Buy-side mandates
A good acquisition is not the one people talk about most. It is the one that was done quietly, at a fair price, with a target that few thought of approaching, and that integrates without noise in the twelve months following closing.
For a growing group, external growth is a powerful value-creation lever. It allows you to consolidate a position, absorb a competitor, open a new market segment. But it requires method, patience and discretion. Arcadia Partners advises acquirers, groups or mid-market companies, in the identification, approach and negotiation of strategic targets.
When Arcadia steps in
The mandates we take on look like these. An industrial group that wants to strengthen its position in an adjacent business and has identified three or four potential targets, which no generalist investment banker would know how to approach with finesse. A family mid-market company that wants to start a platform logic without turning into an investment fund. A leader who grew their company through organic growth and discovers that the next leap requires an acquisition. An investment fund seeking to complete the portfolio of a holding it advises, in a build-up logic.
Our clients are industrial mid-market companies, B2B services companies, family groups in consolidation, sometimes investment funds in a platform logic. Target sizes typically range from €2.5m to €20m enterprise value, with a preference for situations where a confidential and bilateral approach allows the avoidance of an open auction.
Our method
We start by formalising the acquisition thesis with the client: which business, which perimeter, which criteria (geographic, customers, technology, team), which dealbreaker factors. We then produce a target mapping, between ten and fifty companies depending on the perimeter. Each target is qualified, cross-checked with sector databases and our own sources.
The approach is confidential and patient. We contact priority targets one by one, via a banker or leader from our network when possible, otherwise directly with a prepared proposal. We negotiate alongside the client up to signing, then accompany due diligence and closing.
Engagement framework
Exclusive mandate on a defined perimeter (business or target list), monthly retainer plus success fee on completion of an acquisition. Typical duration: nine to eighteen months.
Our commitment is to never lose sight of what the client is really buying: the strategic coherence of their group, not an isolated target. A successful acquisition starts with rigorous framing and ends with patient negotiation. If you are considering an external growth operation, let us talk before the first contact with a target.