Who actually buys this?
Not every acquirer is a bidder, and the ones who pay most are rarely the ones who call first. Select your sector and size to see how the field is shaped, and where the money in a competitive process comes from.
Six kinds of buyer, six different conversations.
Select a size band above to narrow the field to the buyers who would realistically bid.
Strategic platform acquirer
Highest headline multiple
Typically 15–35% above sponsor pricing where synergies are real
Product or customer adjacency they can cross-sell into an existing base on day one. They underwrite your revenue plus their own distribution, which is how they outbid a financial buyer.
Technical architecture and integration cost. If your stack cannot be absorbed, the synergy case collapses and the premium goes with it.
Slowest to move, and most likely to be an information-gathering exercise. Never run a one-to-one process with a direct competitor.
Sponsor-backed consolidator
Competitive, and fast
Priced off EBITDA with a clear path to a bolt-on thesis
A platform they can bolt onto an existing portfolio company, or an asset that becomes a platform itself. Recurring revenue and a repeatable sales motion matter more than growth rate.
Standalone cost base and EBITDA quality. They will build their own model of what you cost to run without the parent, and any surprise there gets re-traded.
Expect a quality-of-earnings review. Management accounts that have never been audited are where these processes slow down.
Growth equity
Premium for growth, discount for anything else
Revenue-multiple driven; 30%+ growth changes the conversation entirely
Efficient growth with a large remaining market. Often prefers a majority recap that keeps management in place rather than a clean exit.
Cohort retention and unit economics. They will rebuild your CAC payback from raw data and will not take a summary.
If you want a full exit and clean break, this buyer type is frequently a poor fit regardless of price.
Large-cap private equity
Disciplined, structured
Deep pockets but committee-driven; rarely the highest bid on a small asset
Scale, defensibility, and a management team that can operate independently from close. Carve-outs appeal to them because they are complex, and complexity keeps competition away.
Everything, thoroughly, with third-party advisors on each workstream. Budget three to four months.
Will not engage below their minimum equity cheque. Approaching them under-sized wastes the relationship.
Family office & permanent capital
Moderate, but certain
Below sponsor pricing, offset by speed and low execution risk
Durable cash generation they can hold indefinitely. With no exit clock there is no pressure to grow into a five-year plan.
Cash conversion and customer durability. Less interested in the growth story, far more interested in whether it keeps paying.
A smaller field and less price tension. Useful in a process as a credible floor, rarely as the only bidder.
International strategic
Often the highest, for market access
Buying entry to a geography can justify pricing domestic buyers cannot match
A foothold in a market they cannot enter organically at sensible cost. Your customer base is the asset, and your product may be secondary.
Regulatory, data residency, and employment transfer. Slower legal workstream, but rarely a re-trade on price.
Regulatory approval can add months, so engage them early rather than late.
The difference between one buyerand a competitive field.
A single conversation with the acquirer who happened to call gives you one price and no leverage on structure. The same asset in front of a curated field creates price tension, and price tension is what turns a headline number into cash at close.
- Strategic platforms with a genuine adjacency to your product
- Sponsors with a live thesis at your size in your vertical
- International acquirers buying market access rather than technology
- The ones to avoid, such as competitors on a fishing expedition