Competition from private equity

searcher profile

February 14, 2021

by a searcher from Ivey Business School at Western University in London, UK

What areas of search have been pressured the most by private equity over time? Certain geographies, industries, urban vs. rural, etc? Are there markets that new searchers should avoid for this reason?

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commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from Cornell University in Denver, CO, USA
we're a team of three that actively prospects across about half a dozen sectors. we use a handful of marketing automation tools and touch about 30 new companies per week. we see a lot of whitespace (ie. not oversatured with competition / PE) in every sector with the exception of software. a very small software CEO told us over the weekend that he gets 5 emails a day - this resonates with other feedback we hear in this sector. size-wise, we connect with plenty of $5m - $15m EBITDA companies that do not have an institutional investor (we solve for this in our list-building) and are not banked - although you have to be persistent. I think our "connections" occur, on average, around the 4th or 5th touchpoint.
commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from University of Texas at Austin in Austin, TX, USA
I wouldn't say there are markets searchers should avoid based on PE, some sellers would never want to sell to PE and some deals will always be too small for most PE firms.
So much is about making a connection with a seller and knowing how to value the intangibles of a deal.
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