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I've read [company]'s last five years of accounts. You've grown turnover to [band] with no borrowings, which is rare in [sector]. We back owners like you who want to step back without selling to a competitor.
How to source off-market deals for a private equity or M&A firm
Find owner-run companies that fit your thesis on their filed accounts, spot the owners ready to sell, and reach them first.
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How to source off-market deals for a private equity or M&A firm
Write your thesis as filters a registry can answer: sector, turnover band, profit trend, debt, headcount and who owns the shares. Screen every company on its filed accounts and officer records, not on a database estimate. Rank the owners most likely to sell, such as a founder over 60 with no younger director and no family on the share register. Then write to each owner personally about their own company, before a broker runs an auction.
- 01
Write the thesis as registry filters
Turn your investment thesis into questions a public filing can answer: sector by SIC or NACE code, turnover band, operating profit, profit trend over three to five years, net assets, cash, borrowings and average employees. Add the ownership test, such as one founder holding most of the shares. Write down what rules a company out too. This step is yours; tell Revnu and it works from it.
- 02
Screen companies on their filed accounts
Pull every company in your sectors and regions and read its filed accounts, including the scanned ones. Keep only companies that pass every filter on real filed numbers. Small companies may file abridged accounts without a profit and loss account, so decide in advance how to treat them, for example by net assets and headcount. Revnu reads the filings and keeps the ones that pass.
- 03
Score the owners for succession
For each company, read the officers and the people with significant control. Note the owner's age, how long they have been a director, their other directorships, and whether any younger director or family member holds shares. An owner over 60 with no successor on the register scores higher than one whose children are directors. Revnu scores every owner and says why.
- 04
Find the owner, not the switchboard
Get the owner's own email and, where available, a direct phone number. A note to an info@ inbox or a gatekeeper rarely reaches the person who decides. Revnu finds a verified email for the owner and a phone number where one is available.
- 05
Write to each owner about their own company
Lead with something only someone who read their accounts would know, such as ten years without borrowings or a steady rise in turnover. Say plainly who you are, what you buy and that a conversation commits them to nothing. Follow up a few times, then every few months. Revnu writes in your firm's voice, and your first sequence waits for your yes.
- 06
Put Revnu to work for the portfolio
Once a deal closes, the company you backed needs customers. Give its management team the same growth hire: outreach to its buyers, search pages, AI answers and ads. Revnu reports to the team every morning on what moved.
Who buys from a private equity or M&A firm
Your customer is the owner who sells to you. In an owner-run company that is usually the founder or a founding family, and their accountant, solicitor or spouse often shapes the decision.
Founders over 60 with no successor
They built the company and still run it, and no younger director or family shareholder sits beside them. A health scare, a lost key customer or a peer's exit gets them thinking about what happens next.
Second-generation family owners
They inherited the business and the next generation has made other plans. They care about the name on the door, the staff and the town as much as the price.
Owners of companies with flat or falling profit
Turnover holds but profit has slid for two or three years. They know growth needs money or energy they would rather not put in, and a partner who brings both is a real offer.
Owners with cash on the balance sheet and no debt
They run a tidy, conservative company and have taken little out. A partial sale lets them take money off the table and keep running it.
Portfolio company management teams
After the deal closes, the people you backed need customers. They buy growth help that shows up as pipeline before the next board meeting.
Where to find them
- Companies House in the UK
- Every UK limited company files accounts, officers and its people with significant control. Directors' birth month and year, appointment dates and other directorships are public, which is most of what a succession screen needs.
- SEC EDGAR in the US
- Form D filings name the officers and directors of companies raising private money, and public company filings cover the carve-out and bolt-on candidates. Private US companies publish no accounts, so ownership and age come from other public records.
- National company registries across Europe
- Many countries publish filed accounts for private companies, often as scanned documents. A screen that reads them reaches companies a database estimate never covers.
- Trade association member lists and award shortlists
- Regional manufacturing, engineering and distribution bodies list exactly the owner-run firms a buy-and-build looks for. Members are often long-standing and locally known.
- Accountants, solicitors and wealth managers in the region
- Owners tell their accountant first. A short, specific note about your thesis to the firms that advise owner-managers brings deals no list will.
What to say
Succession without a sale to a rival
You've run [company] for [years] years. If there's a plan for who takes it on, I'd love to hear it. If there isn't one yet, we help owners like you choose the timing.
Partial sale
Some owners in [sector] take part of the value out now and keep running the business for years. Is that something you've thought about for [company]?
Bolt-on to a named platform
We own [platform company] in [region] and we're looking for one more [kind of firm] to join it. [Company] came up first on our list.
Which channels fit
- Personal letters and emails to ownersStrong fitAn owner who has never had a broker call answers a note that shows you read their accounts. Revnu finds the owners and writes to each one in your firm's voice.
