Retained buy-side search

We run the origination. You take the conversations.

A managed mandate built around your criteria. We map the market, reach the owners directly, qualify the fit and deliver the conversations to your calendar with the research attached. Nothing to manage on your side.
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The engagement

Terms, stated plainly

Fees
A monthly fee for the mandate plus a success fee on closed transactionsScoped to the mandate and set out in the engagement letter before any work starts.
Setup
Two to three weeksMarket built and scored, sending domains warmed, your message approved.
First conversations
Typically within 30 days of launch
Reporting
A contact export every week, category by categoryContacted, replied, interested.
Exclusivity
One thesis per mandateNothing is shared between clients. We do not resell your market.
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What you receive

What a qualified conversation means, in writing

  • The owner, not the staff

    The founder, a family owner or the named decision-maker of the business, reached directly.

  • Inside your criteria

    In one of your categories, at or above your revenue and EBITDA floors, not already owned by a sponsor or a strategic acquirer.

  • Said yes to your team

    Replied with interest or booked. We set up the first call and attend it with you; your team takes it from there.

  • Research attached

    Revenue estimate, ownership picture, what the business does and why it fits, on the thread before the call.

How it runs

From scoping to the first conversations

  1. 01Week 0

    Scoping

    Your categories, floors and geography. One message in your words. Who on your side reviews and who takes the first call.

  2. 02Weeks 1 to 2

    Market build

    The owner universe for each category from public records, every company scored against the floors, owners identified and verified. Sending domains warm in parallel.

  3. 03Month 1

    Live

    Outreach runs by category across email, LinkedIn and phone where owners actually read. First owner conversations typically land inside the month.

  4. 04Ongoing

    Every week after

    New owners into sequences, a weekly export per category, interested owners introduced with a booking link, and every pass recorded with the reason so the next category starts sharper.

From a mandate

Add-on origination for a private equity firm

Nine add-on categories worked at once. At full capacity the engine contacts 3,000 owners a month; at this mandate’s rate that is about 55 owner conversations a month for the deal team, every one at or above the size floor. Three letters of intent in the first two months.
  • 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

  • Private equity firms with add-on programmes

    Several platforms, each with categories that never reach a banker. One mandate covers all of them.

  • Independent sponsors

    A thesis and a track record, without a business-development hire. The mandate is the hire.

  • Family offices

    A long hold and a small team. Conversations arrive qualified; nothing else lands on your desk.

  • Platform add-ons

    The portfolio company itself, sourcing its own add-ons. The mandate runs in the platform’s name, beside the operators, at the pace the integration team can take.

What we will not do

Said once, so there is no surprise later

  • We are not the buyer and we do not hold sell-side mandates.
  • We do not negotiate or run diligence. From interest onward the conversation is yours.
  • We do not contact owners outside your criteria. No shotgun outreach, in your name or ours.
  • We do not resell your market to a competing buyer in the same categories.

Questions

Asked on most first calls

All questions

  • Qualified conversations with the owners of companies that fit your criteria, delivered to your calendar with financials, research and verified contacts attached. You set the thesis. We run the origination. You close.

  • Nothing is bought off a list. We map the whole market for your thesis, research and score every company before an owner is contacted, and only the conversations that qualify reach your team. The research travels with every thread, so your team starts each call informed.

  • Setup takes two to three weeks: the market mapped, scored and made contactable, and the outreach prepared. First qualified conversations typically surface within four to six weeks of launch, and the flow compounds from there.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Also

The other ways to engage

  • 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.

    Read more

  • Success-fee introductions

    When a company we know fits your criteria, we introduce the owner to your team under an introduction and fee agreement signed up front. No retainer; the fee is earned only when a transaction closes.

    Read more

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.

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