Selling 100% is the wrong default. Not the wrong answer.
I acquire between 40 and 100% of established UK companies. In most deals the owner keeps a meaningful stake, stays involved, and takes a second and larger payday when the group scales. If a clean full exit is genuinely what you want, I will structure that too.
A 70% partnership can pay an owner more than a 100% sale.
A full sale converts the business into one number today and ends your participation. A partnership sale pays you most of that number now and leaves you owning a share of something being actively scaled. The illustration below compares the two at the same valuation.
Illustrative, comparing a 70% partnership structure against a straight 100% sale at the same valuation. Every deal is structured on its own facts.
Traditional private equity buys the whole thing and moves the founder out. It is tidy on a spreadsheet, and it deletes the judgement, the relationships and the culture that produced the numbers being paid for.
Keeping the founder in is not generosity. Across my portfolio it is simply the structure that performs.
- +40%
- faster revenue growth than traditional buyouts
- 85%
- employee retention, against roughly 40% in straight buyouts
- 3.2x
- founder-led outperformance across the portfolio
What a partnership gives you
- Real money off the table now without losing your seat
- Capital, systems and back office behind you rather than on you
- Bolt-on acquisitions run by someone who has done it 32 times
- Your retained stake grows as the group scales toward £10M EBITDA
- You keep doing the part of the job you are brilliant at
What I buy.
If your business sits inside this, a first conversation is worth having. If it does not, you will be told on the first call rather than after three months of diligence.
| Sectors | Mainly HVAC, Renewable Energy and Construction. Other sectors considered, with partners across multiple industries |
|---|---|
| Geography | UK, weighted to the South of England |
| Revenue | £5m to £100m preferred. Businesses from around £1m are considered |
| Profile | Established, owner-managed and demonstrably profitable |
| Stake acquired | 40% to 100%, most often 40% to 80% |
| Owner involvement | Retained equity and an ongoing role, or a 3 to 5 year handover |
| Sourcing | Off-market and direct. No listing and no broker required |
| Group target | £10M EBITDA within 24 months |
Businesses I bought, kept and grew.
Every one still trading under its own name with its own team, building toward a £10M group EBITDA within 24 months.
- RossairMechanical & electrical / HVAC
- Armex EnergyRenewable Energy & infrastructure
- JMC DrywallDrylining & plastering
- MactribeManaged IT services
- Network LondonManaged IT services
- Your companyThe next conversation
Partnership deals: the questions owners ask.
Do I have to sell the whole company?
No. I acquire between 40 and 100%. In most deals the owner keeps a meaningful stake, stays involved, and takes a second and larger payday when the group scales. If a clean full exit is genuinely what you want, that can be structured too. The point is that you choose from the whole range rather than the one option a single buyer happens to offer.
What size and sector of business do you buy?
Mainly UK HVAC, Renewable Energy and Construction businesses, established, owner-managed and profitable, with a South of England weighting. The preferred size is £5m to £100m in revenue, and I do look at businesses from around £1m. I already own companies in all three sectors, so the conversation tends to be quicker and better informed than it would be with a generalist buyer. I look at other sectors as well, because I have partners across multiple industries, so it is worth asking rather than assuming the answer is no.
I do not want to leave the business. Is that a problem?
The opposite. The whole model is built on owners staying involved. You keep equity, keep doing the part of the job you are genuinely good at, and hand over the parts you never wanted, which is usually capital, systems and back office. A staged handover across three to five years is available if you do want to step back.
How is a partnership deal better than selling 100%?
A full sale converts the business into one number today and ends your participation. A partnership sale of, say, 70% pays you most of that number now and leaves you owning 30% of something being actively scaled. On a £5m business growing to £20m over five years, the retained stake can be worth more than the original full-sale price, plus profit distributions along the way.
Tell me where the business is now.
If you can see the next level and cannot fund it, staff it or systemise it alone, a partnership is worth twenty minutes of your time. Send me a note and I will come back with a straight view on whether it fits.
Prefer to talk now? Call 020 3475 5475 or email lee@verdanicapital.co.uk.
Fifteen minutes on whether a partnership fits.
On the call I will ask where the business is, what is capping growth, and what you would want to still be true in five years. Then I will tell you honestly whether a partnership structure improves on what you already have.
Confidential from the first minute. Nothing reaches your team or your competitors.
Prefer not to use the calendar? Call 020 3475 5475.
Keep your seat. Take money off the table.
A partnership is not a half-measure. It is the structure that has produced the best outcomes across this portfolio, for the owner as well as for us.
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