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For PE Funds, Search Funds & Strategics
The 95 you pass on are worth something. To us, and to you.
Refer the owners who do not fit your mandate to DealFlowAgent. We run the sell-side process. You earn up to 20% of our success fee — typically a five- or six-figure payment on a single deal. 22 completed exits. Backed by the early investors behind Uber, SpaceX, and Canva.
22
Completed exits
£1m–£50m
Revenue range we specialise in
16–20 wks
Typical close
Backed by Long Journey Ventures (early investors behind Uber, SpaceX, Canva). Clear agreement: 18-month attribution, payment only after we collect.
Why partner with us
Most M&A firms are generalists. We are deep, deep specialists.
The reason a referral to us converts — and pays — is that we have built density: relationships, brand, buyers, and research, all inside the niches we cover.
01
Pure specialists, not generalists
Most M&A advisory firms cover everything. We only do home services, healthcare, and adjacent essential B2B niches. That focus is the entire point.
02
VC-backed, reinvesting in the niche
Institutional capital lets us go deeper than a boutique can — better research, better tooling, better buyer mapping inside the sectors we cover.
03
We build the brand owners trust
We sponsor and exhibit at industry events, run magazine features, and speak at conferences in our verticals. Owners often know our name before the intro happens.
04
A buyer network built for this
13,259+ qualified buyers via LemList, Apollo, and direct relationships, mapped by sub-sector. Not a generic list — a working pipeline for the niches we sell in.
That density is why a referral to us converts — and pays — better than a generalist intro.
Deep specialism
The sectors we actually sell in.
Two pillars: essential building services and healthcare. Inside each, a focused set of sub-niches where we have buyer relationships, comparable transaction data, and sector-trained advisors. If your owner sits in any of these, we can run a proper process for them.
Building Services
35 nichesEssential, recurring-revenue trades. Strong buyer demand from search funds, trade strategics, and PE-backed consolidators across the UK and US.
HVACAir ConditioningHeat PumpsVentilationRefrigerationPlumbingDrainageElectriciansRoofingScaffoldingFire SafetyFire Alarm & DetectionFire SprinklersFire Risk AssessmentFire DoorsPassive Fire ProtectionElectronic SecurityCCTVIntruder AlarmsAlarm MonitoringAccess ControlSecurity GuardingBuilding AutomationLift MaintenanceAsbestos RemovalWater HygieneLandscapingCleaningPest ControlWaste ManagementCommercial DoorsGarage DoorsCommercial KitchenPoolsEnergy
Healthcare
15 nichesSpecialist clinics and care models with predictable demand. Active buy-side mandates from healthcare platforms, family offices, and private equity.
Adjacent B2B services occasionally — ask Joe before referring outside these two pillars.
Why we run a referral programme
You may evaluate 1,000+ companies this year. You may acquire between 1 and 30. A meaningful middle group is still worth referring.
We respect the discipline behind your mandate. Every fund and strategic we work with passes on hundreds of good businesses each year — wrong sector, wrong size, wrong stage, wrong timing. Those owners still deserve a proper sale process. This programme exists so you can hand them somewhere credible to land, keep the relationship intact, and get paid when they sell.
The exact numbers vary by mandate, but the pattern is consistent: a large top-of-funnel, a very small acquired slice, a watchlist, and a substantial group of attractive businesses that are good companies, just not for you.
01,000 companies evaluated
30
100
300
570
~30
Acquired
Deals closed this year. Your win rate.
~100
Watchlist
Kept close. May acquire in the next 12–24 months.
Your opportunity
~300
High quality — passed
Still great businesses. Wrong mandate, wrong timing, wrong sector, wrong size. Someone else will buy them. Refer them to us.
~570
Low quality
Do not clear the sellability bar. Do not refer.
What separates the 300 from the 570
We apply the same quality bar you do. If the business clears this, it is worth referring.
High quality — worth referring
Clears the bar
- ✓Revenue £1m – £50m
- ✓Profitable at 10%+ EBITDA margin
- ✓Stable or plateaued growth
- ✓Recurring or predictable repeat revenue
- ✓Management competent enough to run it today
- ✓Home services, healthcare, B2B services, or adjacent niches
Low quality — do not refer
Skip it
- ×Loss-making
- ×Revenue under £1m
- ×Less than 5% recurring revenue
- ×Unpredictable month-to-month revenue
- ×Unmotivated or unreliable management
- ×Does not clear the basic sellability bar
How we take care of the business owner
When you introduce us, this is how we take care of the business owner.
