Looking at businesses in several countries: one list, the same 12 lines
By Grig Kochedykov · . Product facts reviewed against our live extension, My list and pricing pages on 2 November 2026. Exchange rates from the European Central Bank, retrieved 2 November 2026.
If you are weighing businesses for sale in more than one country, keep every listing in one list and read each one on the same 12 lines. The sites, languages and currencies differ from one country to the next. The questions a buyer needs answered do not.
In short: (1) keep every listing in one list; (2) read each on the same 12 lines; (3) put each price in the currency you pay in, and write the date of the rate next to it. Why the date matters: a restaurant listed in Canada at 295,000 CAD came to about €182,300 on 3 August 2026 and about €189,000 on 30 October 2026 (European Central Bank reference rates). The listing did not change.
Our free extension and My list are built for this. The extension turns a business-for-sale listing into a PDF report on the same 12 things, whatever site the listing is on. My list keeps the listings you save, from any site, side by side in one account.
Below: what changes between countries, a real listing with its price in euros on two dates, and a way to run a search across borders.
What changes between countries, and what stays the same
| Changes from one country to the next | What the free extension and My list do |
|---|---|
| The site the listing is on | My list: "Every business you are weighing, from any site, in one place." Each entry shows "The link, the marketplace, the price and the town." |
| The currency | "Each line shows what the listing says, with amounts in the listing’s own currency." |
| The language of the page | "The box and the report open in your browser’s language when the extension has it, and in English when it does not." |
| What sellers put in a listing | The same 12 lines for every listing: "what the listing says about each, and which ones it does not say" |
| The official records, and the rules on debts, permits and leases | These differ by country. The extension’s report "reads only the listing page and no official records". |
A real listing: one price, two euro figures
In an earlier post we took apart a real restaurant listing in Canada. Its report showed the price, 295,000 CAD, and what is for sale. Seven of the nine lines from the price down said "not stated".
Say you pay in euros. We converted the same price at the euro reference rates of the European Central Bank (ECB):
| ECB reference rate on | 1 euro bought | 295,000 CAD in euros |
|---|---|---|
| 3 August 2026 | 1.6181 CAD | about €182,300 |
| 30 October 2026 | 1.5606 CAD | about €189,000 |
The listing did not change. In euros, its price rose by about €6,700 in under three months.
So two listings from two countries can only be compared once both prices are in the currency you pay in, on the same date. The extension page says: "Each line shows what the listing says, with amounts in the listing’s own currency." Do the sum yourself, and write the date of the rate next to it. The ECB publishes its rates for information only. The rate your bank gives you will be different.
How to run a search across countries
- Add the extension on a computer. "The extension works in Chrome or Edge on a computer."
- Open each listing you might call about and press “Download PDF”. Save the ones you are serious about to My list. "When you save a listing the extension has read, its 12 points are saved with it."
- Put every price into one currency, with the date of the rate. Do the same for the rent and the revenue, if the listing states them.
- Compare the "not stated" lines. A listing that states the rent and the revenue can be weighed before any call. One that does not gives you questions for the seller. Ask them in writing and keep the answers.
- Open your list anywhere. "Sign in to it on your phone, and the same list is there." A saved listing's row carries a “Report (PDF)” button: "On your phone too: sign in, and the extension is not needed."
- Before a deposit, ask what that country's rules say. Which of the seller's debts can follow the business, and whether the permit and the lease pass to you, depend on where the business is. A listing does not tell you. The public records do.
What the list and the extension do not do
- The extension does not guess: "when the page is not clear, the line says “not stated”."
- The report "reads only the listing page and no official records". Debts, permits and leases are separate checks, in the records of the country where the business is.
Your next three steps
- The extension. Add to Chrome — free or Add to Edge — free. Reading on your phone? Open this page on your computer. More on our extension page.
- Your account. "Saving a listing takes a My list account. In it, the listings you save from different sites sit in one place." Create my account.
- The check, for the business you would put a deposit on. From our pricing page: "€550: from the public records, which debts can follow the business under the rules that apply where it is, and what decides whether the permit and lease pass to you". It needs "enough to identify the business — its legal name, its registration or tax number, or its trade name and town." Start for €550. "€950: everything in the €550 report, plus the seller's figures checked against the seller's own papers — tax returns or the accounts the company filed." Start for €950. "Your report comes in your language: any of 181, chosen on the order form." "We do not contact the seller." "You pay only if we take it on." Within 12 weeks of receiving the €550 report, pay the price difference for the €950 report: what you paid counts in full.
Sources
- Provenance Diligence, Free extension (retrieved 2 November 2026)
- Provenance Diligence, My list (retrieved 2 November 2026)
- Provenance Diligence, Pricing (retrieved 2 November 2026)
- European Central Bank, Euro foreign exchange reference rates (retrieved 2 November 2026)
- European Central Bank Data Portal, Canadian dollar per euro, daily reference rate (EXR.D.CAD.EUR.SP00.A) (retrieved 2 November 2026)
- Provenance Diligence blog, Save a business listing before you call the seller (the restaurant listing in Canada) (retrieved 2 November 2026)