A PE-backed LED lighting manufacturer needed to execute acquisitions but couldn't justify traditional M&A fees. We delivered 30+ qualified targets and 3 LOIs in just 4 months for a flat monthly fee.

The Challenge

This PE-backed manufacturer was growing fast organically, but their sponsor expected growth through acquisition. The problem: they weren't a 'professional buyer' with deep M&A infrastructure, they were operators running a business.

Traditional buy-side M&A firms quoted success fees of 3-5%. On target acquisitions in the $10-30M range, that meant $300K-1.5M in potential fees - more than the management bonus pool. For a portfolio company running lean, those economics didn't work.

Meanwhile, every CXO was wearing multiple hats. The CFO was also handling M&A. The CEO was investor relations, sales leadership, and chief strategist. Acquisition sourcing was perpetually 'when we have time', which meant sporadic at best.

Deals presented by investment banks came with two problems: premium valuations (auction dynamics) and fee structures the company couldn't absorb. They needed proprietary deal flow at a price point that made sense.

We're not a PE fund, we don't have the fee budget to pay $500K every time we want to acquire a competitor. Captarget gave us the sourcing infrastructure we needed at a price point that made sense. Three LOIs in four months, zero success fees. That's the math our sponsor wanted to see.

Our Approach

We became the company's outsourced Corp Dev team, handling the systematic sourcing, outreach, and qualification that internal bandwidth couldn't support.

Every target in our pipeline represents an active conversation, and zero success fees means zero downside risk on sourcing spend. The investment is fixed; the upside is unlimited.

Key Tactics

• We Built a targeted universe of LED lighting and adjacent component manufacturers
• Developed direct-to-owner outreach emphasizing strategic partnership vs. PE rollup
• Qualified opportunities based on product fit, customer overlap, and owner succession readiness
• Rejected 40% of initial targets based on thesis misalignment ensuring every conversation was worth executive time
• Delivered qualified conversations at a cadence matching executive evaluation capacity

Our Process

The Outcome

By month 4, the company had issued 3 LOIs and engaged in conversations with 30+ qualified acquisition targets. Total success fees paid: zero.

The flat-fee model saved an estimated $300K+ compared to traditional buy-side advisory fees. More importantly, the executive team could focus on running the business while proprietary deal flow arrived in their inbox.