The same five-step process we run on every engagement, used on more than twenty completed exits. You are putting your name on the intro — this is the full process they walk into.
1
01
Get Your Free Buyer List
Enter your company website URL into the floating text box to see who could acquire your business. In 90 seconds you'll receive a personalised list of your most qualified buyers. No obligation, ever.
2
02
Personalised Onboarding
Your dedicated sector expert becomes your single point of contact from first conversation to close. Together you build your valuation strategy, buyer profile, and data room.
3
03
Your Custom Deal Concierge
We analyse 2.1 million active acquirers across our live network, 400,000+ historical acquisitions, and four investment bank-grade databases: scoring every buyer on intent and capability. Nothing else like it exists.
4
04
Intelligent Buyer Outreach
Your advisor personally contacts the highest-scoring buyers with hyper-personalised messaging across email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and phone, built around the synergies that matter most to each acquirer.
5
05
Competitive Process & Close
Multiple offers. Maximum leverage. Expert negotiation on price, terms, and structure, supported by specialist M&A legal firms across the UK and US, until funds hit your account.
Your name stays out of it unless you want it in. We never reference your firm in buyer-facing materials without written permission. We work to your standards on owner experience — and if a deal starts going off track, you hear it from us before anyone else.
The ask
Three ways to make a referral. Quick, discreet, professional.
Choose the route that suits you. We respond within 24 hours, handle the owner properly, and keep you informed without creating noise.
Confidential by default — we never name you to the owner or buyer without your written permission.
WhatsApp Joe
Lowest friction — drop the owner's name and a line of context. Joe replies inside 2 hours during UK and US business hours.
Open WhatsAppPrefer to do it as a three-way chat? Open the WhatsApp link above, send the message, then tap the contact name at the top of the chat and create a new group with the owner. Rename it something neutral like “Intro: [Owner first name] ↔ Joe (DealFlowAgent)”. Keeps it discreet and shows the intro came from you personally.
Email intro
Use your own inbox. Copy the template, paste it in, add the owner on the To line, send.
Subject: Quick intro — [Owner first name], this is Joe @ DealFlowAgent Hi [Owner first name], Thanks again for the time the other week — really appreciated learning about the business. As you know our mandate didn't line up this time, but you've built something that genuinely deserves a proper sale process when you're ready. Joe (copied) runs DealFlowAgent — specialist sell-side M&A advisors for businesses in your space. Tight, institutional-quality process, typically 16–20 weeks end to end. They've sold 22 companies just like yours. No obligation, just a conversation. I'll let you two take it from here. Joe — [Owner first name] runs [company], doing roughly [£X] revenue in [sector]. They're open to a conversation about what a sale process would look like. Over to you both.Or email Joe directly
Technology
How we use AI to the advantage of business owners and buyers.
Human-led advisory stays front and centre. Sage, Sterling, and our deal concierge layer work behind the scenes so the owner gets sharper positioning, faster buyer ranking, and a calmer process.
Our Edge
How we outperform M&A advisory firms
A hybrid model: specialist advisors lead, our 24/7 deal concierge handles research, monitoring and risk.
You already get cold approaches every week. Most are a single buyer fishing for a low price, with no intention of paying a competitive multiple. We run a structured, confidential process that turns scattered approaches into 3 to 5 simultaneous offers you can compare, led end-to-end by a senior advisor on your deal — not a junior handler.
0%
Higher Valuations
Competitive process across 80+ qualified buyers in your sector creates real tension on price and terms.
3 to 0
Competing Offers
You choose the right buyer, not the only option.
More
Cash Upfront
Better deal structures mean more in your pocket on day one.
Legacy Protected
The right buyer looks after your team, your clients, and everything you built.
Here's how we deliver these results.
The Sale Process
Here's how we deliver these results
Six factors that outperform a generalist broker. Each one delivers a measurable result — see the right-hand column.
