Off-market deal flow on demand: owner conversations for live mandates in week one
Published by Argorant
For an M&A advisory, deal flow is everything - and the best targets are off-market companies whose owners aren't talking to anyone yet. Palmstone Capital uses Argorant to identify acquisition targets for live mandates and reach their owners and managing directors directly, turning what used to be months of network-dependent sourcing into a week-one outreach motion.
Palmstone Capital is a European M&A advisory working live buy-side mandates. Its product is deal flow, and the best targets for any mandate are companies that are not in a process yet: no banner, no broker, no data room. Sourcing them used to depend on the partners' own network, which quietly capped how many mandates the firm could run at once.
The strongest targets for a mandate are off-market - no banner, no process, no broker. Finding their owners is pure research.
Sourcing through personal networks alone caps how many mandates the firm can serve at once.
Owner-level contact data for private companies is exactly what generic databases are worst at.
Owners of off-market companies that fit a live acquisition thesis
- 01Built per mandate, not once: the thesis defines the filter set
- 02Industry, size band and geography matched to the client's acquisition criteria
- 03Seats: owners and managing directors of private companies
- 04Private companies specifically, the segment generic databases handle worst
- 05Verified contact details for every shortlisted company before outreach starts
What happened, in the order it happened.
- Mandate kickoffThesis translated into a long-list
Industry, size band and geography from the client's acquisition criteria become a target long-list.
- Same weekOwners resolved and verified
Owners and managing directors pulled with verified contact details for every shortlisted company.
- Week 1First owner conversations
Discreet, personalized outreach means real off-market conversations run within days of kickoff.
- 3 weeks413 appointments generated
Running Argorant data together with the managed pilot service.
- 413 appointments generated in three weeks - running Argorant data together with the managed pilot service.
- Owner conversations for new mandates start in the first week, not after a quarter of research.
- The firm can credibly pitch broader sourcing coverage when competing for new mandates.
| Before | With Argorant | |
|---|---|---|
| Sourcing | Dependent on the partners' personal network | A repeatable long-list per mandate |
| Time to first conversation | A quarter of research | Week one after kickoff |
| Who picks up | Gatekeepers and switchboards | Owners and managing directors directly |
| Capacity | Mandates limited by sourcing bandwidth | Broader sourcing coverage the firm can pitch when competing |
“Our clients don't pay us for lists, they pay us for conversations with owners nobody else is talking to.”
Managing Partner, Palmstone Capital
“Our clients don't pay us for lists, they pay us for conversations with owners nobody else is talking to. This is the fastest route to those conversations we've found.”
Run the same sourcing motion on every new mandate, so coverage is part of the pitch when the firm competes for the next one.
Same verified data, same targeting, pointed at your market. No call required.
