Frequently asked questions

We advise founder-owned, family-owned and sponsor-backed B2B companies in the lower middle market, generally with revenue between $5 million and $150 million. We also advise the private equity firms, family offices, independent sponsors and corporations that acquire businesses of this size.

We run sell-side processes, buy-side acquisition programs, majority and minority recapitalizations, management buyouts, exit-planning engagements and standalone valuation advisory. Many relationships begin with a valuation or readiness review well before a transaction is contemplated.

Every mandate is led by a senior banker who is involved from the first meeting through closing and remains your primary point of contact. That banker is supported by a dedicated deal team responsible for analysis, materials, buyer outreach and data room management.

LC Scout, LC Enrich and LC Outreach identify, qualify and contact strategic and financial counterparties, and our target lists are refreshed daily rather than assembled once at the start of a mandate. The practical effect is a broader and more current buyer or target universe, including parties a conventional list would miss, reached in a controlled and confidential sequence.

Ideally twelve to twenty-four months before you expect to transact. That allows time to address issues that affect value, such as financial reporting, customer concentration or reliance on the owner, and to choose the timing of a process rather than have it dictated by circumstances.

A typical sell-side process takes six to nine months from engagement to closing, with roughly six weeks of preparation before any buyer is contacted. Timelines extend when financial records need work, when regulatory or third-party consents are required, or when market conditions slow buyer decision-making.

Most buyers value lower-middle-market companies as a multiple of adjusted EBITDA, informed by growth, margins, customer quality, recurring revenue, management depth and the risks they identify in diligence. The competitive tension created by the process often matters as much as the underlying metrics, which is why preparation and buyer selection carry so much weight.

In most cases, yes. A sell-side QoE validates adjusted EBITDA before buyers see it, surfaces issues while there is still time to address them, and shortens confirmatory diligence. It is one of the more reliable ways to protect the price agreed in the letter of intent.

That depends on the buyer and on how much the business relies on you today. Financial buyers usually expect key owners or managers to remain for a defined transition or longer, often with rollover equity, while strategic buyers may require a shorter handover; we discuss your preferences early so the buyer list reflects them.

Each offers different advantages: strategic buyers may pay for synergies and offer a full exit, while financial buyers often provide continuity, rollover equity and a second liquidity event. We usually include both in a process so that the decision is made with competing offers in hand rather than in the abstract.

We work with private equity firms building platforms and add-on programs, independent sponsors, family offices and corporate acquirers pursuing growth through acquisition. Each engagement starts with a precise definition of the criteria an acquisition must meet.

Yes. Most of our buy-side work involves owners who are not running a process, contacted directly and confidentially on our client’s behalf. Our client’s identity is disclosed only when an owner has expressed interest and the client has approved disclosure.

We use LC Scout and LC Enrich to map the companies that fit your criteria by sector, size, geography, ownership and other characteristics, then qualify them against data and judgment rather than a static database. Lists are refreshed daily, so new companies and changes in ownership or leadership enter the pipeline as they occur.

Yes. Add-on programs benefit from steady, repeatable outreach across a defined universe, which is what our platform is built for. We coordinate with the platform’s management on messaging, priorities and integration considerations so that conversations with owners are credible from the start.

We help frame valuation and structure, arrange early conversations between principals, and negotiate the indication of interest and letter of intent. Through diligence and documentation we coordinate with your counsel, accountants and lenders to keep the transaction moving toward closing.

Our fees are results-based. The principal component is a success fee payable at closing and tied to the value of the transaction, so our interests are aligned with yours.

Sell-side engagements typically include a modest retainer that funds preparation and confirms mutual commitment. Retainers are credited against the success fee at closing, so they do not add to the total cost of a completed transaction.

Buy-side fees are likewise results-based, with compensation earned principally when an acquisition closes. Program structure, scope and any work fee are set to reflect the breadth of the search and the number of acquisitions contemplated.

It sets out the scope of work, exclusivity, fee structure, expense reimbursement, term and termination rights, and a customary tail provision covering parties introduced during the engagement. We review each provision with you and your counsel before signing.

It can be. Owners who are not yet ready to transact often engage us for a valuation or sale-readiness review on its own. Its scope and fee are agreed in advance, and if the work leads to a transaction mandate, it is taken into account in the overall fee arrangement.

Buyers first receive an anonymous teaser and learn the company’s name only after signing a non-disclosure agreement. Information is released in stages through a permissioned data room, and every contact is logged so you know at all times who has seen what.

Yes. We agree on an exclusion list with you before any outreach begins. Where a competitor is a credible buyer, we can limit what it sees, sequence its access late in the process or use clean-team arrangements for commercially sensitive data.

Usually only a small group of senior managers is involved before a letter of intent is signed, often under confidentiality and retention arrangements. Broader communication to employees, customers and suppliers is generally planned around signing or closing, in coordination with the buyer.

Documents are shared only through a secure virtual data room with access controls by party and folder, watermarking and activity logs. Customer names, pricing and employee data are typically anonymized or withheld until the later stages of diligence.

Not without your consent. Our non-disclosure agreements prohibit unauthorized contact with employees, customers and suppliers, and any customer or management conversations are scheduled late in the process and arranged through us.