Tennessee Valley Group, Inc
Tennessee Valley Group, Inc. is a Franklin, Tennessee business brokerage and M&A advisory firm led by Managing Director Jim Cumbee. Its stated services include business sale advisory, valuations, valuation enhancement, exit planning, and transfer mediation.
What stands out about Tennessee Valley Group, Inc
Tennessee Valley Group publicly describes a seller-focused process covering objectives, engagement, marketing materials, buyer outreach, transaction documentation, and transition to new ownership. Its homepage identifies experience in manufacturing, media, technology, business services, and healthcare, while the cited homepage does not publish a universal revenue threshold, minimum transaction size, or fee schedule.[1][2][3][4][6]
What does Tennessee Valley Group, Inc do?
Tennessee Valley Group, Inc. is a business brokerage and M&A advisory firm based in Franklin, Tennessee. Jim Cumbee is identified as the firm’s Managing Director and founder; the firm states that he founded Tennessee Valley Group in 2008.
The firm’s public materials describe a seller-side role covering valuation, preparation, buyer outreach, transaction documentation, and transition to new ownership.[1][2][3][4]
Tennessee Valley Group publicly offers selling-a-business advisory, business valuations, valuation enhancement, exit planning, and transfer mediation. The firm states that transfer mediation can be used to negotiate key terms when selling a business, preparing a valuation, or resolving employment disputes.[3]
Owners comparing intermediaries can also review Auxo’s business broker, M&A advisor and investment bank comparison, advisor-selection guide, and M&A advisor fee guide.
Published criteria: The official homepage discusses representing owners selling businesses for $10M or $50M. The cited homepage does not state a universal revenue threshold or minimum engagement size.[3]
What should a business owner evaluate before hiring Tennessee Valley Group, Inc?
An owner evaluating Tennessee Valley Group may want to confirm the firm’s current revenue, EBITDA, enterprise-value, or transaction-size criteria; retainer, success-fee, minimum-fee, expense, tail, and termination terms; buyer-qualification and confidentiality practices; and the availability of recent seller references. It is also appropriate to clarify who is responsible for legal, tax, valuation, and quality-of-earnings work, and whether the engagement would involve any registered broker-dealer, investment adviser, or other regulated affiliate.[3]
What are the firm’s current revenue, EBITDA, enterprise-value, or transaction-size criteria
What are the retainer, success-fee, minimum-fee, expense, tail, and termination terms
Can the firm provide recent seller references and identify completed transactions under confidentiality restrictions
What size transactions does Tennessee Valley Group, Inc handle?
The official homepage states that Tennessee Valley Group has 30+ years of M&A expertise and scores of transactions worth more than $600 million. The firm’s leadership page states that Jim Cumbee brings more than 30 years of M&A experience and has been in the room for hundreds of transactions.[2][3]
The firm describes its work around business sales and related advisory needs, including valuation, valuation enhancement, exit planning, buyer outreach, transaction documentation, and transfer mediation.
The homepage discusses representing owners selling businesses for $10M or $50M. That page does not state a universal revenue threshold or minimum engagement size.[3][4]
The official homepage identifies manufacturing, media, technology, business services, and healthcare as sectors in which Tennessee Valley Group has experience.
The firm’s business brokerage page lists service areas including Birmingham, Chattanooga, Clarksville, Franklin, Knoxville, Lebanon, Memphis, Murfreesboro, Nashville City, Tennessee, TN, and Tuscaloosa.[3][5]
What does Tennessee Valley Group, Inc publicly disclose about fees and engagement terms?
The cited homepage does not publish a universal revenue threshold, minimum transaction size, fee schedule, success-fee percentage, minimum fee, tail period, or termination schedule.
The cited homepage provides aggregate transaction metrics but does not identify named recent transactions, buyers, transaction dates, consideration terms, or deal values. A cited 2025 official article presents a manufacturing-business sale scenario but does not identify the company or buyer by name and states that names and fact patterns were changed to preserve identities.[3][6]
Jim Cumbee is identified by Tennessee Valley Group as a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 Listed General Civil Mediator. The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts mediator directory lists James R. Cumbee with Tennessee Valley Group, Inc.
The cited official homepage identifies mediation and advisory services but does not state a firm-level broker-dealer, investment-adviser, or other securities registration status. That status should be confirmed directly if relevant to an engagement.[2][3][7]
The firm’s stated Confident Business Seller process includes understanding the owner’s objectives, commencing an engagement, planning marketing materials, launching buyer outreach, proving the business story, completing transaction documentation, and facilitating transition to new ownership.
Tennessee Valley Group states that it quarterbacks the sale process and supports owners with buyer selection, pricing, and transaction terms.[3][4]
Questions to ask before hiring Tennessee Valley Group, Inc
What are the firm’s current revenue, EBITDA, enterprise-value, or transaction-size criteria?
What are the retainer, success-fee, minimum-fee, expense, tail, and termination terms?
Can the firm provide recent seller references and identify completed transactions under confidentiality restrictions?
How does the firm qualify buyers and protect confidentiality?
Does Tennessee Valley Group, Inc. operate solely as a business broker and M&A advisor, or through any registered broker-dealer, investment adviser, or other regulated affiliate?
Sources & research notes
- Official website / firm overview
- Official website / firm overview
- Services / capabilities
- Investment approach
- Geography / market coverage
- Public disclosure information
- Structure / regulatory context
How this profile was researched
Auxo profiles are prepared from publicly available primary and authoritative sources and reviewed for entity identity, factual support and disclosure consistency. When a fact cannot be supported by the reviewed public record, the profile identifies it as something to confirm directly rather than inferring it.
Independent research profile
This profile was prepared by Auxo Capital Advisors from publicly available information believed to be reliable and is provided solely for informational and educational purposes. It is not an endorsement, recommendation, ranking, solicitation, or representation regarding the profiled firm, its services, qualifications, transaction experience, regulatory status, financial condition, or suitability for any particular person, company, transaction, or investment.
Information obtained from third-party and public sources may be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, or subject to change, and Auxo Capital Advisors makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to its accuracy, completeness, or timeliness. Readers should conduct their own independent diligence and consult appropriate professional advisers before engaging any advisor, intermediary, investor, lender, acquirer, or other transaction counterparty.
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