- Phone follow-upStrong fitOwners of established companies often prefer a call once they've had your letter or email. Revnu finds the owner's number where one is available, so your partners can call.
- Intermediary relationshipsStrong fitAccountants and corporate finance boutiques see sales before anyone else. Revnu can list the advisers in a region and draft the first note, and the relationship is yours.
- Search pages and AI answersSometimesOwners researching a sale ask Google and ChatGPT what selling involves. Pages on succession and partial sales put your firm in front of them, and Revnu writes and publishes those pages.
- LinkedIn outreachSometimesIt reaches management teams and younger owners, but many founders of older companies rarely check it. Use it alongside email, not instead.
- Paid adsWeak fitAn owner who isn't selling yet won't search for a buyer, and ads can't target a profit trend. Spend the effort on direct outreach.
Lead generation
Lead generation for deal sourcing
A deal sourcing list should start from filed facts, not database estimates. In the UK, Companies House gives filed accounts, officers with their birth month and year, appointment dates and the share register for every limited company. That is enough to ask for owner-run manufacturers with turnover between two figures, profit flat or down for three years, no borrowings and an owner over 60. In the US, SEC filings including Form D name the officers of private raises and public filings cover carve-outs. Elsewhere, read each country's registry where it publishes accounts. For example, a buy-and-build in specialist engineering could list every UK engineering company with 20 to 200 staff, net assets above a set level and a founder who has been a director for 25 years. Revnu works across 800 million+ people profiles and 200 million+ companies, then reads each company's own filings before it keeps it.
Cold email
Cold email to business owners for M&A
Cold email to owners works when it reads like a person who studied one company, and fails when it reads like a broker's mailshot. Name the company, one true fact from its accounts, and why your firm is a fit for it in particular. Skip valuations, multiples and "we have buyers lined up". Say what a first conversation involves and that it commits them to nothing. One example: "I read Harlow Tooling's accounts. Twenty years of profit with no borrowings is rare in toolmaking. We back owners who want to step back without selling to a competitor. Would a coffee in Coventry next month be useful?" Send from a partner's name and keep it short. Follow up a few times, then every few months, because timing decides most owner sales.
How business owners decide
Owners take a long time to decide, and the first reply is often "not now". They talk to their accountant, their family and sometimes a broker before they agree to a meeting. Keep a polite, specific note in front of them every few months, and the firm that has kept in touch is the one they call when the timing changes.
One prompt, worked through
Find 50 owner-run UK manufacturers with £10m to £100m turnover, flat or falling profit for three years, no borrowings and an owner over 60 with no successor on the register. Find each owner's email and phone, and draft a first letter from our partner.
- 1Revnu searches UK manufacturers in the sectors named and reads each one's Companies House filings, including scanned accounts, for turnover, operating profit over several years, net assets, cash and borrowings.
- 2It reads the officers and people with significant control to check the owner's age, years as a director, other directorships and whether anyone younger sits on the register, and keeps only the companies that pass every filter.
- 3It finds each owner's verified email and a phone number where one is available, and saves every company to Leads with the filed figures and the reason it fits.
- 4It drafts a first letter for each owner in the partner's voice, and the first sequence waits for the partner's yes. Each morning Revnu reports on Slack or iMessage who replied.
Frequently asked questions
Can deal sourcing filter on real financials, not estimates?
Yes, where the country publishes filed accounts. UK companies file theirs at Companies House, so turnover, operating profit, net assets, cash and borrowings come from the accounts themselves, including scanned ones. Revnu reads those filings for each company before it keeps it.
How do you tell an owner is ready to sell?
Nothing public says it outright, so stack the signals: the owner's age, how long they've been a director, no younger director or family shareholder, profit that has flattened, and other directorships winding down. Each one shows on the filings. Together they rank who to write to first.
What about small companies that file abridged accounts?
Small and micro companies in the UK can file a balance sheet without a profit and loss account. Their net assets, cash, borrowings and average employees are still filed, so screen them on those and on ownership. Say how you want them treated and Revnu applies it.
Does this work outside the UK?
Yes. In the US, SEC filings including Form D name officers of private raises, and public filings cover carve-out candidates. Many European registries publish private company accounts too. Revnu reads each country's registry as part of its research.
Can our portfolio companies use Revnu too?
Yes. Each company gets its own account, which finds its buyers, writes to them, publishes search pages and runs ads. Its management team approves the work and gets a report every morning.
What does it cost?
Plans start at $99 a month, and Revnu starts on what you typed as soon as you sign up. Cancel any time in Settings.
Does anything run before I sign up?
No. Nothing is checked or generated on this page. Revnu does the work inside your account, where it can read your website, keep what it finds and carry on from there.
Where do I learn how Revnu works?
The docs at revnu.com/docs/get-started walk through your first day, and revnu.com/docs/what-revnu-can-do lists everything it can do.
Last updated November 7, 2026
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