A buyer contacted you. Do not name a price.
The first response can preserve or surrender negotiating leverage.
An unsolicited inquiry is not yet an offer, even when the buyer uses a valuation multiple or an attractive headline number.
Respond courteously, but do not provide a price expectation, a minimum value, detailed financial statements, customer information, or a commitment to exclusivity. The buyer is learning about the company and about your level of urgency. Your first objective is to learn about the buyer.
Ask who the actual acquiring entity will be, why the company is strategically relevant, how the acquisition would be financed, who must approve it, what role they expect from ownership and management, and what their process would require. Determine whether the contact is a principal, an intermediary, or a business-development representative collecting information.
If the discussion is worth continuing, use a transaction-specific confidentiality agreement before disclosing nonpublic information. Start with limited, high-level information. A credible buyer should be able to provide an initial view of value and structure without receiving customer names, detailed margins, or proprietary operating data.
Most important, evaluate the inquiry in context. The fact that one buyer found the company often means other buyers may see the same value. Before entering a bilateral process, understand the likely buyer universe and what a competitive process could produce.
The correct response is not "yes" or "no." It is: we are willing to evaluate a serious proposal through a controlled process. That keeps the conversation open without giving the buyer information or leverage it has not earned.