Success-fee introductions
Introductions, paid on the close.
The engagement
Terms, stated plainly
- Retainer
- None
- Fee
- A success fee on transaction value, payable at closingOn the sliding scale set out in the introduction and fee agreement.
- Agreement
- Signed before the first introductionEach company is named in writing when it is introduced.
- Prior relationships
- Carved out on noticeA company already in your pipeline is excluded when you say so at the introduction.
- Exclusivity
- None required
- Criteria
- Kept on file and matched as mandates runCompanies that pass one buyer are offered to the next that fits.
What you receive
What an introduction includes
A company that fits
Inside your categories, at or above your floors, founder- or family-owned, not already in a process.
An owner who has agreed to talk
We have spoken to them. They know who you are and why we are introducing you.
What we know
Revenue estimate, ownership, what the business does, and the owner’s situation as they described it.
A clean handoff
One thread, one call set up, then your team runs the conversation. We stay out of negotiation and diligence.
How it runs
From scoping to the first conversations
- 01Once
Share your criteria
Categories, floors, geography and the terms you offer owners. We keep them on file.
- 02Before anything else
Sign the agreement
An introduction and fee agreement with the fee scale and carve-outs for companies you already know.
- 03As they fit
Take the introductions
One company at a time, with what we know, and a first call we set up with the owner.
- 04At your pace
Close
The fee is earned at closing and nowhere else.
From a mandate
Add-on origination for a private equity firm
- Owners contacted a month, at full capacity3,000
- Owner conversations a month, at that pace55
- Letters of intent, first two months3
A fit for
Who this engagement is built for
Buyers with a clear thesis and no mandate yet
A way to see what the engine surfaces before retaining it.
Platforms adding one or two companies a year
Too little volume for a retainer, enough to want the right owner when one appears.
Intermediaries and former owners
If you know a founder who fits a buyer we represent, the same agreement works in reverse. Start with the investment criteria.
Platform add-ons
A portfolio company building out a region or a service line in a category we work. Introductions in the platform’s name under one agreement.
What we will not do
Said once, so there is no surprise later
- We do not represent the owner and we do not take a fee from them.
- We do not run an auction. One introduction, one buyer, until you say otherwise.
- We do not introduce companies outside your criteria to make a number.
- We do not negotiate price or terms on either side.
Questions
Asked on most first calls
An introduction and fee agreement signed before the first introduction. When a company we know fits your criteria, we introduce the owner to your team. There is no retainer; the fee is earned only when a transaction closes.
It is earned only when a transaction closes, calculated on transaction value on a standard sliding scale written into the engagement letter or the introduction and fee agreement. There are no other variable fees.
Each mandate is built around one thesis, and nothing is shared between clients: the market, the scoring and the research exist only inside your engagement. We do not resell your market.
Your team does. Every company is scored against your criteria before anyone is contacted, outreach to a named owner is gated by you, and the research stays attached to the thread from first contact to signed letter of intent.
Also
The other ways to engage
Retained search
A managed origination mandate built around your criteria. We reach the owners, qualify the fit and deliver the conversations to your calendar.
Origination systems
AI systems built for your team: the same origination engine, on your own cloud, run under your name and maintained by our developers. You own the infrastructure, the data and the IP.
Next step
Bring the thesis. We bring the owners.
Thirty minutes with the managing partner on your criteria, the markets we would work, and what the first conversations look like.
