
- EsEstate Architecture Trusts and ownership set up before the letter of intent. It changes what the family keeps, not what a buyer pays.
- ApAfter-Tax Proceeds What you keep at close. FNDRS records the pre-tax walk-away and the gap to your number. It never moves the price, and the tax on it is a question for your CPA.
People who walked it
Founders
Founders who worked with FNDRS, in their own words
From founders elsewhere
What founders say about working with FNDRS
No founder in Montana is quoted yet. These are founders in other states, quoted word for word, each described by role and state.
1 of 3
“I definitely don't think we'd be in the same spot without you guys.”
No founder in Montana is on film yet. These are founders in other states who worked with FNDRS.47 founders on film
Nearby
Other states in the West
| West | Tax on the gain | Complexity | Deal volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | None 2025 | Very low | Very low |
| Arizona | 2.5% 2025 | Medium | High |
| California | 13.3% 2025 | Medium | Very high |
| Colorado | 4.4% 2025 | Low | Medium |
| Hawaii | 7.25% 2025 | Medium | Low |
| Idaho | 5.3% 2025 | Medium | Low |
| Nevada | None 2025 | Medium | Low |
| New Mexico | 5.9% 2025 | Medium | Low |
| Oregon | 9.9% 2025 | High | Medium |
| Utah | 4.5% 2025 | Medium | Medium |
| Washington | 9.9% 2025 | High | High |
| Wyoming | None 2025 | Low | Very low |
Your next step
The road starts with one step
Know where you stand in fifteen minutes, or talk the Montana sale through with a dealmaker. Either way, no pitch and no obligation.
Selling in Montana? Start with a conversation
No pitch and no obligation. If the honest answer is not yet, we will say so, and say what to work on.