Dealmaker · Group Builder · Direct Listing Strategist
From your first acquisition to a listed group.
01 - The Thesis
The conventional path: buy a business, bolt on a few more, build a group, and then, maybe, take it to market. But the most successful acquirers in history did it the other way round. Teledyne, Berkshire Hathaway, Constellation Software and UK names like Halma and Judges Scientific built extraordinary value as listed serial acquirers, using public status as acquisition currency. A scaled company that lists first gains a valuation platform, acquisition currency, and access to capital that organic growth can't match.
The listing isn't the exit. It's the starting gun.
The pattern
The great serial acquirers compounded value as listed platforms, for decades, not quarters.
02 - The Practice
I mentor a small number of serious acquirers through their first deals, acquisition criteria, owner conversations, vendor finance structures, and the judgement to know when to walk away.
For established companies, I advise on direct listing as a growth platform rather than an exit, working alongside listing partners who have taken hundreds of companies to market.
I work with business owners and equity partners to build groups through bolt-on acquisition using the strength of a listed platform to compound value well beyond any single company.
Author
The Acquisition Playbook Series
Advisory
Board roles across UK SMEs
Experience
In small business M&A since 2019
03 - About
I've worked in small business M&A since 2019, mentoring first-time acquirers, advising established companies on listing as a growth platform, and helping owners build groups through bolt-on acquisition. I'm the author of The Acquisition Playbook Series and hold board advisory roles across UK SMEs.
Rob Richmond - Dealmaker · Group Builder
04 - Work With Me
If you're serious about acquisitions and stuck between theory and a real deal, I mentor a small number of dealmakers each year.
If you've never modelled what a listing-first strategy would do to your acquisition capacity, that's a conversation worth having.
Read The Acquisition Playbook on Amazon.
