Our experience was quite different in terms of how it progressed (we were acquired by a public company). I remember after meeting with the Chairman/CEO they more or less went straight into heavy due-diligence; Deloitte audited our financials (I believe this was paid for by the acquiring company). The process in our case was much quicker than six months to get to the definitive agreement - only a few months. It was tremendously stressful, however I recall that day of initialing what seemed like hundreds of pages of agreement for the sale - such relief.