Strategic Transition Partners connects founder- and family-owned businesses with vetted private equity partners, family offices and strategic buyers, discreetly and entirely on your terms. We’re paid by the buyer, never by you.
Strategic Transition Partners brings together founder- and family-owned businesses and the private equity firms, family offices and strategic buyers best matched to them. We start by understanding what each side wants, whether that's the right price, the right partner, a role after the sale or a particular kind of business. Then we make a limited number of discreet introductions between partners whose goals are truly aligned. Owners pay us nothing. Buyers pay only when a deal closes.
For Business Owners
Most owners have never sold a business, so nothing about the process is obvious. Here is a plain-English look at how it works, what buyers care about, and how to prepare. We work quietly, on your timeline, and we never move without your go-ahead.
Most sales to a private equity partner follow the same six steps. Here is what happens at each one, and what is asked of you. A full process is commonly 6 to 12 months, and the biggest lever you control is how prepared you are before you start.
We talk about your business, your goals and your timing. No paperwork and no pressure. You decide whether exploring options makes sense for you.
With your OK, we share an anonymous profile with a short list of partners that fit your industry and goals. Your name stays private until you choose to share it.
Calls and meetings with interested partners. It is as much about people and vision as numbers: how they would run the business, what they would change, and what they would leave alone. Be ready to share some basic information under an NDA, such as your last three years of financials and your current backlog.
A written offer covering price, how it is paid, your role afterward, and exclusivity, a window where you agree to negotiate only with them. The terms matter as much as the headline number.
The buyer verifies everything: financials (often with a quality of earnings review), customers, contracts, people, legal and insurance. Organized, fast answers keep momentum and trust. We can introduce experienced M&A accountants who help owners prepare and present their financials to the buyer.
Final agreements are signed and funds move. Then the real work starts: a plan with your new partner for growth and for what your role looks like.
Buyers pay for earnings they can count on. These are the qualities that tend to move value the most.
Contracts, maintenance and customers who come back. Predictable revenue is worth more than one-off projects.
Managers who can run day-to-day without you. The less the business depends on one person, the more a buyer can pay.
Buyers call this low customer concentration: no single customer, or small group, that could sink the business if they left.
Consistent profitability and cash flow over several years, not one great year.
Numbers that tie out. Buyers pay for earnings they can verify.
New markets, new services, or add-on acquisitions a partner can help you pursue.
Illustration only. Real numbers and multiples vary widely by industry, size, growth and quality of earnings.
At a 5× multiple, every $100K of accepted add-backs adds $500K to the price.
Buyers’ accountants test each one against bank statements and invoices. Unsupported add-backs get removed, sometimes late.
Recurring revenue, depth of team and clean books earn higher multiples. Each industry and deal size has its own range.
What is a quality of earnings (QoE) review? The buyer’s accountants rebuild your earnings from source records to confirm they are real and repeatable. It is routine, and a prepared owner usually finds it a non-event.
“Selling to private equity” can mean very different things. The right structure depends on what you want. How long you stay is negotiable: most buyers prefer the owner to stay on for a defined transition period, and some will accommodate a full exit, especially with strong management behind you.
You sell all of the business.
You sell a majority stake and keep a meaningful minority (the rollover).
You sell a minority stake and stay in the driver’s seat.
You do not need to check every box to start a conversation, but the more you can check, the smoother a process tends to be.
Three years of financial statementsIdeally reviewed or audited, and consistent.
Clear on what you wantCash, your role afterward, timing and legacy.
Add-backs documentedEach one-time or owner expense, supported.
Relationships beyond youKey customers know others on your team.
A second layer of managementPeople who can run the business without you.
Tax and entity structure reviewedTalk to your CPA early.
No dominant customerRevenue spread across a healthy mix of customers.
Advisors identifiedA CPA, transaction attorney and wealth advisor you trust. We can introduce experienced ones.
Contracts organizedKey customer, vendor and lease agreements.
Realistic on timingA real process often takes 6 to 12 months.
We are paid by the buyer, and only if a deal closes. You never pay us a retainer or a fee.
We are not your lawyer, tax advisor or valuation firm. Bring your own advisors or use ones we introduce. We take no referral fees from any advisor.
We never share your name, numbers, or the fact that you are exploring a sale without your explicit sign-off.
