How Do I Find Businesses to Acquire?

For most business owners and CEOs, the decision to grow through acquisition is followed by a practical hurdle: where do the targets actually come from? While the idea of 'buying a competitor' is common, the reality of building a high-quality acquisition pipeline is more nuanced and requires significantly more effort than many expect.

Finding businesses to acquire is not a single event but a continuous process. It involves balancing the visible market of companies actively looking for a buyer with the much larger 'hidden' market of companies that are not for sale today, but which represent the best strategic fit for your long-term goals. This article sets out the frameworks for sourcing both on-market and off-market opportunities.

The two main routes: On-market vs Off-market

When sourcing acquisition targets, the landscape is divided into two distinct categories. Understanding the differences between these routes is essential for managing your time and setting realistic expectations for the process.

1. On-market acquisitions

These are businesses that are actively being marketed for sale. They are typically represented by a business broker, a corporate finance house, or an M&A boutique. You will find them on public portals, in the 'teasers' sent out by intermediaries, and on the websites of specialist firms.

The primary benefit of on-market deals is that the owner's intent is clear: they want to sell. The information is usually organised into an Information Memorandum (IM), and there is a defined process for the transaction. However, the drawback is competition. Because the business is publicly or semi-publicly available, you may find yourself in a bidding war, which can drive up the price and compress the time available for strategic assessment.

2. Off-market acquisitions

The off-market route involves identifying companies that meet your strategic criteria but have not yet declared an intention to sell. This is often where the most valuable strategic targets reside. These companies might be competitors, suppliers, or businesses in adjacent markets that would provide a perfect 'bolt-on' to your existing operations.

Off-market sourcing is more labour-intensive. It requires deep research into the market, identifying companies based on their activities, location, and potential fit, and then making discreet, professional contact with the owners. The benefit is the lack of competition and the ability to build a relationship with the owner over time. The drawback is that the owner may have no immediate interest in selling, meaning the timeline to a deal can be measured in years rather than months.

Where to find on-market businesses

If you are starting your search, the on-market landscape is the most accessible place to begin. In the UK, several platforms and networks serve as the primary conduits for business sales.

• Business-for-sale portals: Websites like BusinessesForSale.com, Daltons Business, and RightBiz are the digital high streets of the M&A world. They range from small local retail businesses to larger engineering and manufacturing firms.
• Corporate Finance and M&A boutiques: Mid-market businesses (typically those with turnovers between £2m and £50m) are often represented by specialist firms. Building relationships with these intermediaries is vital, as they often circulate 'teasers'—anonymous summaries of businesses for sale—to their network before listing them publicly.
• Insolvency practitioners: Businesses in financial distress or those that have entered administration are often sold quickly. While these 'distressed' acquisitions carry higher risk and require rapid execution, they can offer significant value for a buyer with the capability to turn the business around.
• LinkedIn and industry groups: Many brokers and intermediaries use LinkedIn to announce new mandates. Following key individuals in the corporate finance space can give you early sight of new opportunities.

How to identify off-market targets

Off-market sourcing is where a truly strategic acquisition strategy begins. Instead of asking 'What is for sale?', you ask 'What is the best possible company to add to my business?'. This shift in mindset requires a more proactive approach to research.

Identifying off-market targets involves mapping your industry and adjacent sectors. You are looking for companies that have specific capabilities, customer bases, or geographic footprints that complement your own. Signals of a potential target include:

• Owner-managed businesses where the founder has been in place for several decades, which may signal a future succession requirement.
• Companies that have recently seen a plateau in growth or a change in leadership.
• Suppliers or distributors that are critical to your supply chain, where bringing the capability in-house would improve margins or security.
• Competitors that are strong in a region where you have no presence.

The role of the Acquisition Thesis

Before you start searching, you must define what you are looking for. This is your Acquisition Thesis. Without a clear thesis, you will waste time looking at businesses that are 'interesting' but not strategically valuable. Your thesis should define the size of business you can handle, the sectors you understand, the geographic reach you want, and the specific problem the acquisition is intended to solve (e.g., 'we need a manufacturing facility in the Midlands' or 'we need to add software-as-a-service revenue to our consultancy').

Evans provides a free 'Build My Acquisition Thesis' tool to help you structure this thinking. Once your thesis is settled, the search becomes much more focused and efficient.

Building a repeatable sourcing process

Finding businesses to acquire should not be a task you do only when you feel like growing. It should be a repeatable commercial process, much like your sales pipeline. A robust sourcing process involves:

1. 01Market mapping: Creating a comprehensive list of all companies in your target sector and region.
2. 02Data enrichment: Using public records (such as Companies House in the UK) and industry intelligence to understand their scale, ownership, and activity.
3. 03Prioritisation: Scoring targets against your acquisition criteria to decide where to focus your effort.
4. 04Monitoring: Keeping track of changes in the target companies—such as new directors, changes in registered office, or new product launches—that might signal a change in strategy.
5. 05Outreach: Making professional, low-pressure contact with owners to introduce your business and explore potential future alignment.

The Evans approach to acquisition research

Many business owners find the research and sourcing phase of an acquisition to be the most frustrating. It takes time away from running the existing business, and the quality of data on privately-owned UK companies can be patchy.

This is where the Acquisition Opportunity Engine (AOE) fits. Evans provides the commercial research and target intelligence to identify both on-market and off-market targets that fit your specific criteria. We help you build a prioritised list of strategic targets based on genuine commercial signals, allowing you to focus your time on the conversations that matter.

Common pitfalls in target sourcing

Even with a good pipeline, acquisitions can fail if the sourcing phase is flawed. Common mistakes include:

• Opportunistic buying: Buying a business just because it is for sale and the price seems right, even if it doesn't fit your long-term strategy.
• Ignoring the off-market: Relying solely on brokers and portals, and thereby missing the best strategic fits in the market.
• Underestimating the time requirement: Sourcing a good acquisition is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires consistent effort over months or years.
• Poor first contact: Approaching an owner with a 'hard sell' rather than a professional introduction, which can shut down the relationship before it begins.

Conclusion

Finding businesses to acquire is a foundational skill for any CEO pursuing a buy-and-build strategy. By combining the visibility of the on-market landscape with the strategic depth of off-market sourcing, you can build a pipeline of opportunities that supports your long-term growth objectives. The key is to start with a clear thesis, maintain a disciplined research process, and build professional relationships with potential targets well before you need a deal to happen.