~$2B
in closed M&A transactions.
Best-seller
Some capital goes into the business, to fund growth or an acquisition. Some comes out of it, to buy out a partner or take some money off the table for you and your family. Many deals do both. The real questions are where the money comes from and what it costs you in control, flexibility, and risk.
We start with your goals, show you every available option, and then run a competitive process among the capital partners that fit, so terms are set by competition, not the first caller.
Most owners who talk to us aren’t selling yet.
Confidential. No obligation. Exploring your options commits you to nothing.
Best-seller
Money that goes into the business adds cash to the company to fund what comes next. Money that goes out goes to the owners, as a distribution or for some of their shares, and the company’s cash doesn’t grow. Each can be funded more than one way, and each way trades away something different: control, cost, risk, or time.
New locations, equipment, people, or systems, funded now instead of year by year.
Add customers, locations, or capabilities in one step. Executing and financing the acquisition →
Or a retiring founder or family shareholders, on terms the company can carry.
Diversify your wealth without selling the company.
Many deals do both. One investor can fund the company’s growth and buy part of your stake in the same transaction.
Every source of capital sits somewhere between keeping all of the ownership and bringing in a partner who shares it. Where you land depends on where the money is going, what your company’s earnings can support, and how much control you want to keep.
A bank or asset-based lender lends against the company’s cash flow or assets.
Either way: into the business for growth or an acquisition, or out to the owners for a partner buyout or a distribution.
Every share, and full control.
Flexibility: repayment, covenants, collateral, and sometimes a personal guarantee.
Growth, an acquisition, or a partner buyout that’s modest relative to what the company’s cash flow can repay. Assumes little existing debt. Debt ↓
A private credit or mezzanine fund lends more, or on more flexible terms, than a bank will.
Either way, including a larger one-time distribution to the owners (a dividend recapitalization).
Every share in most structures, control, and often no personal guarantee.
Cost: interest and fees above a typical bank loan, and sometimes warrants that give the lender a small equity stake.
A larger acquisition, buyout, or distribution than senior debt alone can fund. Debt ↓
An investor buys less than half the company (a minority stake), often as preferred or structured equity.
Into the business for growth, out to the owners for part of their stake, or both in one deal.
Control, and most of the future upside.
Some autonomy: usually a board seat, consent rights over major decisions, and an agreed path to the investor’s exit.
An owner who wants capital and a partner’s expertise, and plans to stay in charge. Equity partners ↓
Functionally a sale of control. An investment firm (private equity) buys more than half the company (a majority), you take most of your value in cash, and you reinvest part of your proceeds as rollover equity alongside the firm.
Mostly out to the owners. The new partner often funds growth after closing.
A minority stake, usually a leadership role, and proceeds from a second payout (second bite of the apple) when the company sells.
Control. You answer to a board and a growth plan the investor sets, and the investor decides the timing of the next sale, often within four to seven years.
An owner who wants most of the value in cash now and wants to scale up, with a partner funding aggressive growth, often through acquisitions. Equity partners ↓
General descriptions only. Terms, availability, and fit depend on your company’s numbers, your goals, and market conditions at the time. A majority recapitalization is close to a sale, and we run it the same way. How we run a sale →
Not sure which of these fits? Sorting that out is the first conversation, and it’s confidential.
Most owners who talk to us aren’t selling yet.
Debt lets a company raise capital without giving up ownership. A bank, an asset-based lender, or a private credit fund lends against the company’s cash flow or assets, and the company repays it over time. The money can go into the business or out to the owners. It’s usually the least expensive capital available, as long as the business can carry the payments and live within the lender’s covenants.
We start with your objectives and lay out the options with the advantages and disadvantages of each, including what each lender’s covenants would mean for how you run the business. Then we run a competitive search among the lenders that fit, so the terms and conditions are set by competition.
Need more than the company’s cash flow can support? That’s where an equity partner comes in. Equity partners ↓
An equity partner, such as a private equity firm or a family office, buys a share of the company. Its money can go into the business to fund growth or acquisitions, out to the owners for part of their stake, or both. How much of the company you sell decides who controls it afterward.
Not every investor brings the same thing. Starting from your goals, we find the partners that can add the most strategic value, such as industry relationships, operating expertise, or acquisition experience, and run a curated, competitive process among them. We’ve been private equity investors and partners ourselves, so we tell you plainly what each governance term will mean for you in practice. And because we build the numbers we negotiate, we can anticipate what the investor’s detailed check (diligence) will raise and tell the company’s story credibly.
