Search Fund Operators · Strategic Acquirers · Business Brokers

Proprietary Deal Flow. Without the Deal Team.

Search fund operators contact 3,000+ companies to close one acquisition. We score every active UK company on exit readiness to surface off-market targets — and the model rated 6 in 10 eventual sellers as likely to sell, before they sold.

Unlock only what you need. No monthly commitment.

McKinsey estimates $5 trillion in US business value is at risk from failed ownership transitions. We mapped the equivalent problem across 3.7 million UK companies. Read the analysis.

The Search Problem

  • 20 months — average search duration.
  • 37% of funded searches never acquire.
  • £15,000+ per month of searching (Stanford GSB 2024).

What ExitRadar Filters It To

  • 841,122 UK companies with an average director age of 60+.
  • 172,982 owner-run businesses with a single director aged 60+ and no internal successor.
  • 62,107 scoring 70+ for exit readiness.

Built on Companies House data. See the full exit statistics.

Browse by Sector

Scored and ranked target lists, updated from live filings.

  • Manufacturing — 142,317 companies, 1,230 rated PURSUE. Defensible niches, long customer relationships.
  • Construction & Trades — 389,510 companies, 1,681 rated PURSUE. Essential, fragmented, owner-dependent.
  • Healthcare — 190,281 companies, 1,021 rated PURSUE. Ageing population, recurring patients, regulated.
  • Professional Services — 528,799 companies, 1,264 rated PURSUE. Consulting, legal, accounting, engineering.
  • Facility & Field Services — 79,891 companies, 504 rated PURSUE. Route-based, contracted, recurring services.
  • IT & Tech Services — 136,283 companies, 239 rated PURSUE. MSPs, IT consultancies, managed services.
  • Technology — 86,478 companies, 289 rated PURSUE. Software, cloud, and telecoms products.
  • Automotive — 71,601 companies, 458 rated PURSUE. Garage roll-ups, MOT annuities, parts distribution.
  • Logistics & Fleet Services — 81,479 companies, 450 rated PURSUE. Road freight, warehousing, courier, fleet hire.
  • Wholesale & Distribution — 74,086 companies, 605 rated PURSUE. B2B trade supply, territorial roll-ups, sticky accounts.
  • Financial Services — 128,208 companies, 190 rated PURSUE. Regulated, sticky clients, recurring fees.
  • Education & Training — 84,379 companies, 282 rated PURSUE. Fragmented, recession-resilient, recurring.
  • Hospitality & Leisure — 399,845 companies, 1,068 rated PURSUE. Restaurants, hotels, leisure, personal services.
  • Retail — 218,659 companies, 616 rated PURSUE. Physical retail with proven models and loyal customers.
Per company

What every intelligence brief includes

Analyst-grade acquisition intelligence — investment thesis, financial benchmarking, approach strategy, and tailored diligence questions for a single target.

Signals: Exit window detection

We identify when a business is approaching a natural exit window — director age and retirement proximity, succession gaps, capital investment decline, filing disengagement, dividend cessation, board changes — and score how narrow that window is.

Financials: Revenue, EBITDA, and margin analysis

Most private companies don’t report revenue. We estimate revenue from ten independent balance sheet signals — including multi-year growth trajectories — cross-checked by a statistical model trained on 157,000 company-years. Validated against 2,973 companies in the search fund target range: median estimate within 24% of actual revenue.

Valuation: Screening-level valuation range

Enterprise value range built from sector multiples applied to normalised EBITDA, adjusted for business quality and earnings volatility. Not a formal valuation — a calibrated starting point.

Quality: Benchmarked against every sector peer

Revenue per employee, EBITDA margin, and profit per employee measured against the full sector peer set — with visual benchmarks showing exactly where the target sits.

Approach: Pre-approach strategy and draft letter

Analyst note with an investment thesis. Recommended channel, timing, opening narrative, and deal structure signal. A draft approach letter tailored to the owner profile.

Risks: Risk flags and diligence priorities

Operational, financial, and data-confidence risks identified and explained — not just flagged but contextualised with the specific numbers that triggered them.

Structure: Directors, network, and group structure

Full director profiles with age, tenure, and every other active appointment mapped. Network risk and governance bandwidth assessed.

Comparables: Sector context that frames every number

A comparable companies table ranking the target against sector peers on overall score, estimated revenue, margin, headcount, and director age.

These businesses aren’t failing. They’re vanishing because no one made the introduction.

Unlock Intelligence Briefs

Try free, buy a project pack, or run a campaign on a monthly plan. New companies scored weekly as filings update.

One month of searching costs £15,000+. One broken deal costs £20,000–£30,000 in wasted diligence. From £4.97 per report on the Searcher Plan.

  • Free trial — three reports, no card required.
  • Starter Pack — £299 (£14.95 per report). 20 reports for project-based work.
  • Searcher Plan — £149/month (£4.97 per report). 30 reports a month, built for sustained campaigns.
  • Sector Licence — from £999/year. Unlimited reports within one search-fund sector.

See a full sample report — free, no sign-up required. See pricing →

From the research desk

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The market exists. Will you find it?

Nearly a million UK companies have directors approaching retirement. Most buyers will never see them.

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