We call owners in the lower middle market, qualify mandate fit and timing, and book meetings before the business becomes a banker-led process.
$750 per qualified meeting. 1% success fee on closed deals. $35,000 minimum. No retainer.
Market definition
Coseek's working target is owner-operated companies around $1M to $10M EBITDA, or smaller add-ons around $5M to $25M revenue, where the first real conversation still happens with the owner.
Lower middle market companies are often founder-led, family-owned, regional, and lightly covered by institutional processes. That makes the market rich, but it also makes it hard to cover with marketplace access or databases alone.
Intermediaries matter, but they usually enter when an owner has decided to explore a process. Direct calling is for owners who fit the mandate but have not yet raised their hand.
A lower middle market buyer does not need generic owner meetings. The company must match sector, size, geography, ownership, management depth, and the acquirer's reason to care.
Acquirer map
The same owner-call mechanism can serve a private equity fund, independent sponsor, family office, holding company, or portfolio add-on program, but the qualification standard changes by mandate.
Buyers: Platform or add-on searches across defined sectors, geographies, and EBITDA bands
Use case: The fund needs steady owner coverage beside banker relationships, advisor networks, and sector conferences.
Buyers: Owner-led businesses where timing, fit, and relationship quality matter before capital is fully assembled
Use case: The sponsor needs qualified owner meetings that justify deeper work, investor conversations, and capital formation.
Buyers: Durable operating companies where long-hold orientation, succession, and cultural fit can matter more than auction speed
Use case: The acquirer needs direct conversations with owners who may prefer a patient buyer over a competitive process.
Buyers: Companies adjacent to an existing platform by region, customer type, capability, vendor base, or service line
Use case: The platform needs acquisition coverage into smaller operators that may never hire a banker.
Owner situations
A vague acquirer call sounds like noise. A specific buyer context gives the owner a reason to understand why the conversation might matter.
An owner is thinking about the next chapter, but has not hired a banker or made a formal decision to sell.
A founder or family operator may be open to de-risking, growth capital, or a control transaction if the buyer understands the business.
A smaller operator may be a strong strategic fit for an existing portfolio company even if the owner has no reason to run a broad process.
The company is good, but the owner is tired of carrying sales, operations, hiring, compliance, or customer concentration alone.
Operating model
Your deal team owns evaluation, valuation, LOI, diligence, capital, and close. We own the repeatable calling layer that creates qualified owner meetings.
We start with sector, EBITDA band, revenue range, geography, ownership profile, management depth, exclusions, and what makes a meeting worth the deal team's time.
Companies are mapped, filtered, fit-scored, and enriched for mobile numbers so the campaign can reach owners and operators directly.
Calls use your approved firm positioning, mandate, and acquisition reason. The call qualifies fit, timing, openness, succession context, and whether a meeting with the acquirer belongs.
The meeting handoff captures owner role, business context, fit signals, timing, objections, and what the buyer needs to know before the first conversation.
Economics
The meeting fee covers qualified owner conversations. The success fee aligns us with closed deals without turning origination into a monthly retainer.
Paid when the owner meeting meets the written criteria and lands on the calendar.
Paid on the enterprise value of a closed deal that Coseek originated.
Keeps smaller lower middle market acquisitions worth tracking.
No monthly fee for a fixed origination pod or database access.
Qualification
The billable standard stays objective. The briefing carries the deal nuance: owner timing, company context, management depth, platform fit, objections, and the first question for the acquirer.
Founder and chairman of a regional specialty distribution company.
Third-generation, 110 employees, three distribution centers, recurring B2B customer base.
Matches industrial distribution criteria, regional density, management depth, and lower middle market size band.
Owner wants to step back, daughter runs operations, and both are open to a buyer that keeps management in place.
Owner controls the decision, the company fits the mandate, timing is early, and the owner agreed to meet the acquirer directly.
Proof
The useful proof is the operating chain: owner-call mechanism, mandate fit, qualification standard, PE economics, and approved context.
Alternatives
Keep the bankers, brokers, conferences, databases, operating advisors, portfolio-company networks, and in-house relationships. We give the acquirer direct owner-call coverage where the mandate is specific.
Traditional origination layer
Useful for ready sellers, but the process is visible, contested, and controlled by advisors.
Coseek owner-call layer
We call owners before a formal process exists and route qualified meetings to the acquirer.
Traditional origination layer
Useful for market mapping, but they do not qualify owner timing or create a buyer conversation.
Coseek owner-call layer
We turn the mapped market into direct owner calls and meeting briefings.
Traditional origination layer
Useful for broader coverage, but volume does not solve whether the owner, company, timing, and buyer reason actually fit.
Coseek owner-call layer
We keep qualification on the phone and bill only when the owner meeting meets the written criteria.
Traditional origination layer
Can work, but salaries, tools, management, and ramp start before qualified owner meetings exist.
Coseek owner-call layer
We charge per qualified meeting, then participate only if a Coseek-originated deal closes.
Traditional origination layer
Monthly spend starts whether the vendor books thesis-fit owner meetings or not.
Coseek owner-call layer
$750 per qualified meeting. 1% success fee on closed deals. $35,000 minimum. No retainer.
$750 per qualified meeting. 1% success fee on closed deals. $35,000 minimum. No retainer.