Proprietary Deal Origination for Acquirers

We identify and engage acquisition targets before they come to market. Direct outreach to founders and principals at scale, qualified and delivered to your team on a recurring basis.

Built for Active Acquirers

We serve a focused set of clients who share one trait: they need more proprietary deal flow than their current channels produce.

Private Equity Firms

Platform builds and add-on acquisition sourcing. We extend your origination capacity without adding headcount, delivering a recurring pipeline of targets that match your investment criteria.

Family Offices

Direct acquisition sourcing for family offices pursuing operating company investments. We bring institutional origination infrastructure to principals who prefer to invest directly.

Corporate Development

Augmented sourcing for corporate acquirers with active M&A mandates. We supplement internal deal flow with a dedicated external origination channel, delivering qualified targets your team would not otherwise see.

Why Light3

Our origination platform is designed to solve the three problems that limit most acquirers' deal flow.

Off-Market by Design

The highest quality acquisition targets are not running a process. Their founders are focused on operations and have not engaged an advisor. Our origination infrastructure reaches them directly, before the market does, creating a proprietary pipeline your competitors do not see.

Proprietary Research Platform

Our proprietary research platform identifies targets by sector, size, geography, ownership structure, and acquisition readiness. We do not rely on recycled databases or broker networks. Every target list is built from primary research and direct market intelligence.

Qualified Pipeline, Not Lead Lists

We do not hand over spreadsheets. Every opportunity is validated through direct principal engagement and assessed against your criteria before it reaches your desk.

How It Works

A structured process from mandate to qualified pipeline. Each phase is deliberate.

Define the Mandate

We begin with your investment thesis: target profile, sector, size, geography, and any operational or financial criteria. The more specific the mandate, the more precise the pipeline.

Build and Launch

Our team builds a custom target universe and initiates direct outreach to founders and principals. All engagement is personalized and positioned as a strategic conversation.

Qualify and Deliver

Interested principals are qualified against your criteria before introduction. You receive a recurring pipeline report with pre-vetted opportunities ready for your evaluation.

Iterate and Scale

As your thesis evolves, we adjust targeting in real time. Add verticals, tighten criteria, expand geographies. The origination engine adapts to your strategy.

Relevant Experience

Our partners have extensive buy-side and sponsor-led transaction experience across sectors and deal types.

Representative transactions reflect the experience of our professionals at current and prior firms.

IT Staffing Roll-up ($80M)
Sponsor-Led Acquisitions
Advised independent sponsor on $80M deployment across multiple tuck-in acquisitions in the IT staffing sector.
Construction Platform ($65M)
Roll-up Acquisitions
Advised independent sponsor deploying $65M across four tuck-in acquisitions under LOI.
Prodigy Communications ($123M)
Buy-Side Advisory
Advised on $123M strategic acquisition of online content assets, managing diligence and valuation.
Wind Turbine Co. ($200M)
Acquisition Advisory
Advised on $200M renewable energy acquisition, including financing and tax-credit structuring.
Energy Co. ($100M)
Acquisition & Growth Financing
Advised on $100M acquisition and growth capital financing, including tax-credit monetization.
Salesforce Integrator
Acquisition Due Diligence
Advised on acquisition due diligence, including comprehensive review for technology services target.

Start a Conversation

If you have an active acquisition mandate and want to see what our origination platform looks like in practice, reach out and we can walk through the process. No commitment required.