Factor
On your own
Generalist broker
DealFlowAgent
Results
-
11Buyer relationship intelligenceOn your ownPersonal contactsLimited to people you already know.Generalist brokerStatic spreadsheetOld contact lists, little real intent data.DealFlowAgentLiving relationship graphLive intelligence on every active acquirer.ResultsMultiple credible offers — so you can choose the buyer who protects your legacy and teamPersonal contactsLimited to people you already know.Static spreadsheetOld contact lists, little real intent data.Living relationship graphLive intelligence on every active acquirer.Multiple credible offers — so you can choose the buyer who protects your legacy and team
-
22Sector specialismOn your ownNoneFirst sale process you've ever run.Generalist brokerGeneralistSame playbook across every industry.DealFlowAgentBuilding services & healthcare onlySpecialist advisors. Sector-specific buyer pool.ResultsBuyers who already understand your business — and pay fairly for what you've builtNoneFirst sale process you've ever run.GeneralistSame playbook across every industry.Building services & healthcare onlySpecialist advisors. Sector-specific buyer pool.Buyers who already understand your business — and pay fairly for what you've built
-
33Brand credibility with buyersOn your ownNoneBuyers receive a cold, unknown approach.Generalist brokerVariableLocal broker name, limited buyer recognition.DealFlowAgentInstitutionally backed, magazine presenceBuyers already know us before we call.ResultsSerious, well-funded buyers take the meeting — no tyre-kickers or time-wastersNoneBuyers receive a cold, unknown approach.VariableLocal broker name, limited buyer recognition.Institutionally backed, magazine presenceBuyers already know us before we call.Serious, well-funded buyers take the meeting — no tyre-kickers or time-wasters
-
44Outreach and engagementOn your ownEmail onlyOne channel, low response, easy to ignore.Generalist brokerEmailTemplated blasts, little personalisation.DealFlowAgentEmail, LinkedIn, phone, WhatsAppMulti-channel, personalised, scored for intent.ResultsA real competitive process in weeks, not a single take-it-or-leave-it offerEmail onlyOne channel, low response, easy to ignore.EmailTemplated blasts, little personalisation.Email, LinkedIn, phone, WhatsAppMulti-channel, personalised, scored for intent.A real competitive process in weeks, not a single take-it-or-leave-it offer
-
55Pre-sale value upliftOn your ownNoneNo structured prep before going to market.Generalist brokerNoneBrokers list as-is. No EBITDA work.DealFlowAgent0.5x to 2x EBITDA via AI systemsOptional. Lifts EBITDA before any buyer looks.ResultsA stronger, less owner-dependent business that commands a premium multipleNoneNo structured prep before going to market.NoneBrokers list as-is. No EBITDA work.0.5x to 2x EBITDA via AI systemsOptional. Lifts EBITDA before any buyer looks.A stronger, less owner-dependent business that commands a premium multiple
-
66Negotiation and closeOn your ownDIY, single offerNo leverage. First offer often the only one.Generalist brokerSometimes contestedLimited bidders, weaker competitive tension.DealFlowAgentMultiple offers, expert negotiatorsParallel bidders, twenty-plus closes of experience.ResultsFinal 5–10% on price, cleaner terms, and protections for your staff and earn-outDIY, single offerNo leverage. First offer often the only one.Sometimes contestedLimited bidders, weaker competitive tension.Multiple offers, expert negotiatorsParallel bidders, twenty-plus closes of experience.Final 5–10% on price, cleaner terms, and protections for your staff and earn-out
Compounded, these six factors translate into the outcomes below.
Reframe
You have already spent time, effort, and money on diligence. A referral recovers some of that.
By the time you pass on a business, your team has typically spent meaningful hours and budget reviewing it — calls, financials, light commercial diligence. That work does not have to end at no. A warm intro to us turns the relationship into a paid outcome when the owner sells, without you running a process you were never set up to run.
How it works
How to become a referral partner.
The full path from first call to your first commission cheque. No surprises.
- 1
Book a call with Joe, founder of DealFlowAgent
20 minutes. We confirm the kinds of owners you see, the niches that fit, and how the partnership would work in practice.
