Every acquisition raises the same questions: is this the right deal, how should it be structured, how do we pay for it, who runs it, and what comes next. We work alongside you, deal by deal, so each one makes the holding company worth more.
A room is good for what a room does: energy, contacts and other people's stories. A deal needs something else.
In a room, your turn comes and you get a few minutes, from people who haven't read the letter of intent, the lender's term sheet or the seller's financials, and whose answer has to make sense to everyone else listening. Then the session ends, and the deal keeps moving without them.
Grow is the other arrangement. One adviser who knows your holding company, your capital, your team and your plan, and who reads the documents before they go out. A standing call every week, Slack in between with replies usually the same business day, and extra sessions when a deal is live, because a seller's deadline doesn't wait for the next meeting. The attention isn't shared with a room. It's on the deal in front of you, and on what happens to the business after you close.
If your room is useful to you, keep it. The two do different jobs.
The capital stack for each deal, lender conversations, seller financing and earnouts, raising equity for an acquisition or an SPV, and keeping your own ownership where you want it.
The operators to run what you buy, keeping the seller's key people, equity plans that pay for results, and the advisers and directors who add credibility.
Brokers, lenders and investors who bring you deals and money, and the partners, distributors and customers who make each acquisition worth more inside your platform.
An honest view on every target: strategic fit, price, the team you would be buying, the structure and the better alternatives. Then LOI terms, diligence priorities, integration and the next add-on.
You and your team run the business day to day and execute: finding and negotiating deals, diligence, closing, integration, hiring and reporting.
Counsel. A consigliere to you and your team: keeping you focused on the opportunities that matter, steering you away from problems we've seen before, and helping you make the most of each opportunity while keeping the risks small.
We’ll tell you what we would do in your position. You decide.
Illustration only: a typical sequence, not a specific client.
A broker sends you a business that looks right. Before you spend money on diligence, we test it with you: strategic fit, price, the team and whether it depends on the owner, the structure, and the better alternatives.
Price, seller note, earnout, rollover equity, how long the owner stays and what to leave out, worked through before you sign. You negotiate; we're in your corner.
Bank or SBA debt, the seller's share, your equity and any investors who back you. We help you prepare for lender meetings and get investor materials ready. You run the raise.
Your accountant and counsel do the diligence. We help you decide where to look hardest: customer concentration, key people and anything the price depends on.
Closing is where the real work starts. We work with you to pull each lever on the acquired business, so it's worth more inside your holding company than it ever was on its own.
Funding the growth the seller couldn't: equipment, new locations, working capital and better lending terms, without giving up more ownership than you need to.
Keeping the seller's key people through the transition, adding the operators and advisers the business never had, and an equity plan that pays for results.
New partners, distributors and customers, business your other companies can send its way, and the reporting and governance that earn the trust of lenders, partners and the next seller.
The next add-on, with the capital, team and structure already in place, so the second deal is faster and cheaper than the first.
Falling for a shiny object that doesn't fit the plan. Overpaying because the deal only works in the best case. A structure that leaves no room for the next acquisition. Key people who leave in the first 90 days. Equity handed out without a plan until there's none left for the people who perform. None of these show up in a course, and all of them are cheaper to avoid than to fix.
Grow is for acquisition entrepreneurs who own at least one business, or are about to close, and want an experienced adviser on call while they build. It works whether you stay private or eventually take the holding company public.
Tell us what you own, what you're working on and where you want to be. The first conversation is free.
Meraki Dealmakers is a service of Meraki Partners, LLC.
Meraki Partners, LLC is an advisory firm. It is not a broker-dealer, investment adviser, business broker, law firm or accounting firm, and does not solicit investors or receive compensation based on capital raised.
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