Sourcing Tips for Searchers

As summer comes to a close, we expect deal flow to pick-up during the fall to close out###-###-#### Tariff noise is largely behind us (though fluid), the public markets have stabilized (some indices reaching record highs), inflation worries have stalled (for now), and private equity firms are back to deploying capital despite a challenging fundraising market and lack of exits (hello continuation vehicles). Investment banks both small and large will have CIMs tee’d up to be sent out after Labor Day weekend as investors return from summer travel and look to close new platform investments before year-end. We’ve surpassed the midway point in 2025 and wanted to send out a fresh set of sourcing tips for searchers after recently helping a handful of clients including self-funded searchers, traditional searchers, and independent sponsors close deals during Q2 and early Q3 with multiple new post-LOI transactions in the works. Deal flow has already begun to pick-up from three to four months ago when tariff uncertainty flooded the markets early in the spring. Given the increasingly competitive M&A environment to acquire a small business, our latest blog post is focused exclusively on sourcing and channels that do and don't work. We touch on a variety of methods including breadth vs. depth, tradeshows and industry conferences, broker channels, and proprietary deal flow. We hope you find these tips useful and anticipate deal flow to pick-up for the remainder of 2025 after a slower start to the year. Feel free to reach out to RiverStone Reporting if we can ever be of help during diligence with investor memos and models - we love bringing a private equity lens to small businesses. Investors - feel free to forward our blog articles below to any searchers who may benefit from the additional tips. Happy searching! Latest Blog Post: https://www.riverstonereporting.com/post/sourcing-tips-for-searchers