Book the 20-minute call - 2
Review and sign the Referral Partner Agreement
Short, human, commercially clean. 14-day payment, 18-month attribution, non-exclusive, non-circumvention. Sign electronically via the link we send.
Read the Referral Partner Agreement - 3
Receive your partner pack
Automated email plus a private partner page with email and WhatsApp templates you can save — one to suggest a specialist to the owner, one to make the warm introduction to Joe.
- 4
We meet the owner
One or two intro calls to understand the business, qualify fit, and walk them through what a proper sale process looks like. You stay in the loop or stay out — your call.
- 5
They sign with us
Typical engagement carries a small retainer of £5,000–£6,000. Your 20% share of that — £1,000–£1,200 — is paid within 14 days of kick-off.
- 6
We run the sale
Typically around three months from engagement to completion. You get clean updates at the milestones that matter; nothing in between to manage.
- 7
Deal completes, funds land
Within 14 days of our success fee landing, we ask you to raise a simple invoice — paid to you personally or to your company, your choice.
- 8
You get paid — transparently, in writing, on time
Funds land in your account within 14 days of our success fee clearing. You see the deal value, the success fee, and your share — no opaque deductions, no surprise discounts. The same audited process every partner is on, and the agreement makes the obligation contractually binding.
Cycle repeats. Win-win for the owner, you, and us. Questions before you book? referrals@dealflowagent.com
What this pays
Most M&A advisors pay 0%, 5%, or 10%. We pay 15–20%.
15% if the owner finds us through your network. 20% on a direct, personal introduction. Paid 14 days after we collect our success fee. 18-month attribution window.
We can afford it because our process is lean, our close rate is high, and we access a pre-built network of 13,259+ buyers through LemList, Apollo, and direct relationships. Less time per deal means more upside to share with the partner who brought it in.
If anyone quotes you higher, tell us — we'll match it.
| Deal size | Your 15% (Ambient) | Your 20% (Direct) |
|---|---|---|
| £3m | £18,000 | £24,000 |
| £5m | £27,000 | £36,000 |
| £8m | £38,250 | £51,000 |
| £12m | £51,750 | £69,000 |
| £20m | £72,000 | £96,000 |
US deals work identically, calculated in USD. Full fee schedule sits inside the Referral Partner Agreement.
The agreement
Want to read the paper first? Fair.
The Referral Partner Agreement is short, human, and commercially clean: 14-day payment, 18-month attribution, non-exclusive, non-circumvention, and no fee until we collect. One Master Agreement with a UK or US regulatory schedule, sent via PandaDoc, pre-signed by Joe.
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Endorsement“We are thrilled to partner with DealFlowAgent to bring TradeExit.co.uk to our listeners. Our audience consists of hardworking professionals who have spent decades building their businesses. Providing them with a trusted, specialist pathway to a successful exit aligns perfectly with our commitment to supporting the trades community.”
Louis Timpany · Founder and CEO of Fix Radio
FAQ
Honest answers to the questions partners actually ask.
What if they do not sign with you for 15 months after I refer them?+
Still covered. The attribution window is 18 months from the day we acknowledge your intro in writing. If they sign a DealFlowAgent engagement letter inside that window, your commission is owed.
What if I do not want my name on it?+
That is the default. We never mention your firm in owner-facing or buyer-facing materials without written permission. You can refer anonymously and still get paid.
How do I know you will not embarrass me in front of my contact?+
Because our reputation depends on every owner getting a proper process. If a deal starts drifting, you hear from us before the owner does. References are available from completed engagements on request.
Can I refer the same owner to multiple M&A advisors?+
Yes. Fully non-exclusive. If they pick us, you get paid. If they pick someone else, nothing is owed either way.
What if they are in the US or the UK and I am in the other?+
We run both. Dual HQ: London and New York. Same commission terms, paid in the currency of the deal. One agreement can cover UK, US, or both.
Bookmark this page. You'll use it more than you think.
When you pass on a business that clears the high-quality bar, come back here. Book the call, WhatsApp Joe, or copy the email template. We take it from there — and 16–20 weeks later, you get paid.
Tip: ⌘+D on Mac, Ctrl+D on Windows.
Or email referrals@dealflowagent.com — we reply inside business hours, always.