CORP DEV, PE, SEARCH FUNDS
Acquisition targets
Turn a thesis into a target list, including the companies that will never appear in a broker's book.
Diligence is the most expensive way to discover a target was never viable. Every wrong name is billable hours.
A SWEEP ON THIS BRIEF
- Owner-managed, filings clear
- Fits thesis on size + model
- Strategic took majority
- Ownership unresolvable
- Founder-dependent, no succession
- Already in a process
- Revenue band too small
2 survived. The other 5 arrive too, each with the reason it failed.
The boundary.
Two answers define this brief. The second one is where the work is, and it is the question most teams never get asked.
WHAT COUNTS
Companies matching the thesis on size, model and geography, where ownership and structure can be established from filings.
WHAT IS RULED OUT
Already held by a strategic. Ownership structure that cannot be resolved from public record. Founder-dependency with no succession where the thesis requires continuity.
What a surviving row carries.
Every field below is either sourced or blank. Nothing on this list is inferred to fill a gap.
01
Ownership and structure, from filings, dated
02
Headcount and revenue band with the basis for each
03
Why the company is unlikely to be on a broker's list
And one that did not make it.
Found, researched, thrown out — and sent to you anyway, with the reason. This is the half a data vendor never shows.
A clean thesis match on size and sector
Majority stake taken by a strategic acquirer last year. Filing is public; the company website does not mention it.
The same engine, other briefs.
Nothing above is specific to this job. Change what counts and what is ruled out, and the sweep does something else.
Outbound leads
Find the companies worth a rep's afternoon, and prove why before anyone dials.
The briefCRM re-verification
Re-check the list you already own, before the next campaign goes to a dead address.
The briefInvestor sourcing
Build the list of funds that actually write cheques at your stage, sector and geography.
The briefPartner and channel
Find the resellers, agencies and integrators with a real practice in your category.
The briefTalent mapping
Map everyone holding a role across a defined set of companies, before you open a search.
The briefSupplier due diligence
Verify a supplier list is real, active and still holds what it claimed at onboarding.
The briefKYB and onboarding
Establish that a business is real, active, and owned by who it says, before you onboard it.
The brief