How do I find private equity buyers that invest in businesses like mine?

By Michael D. Rubin, CEO & Founder · September 2026 · 796 words

You find private equity buyers for a business like yours in three ways: through an M&A advisor with established relationships and a database of private equity groups, through private equity-owned companies already in your industry that want add-on acquisitions, and through intermediary networks where advisors present companies to investors. The first is usually the fastest and safest, because screening and confidentiality come with it.

Before you look, it helps to know how private equity buys and whether your company is what it wants.

How private equity buys

A private equity group raises money from investors into a fund and uses it, usually together with bank debt, to buy companies. It aims to grow each company and sell it again after several years.

Groups buy in two ways. A platform acquisition is a first company in an industry, bought to build on; it needs a management team that can lead growth. An add-on is a company bought and combined with a platform the group already owns. Many lower middle market companies sell as add-ons, and an add-on buyer can sometimes pay well because your company fits a business it already runs.

What private equity looks for

Owners are often asked to stay for a period, and sometimes to keep part of the company through a rollover: reinvesting some of the sale proceeds into the new ownership. That can pay off if the group grows the company, and it keeps you tied to the business, so weigh it with your CPA and attorney.

• Consistent, recast earnings: adjusted EBITDA that holds up in due diligence
• Revenue that repeats, such as contracts, service agreements and long-standing customers
• A management team that stays after the sale
• Room to grow through new locations, services, customers or acquisitions
• No dangerous concentration in one customer, supplier or person
• Clean financial records going back three years

Matching your company to the right groups

There are many private equity groups, and most have a narrow focus: a size range, a set of industries, a region, a preference for platforms or add-ons. The work is matching your company to the groups whose criteria it meets, then reaching the partner responsible for your industry rather than a general inbox.

Start by listing companies in your field that private equity has already bought; their owners are often looking for add-ons. An advisor adds groups you would not find yourself, including family offices and capital groups that do not advertise. We work with companies in manufacturing, distribution, home services and business services, where private equity interest is steady.

Getting ready for a private equity buyer

Private equity groups are thorough. After a letter of intent, many commission a quality of earnings review: an outside accounting firm tests whether your adjusted EBITDA is real, month by month, and whether the add-backs in your recast hold up. Companies with monthly financial statements, clear records of owner expenses and revenue that ties to bank deposits get through it with little change in price. Companies without them often see the price reopened.

Groups also meet your managers early, ask about the plan for growth, and want to know who will run the company once you step back. If the honest answer is that everything runs through you, start changing that now; it widens the pool of groups that will look at you and strengthens your position with the ones that do.

Why going direct is risky

If you call a group yourself, you have told a buyer you are for sale, without an NDA and without competing buyers. Groups that approach owners directly are skilled at making a first offer look generous. That offer may be real, but it has not been tested against anyone else.

The risk grows after you sign a letter of intent, because most include a period of exclusivity during which you cannot talk to other buyers. An owner without representation can find the price moving down during diligence with no other buyer to turn to. Read how to evaluate an unsolicited offer before responding to one. With several groups competing, price and terms are set by the market instead of by the buyer.

How we bring private equity to the table

MDR & Associates goes first to its own database of qualified individual buyers, capital groups and private equity groups. In 2023 the firm was named in the Axial Advisor 100, among the buy-side's most referred lower middle market investment banks and M&A advisors. Buyers see a blind profile, sign an NDA and complete a financial profile before learning who you are.

We negotiate multiple letters of intent at the same time, so private equity groups compete with each other and with strategic buyers. The fee is paid only if the company sells. Start with a free valuation snapshot.

Where this fitsTexas M&A advisors and business brokers →