For business owners
Who is buying businesses like mine?
The most useful answer usually comes from reading the register directly. The mandates say, plainly, what each acquirer is looking to buy, and the sector overview narrows the list to the acquirers relevant to your business.
Start with your sector
The sector overview groups mandates across the 14 UK SME sectors the register covers. Most owners find the two or three mandates that matter within a few minutes.
Read the buyer type
Each card names the acquirer type: private, search fund, family office, trade or PE. Our short buyer types note explains how each behaves in an SME transaction.
What "fit" actually means
Fit is more than sector. Read the mandate for the geographic footprint, the size range, the succession stance (owner staying on or exiting), and the transaction structure the acquirer describes. Where three of those four line up, the mandate is worth quoting in a first message.