Main useFunds growth: new equipment, locations, or acquisitions.
Often buys part of your stake, or buys out other minority partners.
Control, most of the future upside, and sometimes the right to buy the investor out at a set price or formula.
Usually preferred or structured equity, which returns its money plus a preferred return first; a board seat; consent rights over major decisions such as new debt, new equity, or a sale; and frequently the right to force a sale after a set number of years, often seven or more.
Often significant growth funding after closing, frequently for acquisitions.
Main useMost of your value in cash at closing.
A minority stake (rollover equity), usually a leadership role, and proceeds from a second payout (second bite of the apple) when the company sells again, often in four to seven years.
Control of the board, and the decision on when the company sells again.
Want your management team to buy the company instead? Management buyouts ↓
In a management buyout, the company’s senior managers or minority owners buy it, usually from a founder who is ready to step back. Few management teams can pay the price themselves, so the purchase is typically funded with debt, equity from a private equity firm or family office, and often a note from the seller paid over time. The money goes out to the selling owner, and the company usually carries the debt afterward.
For an owner, selling to your team can keep the culture and the people intact, often with a faster, less intrusive due diligence process. Your managers already know the business, so they can often get comfortable with risks, like key-person dependence, that an outside buyer would find harder to accept. The trade-off can be price or certainty.
For a management team with the chance to buy, we raise the debt and equity, build the investment case, and see the deal through to closing. Having been private equity investors ourselves, we know what an equity partner will ask of a management team, and we tell you plainly what each term will mean once you’re running the company with a partner.
Thinking of selling to your team? Compare it with a competitive sale first. How we run a sale →
With equity you’re choosing a partner you’ll live with for years. With debt, you’re choosing a lender whose terms shape every decision. The amount and the price are two terms among many. These are the ones we negotiate just as hard.
Board seats, consent rights over budgets, hiring, debt, and acquisitions, and how disagreements get resolved.
Interest, fees, and warrants on debt; preferred returns and liquidation preferences on equity; and the rights any rollover shares carry.
Covenants, amortization, and prepayment terms, and whether anything is personally guaranteed.
Who controls the timing and terms of a future sale, including drag-along, tag-along, and redemption rights.
Your title, authority, and compensation, and what happens if you want to step back.
How the partner behaves when results miss, what it has done with companies like yours, and its plan for your team.
We’ve lived with these terms ourselves. As private equity investors, as partners alongside other owners, and in the partnerships we’ve negotiated for clients, we’ve seen what a board seat, a consent right, or a drag-along means years after closing. We share that openly, so you know what you’re agreeing to before you sign.
We’ve led private equity investments as principals, with our own capital at risk, and been partners alongside the owners of the companies we invested in. We’ve also negotiated every kind of partnership for business owners: with co-founders, family members, lenders, and private equity. That gives us lived experience of how governance decisions play out over the years, and we share it openly with every client.
We model the options side by side, from a bank loan to a majority recapitalization, so you see the cost, the trade-offs, and where the money goes before you choose.
Banks, private credit funds, private equity firms, and family offices can value the same company very differently. A competitive process finds out how differently.
Board seats, consent rights, and exit rights decide how a partnership works long after the check clears. We’ve lived with them as investors and partners ourselves, so we tell you plainly what each one will mean for you, and we make sure the hard questions are answered before anything is signed.
Define what the capital is for and where the money goes, then model each structure: amount, cost, leverage, dilution, and control.
Lender- and investor-ready financials, recast in-house the way their accountants will, so the numbers show what the company truly earns. Plus a financial model and materials that hold up to diligence.
The right lenders and investors for your goals, approached under confidentiality agreements.
Term sheets compared on everything that matters, not just price, then negotiated.
Managed to the finish line, alongside your legal and tax advisors.
David W. McCombie IIIFounder & Chief Executive Officer
Author of Selling Your Business with Confidence (Wiley, 2024).
David also serves on the executive committee of the Miami chapter of YPO, the global community of chief executives.
A confidential conversation about what’s possible costs nothing, and it’s useful even if you never raise a dollar.
Most owners who talk to us aren’t selling yet.
The information on this page describes capital-raising services and is provided for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, nor a recommendation regarding any security or investment. Any such offer or solicitation will be made only through definitive transaction documents to eligible investors, and only in compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws. Capital-raising or any other transactions involving the offer, purchase, or sale of securities are conducted through GT Securities, Inc., a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC. Past results are not indicative of future outcomes. No assurance can be given that any transaction will be completed or achieve any particular result.