General information only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Every transaction is different.
Free Initial Valuation
Get a free, no-obligation estimate based on real market data on where businesses like yours are trading today. Think of it as a starting point: a baseline to plan from and to guide conversations with your advisors. It is a preliminary estimate, not a formal appraisal, and it does not replace a full valuation from a qualified valuation firm.
For Investors
We introduce private equity firms, family offices and strategic buyers to founder- and family-owned businesses before they go to market. Our relationships come from years of direct conversations with owners, not a database, and every introduction is made with the owner’s agreement.
Tell us size, geography, sector, structure and any must-haves or deal-breakers. We support full buyouts, majority recapitalizations, growth equity and founder rollovers.
Direct research and outreach to owners who are not listed for sale, scored against your criteria so your time goes to real candidates.
A short profile and a clear reason for fit, with the owner’s agreement. A small, deliberate group of buyers per opportunity: no blind auctions, no broad blasts.
We help coordinate meetings and next steps through to close. Paid on success only: no buy-side retainer, and nothing owed until a deal closes.
This list moves with our buyer network’s mandates. It is a current snapshot of active searches, not a fixed boundary on what we will consider.
Send your one-pager or buy box, along with the searches that matter most right now. We’ll tell you where we’re seeing a fit.
Send Us Your CriteriaPrefer to talk? (949) 226-2530
Nick Lyons is the Founder & Managing Partner of Strategic Transition Partners. Before founding STP, Nick spent 11 years in institutional equities trading in Tokyo with Mitsubishi UFJ and UBS, followed by a role in wealth advisory at Bernstein Private Wealth. That background in institutional markets and client relationships shapes how STP operates today: rigorous, data-driven, and built on direct relationships rather than mass outreach.
STP is based in West Palm Beach, FL and works with business owners and private equity partners nationwide, with a specialty in industrial services and deep relationships concentrated in the Gulf Coast, Texas, and Southeast U.S.
We bring together founder- and family-owned businesses and the private equity firms, family offices and strategic buyers best matched to them. For owners, we offer a discreet, no-cost path to a short list of vetted partners. For buyers, we source off-market opportunities that fit their criteria. In both cases, we focus on aligned goals, so the right people end up in the right conversation.
Typically $5M to $50M in revenue and $1M to $20M in EBITDA, with flexibility for the right strategic fit. From an initial conversation, we can usually bring a live opportunity to a qualified buyer within 30 to 45 days.
No. A broker typically represents a seller and runs a broad, formal sale process. We do not run auctions or represent either side in negotiating. We make discreet introductions between aligned partners: owners meet a short list of vetted buyers, and buyers see opportunities that fit their criteria. It is usually a more direct, lower-friction path for both sides.
Not from us. Confidentiality is the foundation of how we work — nothing about your business moves without your explicit sign-off, and we never discuss a live conversation publicly. You control if, when, and how the news gets out.
There is no cost to the business owner at any point. Our fee is paid by the buyer, only if and when a deal closes.
We operate nationwide — geography follows the deal, not the other way around. Our specialty is industrial services, and our active sector searches shift with what our buyer network is looking for; in 2026 that's included coatings and corrosion control, tank and terminal maintenance, pipeline and midstream oil & gas services, electric motor and electrical repair, critical power, and specialty distribution. Our track record runs deepest in the Gulf Coast, Texas, and the Southeast U.S., but we're not limited to those regions or these sectors — we'll evaluate strong opportunities anywhere, based on what our partners are actively looking for.
We only introduce you to buyers we have direct, ongoing relationships with — many under signed engagement agreements — whose investment thesis, size range, and deal structure we've already confirmed fit your business, and who are actively deploying capital right now. You're never the first test of a buyer's interest.
Reach out with your current thesis — size, sector, geography, structure. We'll let you know quickly whether it's something we can actively source against.
A confidential conversation, nothing more. We'll never share your information with a buyer, or anyone else, without your explicit go-ahead.
If both sides want to continue, we help coordinate a first conversation, then meetings and information sharing under an NDA. You set the pace, and nothing moves forward without the owner's go-ahead. We stay involved through to close, keeping both sides informed and on track.
Includes a free initial valuation, with no obligation.
Nick Lyons
Founder & Managing Partner
Phone
(949) 226-2530Office
West Palm Beach, Florida