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Fees
What it costs, and what you are paying for.
Published in full, including the definition of an introduction and the definition of transaction value — which is where buyers are usually surprised, and where an advisor’s candor is actually measured.
§ 01
Introductions
Priced by the revenue of the company you buy. Paid on order. Refunded if not delivered.
- Minimum order
- $1,200
- Delivery
- Within 90 days of the confirmed buy box · average under 30 days
- Not delivered by day 90
- Refunded, per introduction
- Exclusivity
- One buyer per owner. Never shared, never resold.
WHAT AN INTRODUCTION IS
An introduction is delivered when it contains all four of the following.
- 01A company inside your buy box, as confirmed in writing.
- 02The owner or decision-maker with authority to sell, named.
- 03A direct contact route to that person — email and telephone where held.
- 04That person’s own statement, in writing or on a recorded call, that they would consider a sale or would take a meeting about one. The statement is delivered with the introduction.
What it is not: a company that fits but has not answered; a generic contact; an owner who has not said anything; a list.
YOURS ALONE
An owner introduced to you is not introduced to anyone else — not to another client, not later, not under a different buy box. If two clients’ criteria would reach the same company, the first order to which it qualifies takes it and the other never sees it. This is written into the fee agreement, not just here.
For reference: US buy-side search retainers for search funds and family offices are typically published at the equivalent of six to fifteen thousand dollars per month on twelve- to twenty-four-month commitments. Those pay for effort. This schedule pays for a named owner who has already said yes to a conversation, and pays nothing otherwise.
§ 02
What an order includes
Everything, on every order.
- The buy box, confirmed in writing
- Universe sized and enriched
- Owner outreach by letter, email, telephone and professional network, in our name
- The anonymized buyer profile the owner sees
- Telephone qualification before anything reaches your desk
- The owner’s statement, delivered with each introduction
- A fit memo on every owner introduced — fit, gaps, motivation, next step
- Each introduction exclusive to you — never shared with another client
- Attendance on every call, email thread and online meeting thereafter
- Support through IOI, LOI and exclusivity
- Relay of seller documents and public-record information through diligence
- Advice on positioning and next steps to closing
Not included, because it is third-party work you should buy directly and we should not mark up: quality of earnings, legal, tax and environmental diligence, and your own counsel on the purchase agreement. We are not a law firm and do not give legal advice.
§ 03
Success fee
What we are paid when it closes.
The introduction fee pays for the origination. This pays for the deal. It is charged once, at closing, on transaction value, on any transaction with a company we introduced. The two are separate: the introduction fee is not credited against it.
Marginal, not banded — each rate applies only to the portion of transaction value inside its tier. There is no cliff at any threshold.
The 2026 Firmex/Axial survey of US middle-market advisors puts effective sell-side fees at roughly 6.3% at the bottom of the middle market and 2.0% at the top. Buy-side work carries no information memorandum, no auction and no quality-of-earnings preparation, and is priced accordingly — this scale runs at roughly four fifths of the sell-side equivalent across its range.
§ 04
The other terms
The five that matter.
Refund of the undelivered
Any introduction not delivered within ninety days of the confirmed buy box is refunded. You do not have to ask. You keep the market read and every introduction that was delivered.
Tail period — 24 months
The success fee is due on a transaction with a company we introduced, closing within 24 months of the introduction. It applies only to companies entered on a written, dated register you have seen.
Non-circumvention
The fee is due whether the transaction is completed by you, an affiliate, a portfolio company, a co-investor or a special purpose vehicle. It is not a trap; it is what makes a pay-per-introduction model possible at all.
One buyer per introduction
An owner we introduce to you is not introduced to anyone else — not to another client, not later, not under another buy box. You remain free to source through any other channel — the success fee only ever attaches to companies we introduced.
Expenses
Postage, telephone, data and infrastructure are ours and included in the introduction fee. Anything outside that is billed at documented cost, and only with your written approval in advance.
§ 05
The line we do not cross
We take no money from the other side.
No fee, commission, retainer, carried interest, equity or expense reimbursement from a target, a seller, or anyone affiliated with either. The fee agreement says so and requires us to disclose any relationship that could be mistaken for one.