Great Lakes Rubber wanted to consolidate their niche in specialty rubber products. We built a pipeline of 50+ qualified targets, closed 2 acquisitions, and have 2 more under LOI.

The Challenge

Great Lakes Rubber had aggressive growth ambitions: consolidate their niche in specialty rubber and fittings through strategic acquisitions. But as a strategic buyer, not a PE firm, they struggled to get priority attention from investment banks.

The math didn't work: traditional Lehman-scale fees on $10-20M transactions would consume 3-5% of deal value. On 4 transactions in pipeline, fees would approach $350K or more, eating into the strategic value of each acquisition.

Meanwhile, internal bandwidth was limited. George Baumann was running the business while trying to source deals, an impossible ask. Six months of ad-hoc outreach had produced exactly 2 qualified conversations.

Our Approach

We became Great Lakes Rubber's dedicated origination arm, systematically building a proprietary pipeline of specialty rubber and fittings manufacturers.

Screened 150+ potential targets down to 50 that met strict criteria for product fit, geographic proximity, and seller motivation. Every lead representsed an engaged owner, and our flat-fee model means $0 success fees regardless of how many deals close.

Key Tactics

• We built a universe of 100+ specialty rubber and fittings companies matching acquisition criteria
• Developed owner-focused messaging emphasizing strategic partnership vs. PE ownership
• Qualified opportunities based on product fit, geography, and succession readiness
• Managed all initial outreach and relationship development

The Process

The Outcome

In 12 months, Great Lakes Rubber closed 2 acquisitions with 2 more under LOI. The acquisition pipeline is now full: 50+ qualified leads provide runway for continued growth without restarting the sourcing process. Great Lakes Rubber joins 400+ corporate development teams who've used Captarget to exceed acquisition targets.

The total sourcing cost: less than $40K a savings of over $310K compared to traditional Lehman-scale fees across the transactions. $0 success fees across 4 deals in pipeline.