Tentt
Confidential origination memo
Prepared 28 April 2026
Tentt × Acme Capital Partners
Prepared for
Acme Capital Partners

An origination program scoped to your thesis, sized to your universe, signal-driven from day one.

Inside: a read of your actual deployment pattern, the £ market activity around you, your sized target universe, eight live targets we'd surface this month, and the precise 90-day plan.

Book a 30-min briefing → Watch 4-min overview
v.04.28 · Confidential
For David Walker-Dobson, Tentt Founder
4-minute overview · David Walker-Dobson

Why we built this for Acme, and what running it would actually look like.

Recorded 28 April 2026
Watch on desktop for full effect
01 What we understand about your mandate

Your stated thesis is industrial services in the UK at £5–50M EBITDA.
Your actual deployment tells a tighter story.

We read your last 18 months of activity, the named portfolio, the recent transactions, the team-page changes, and the public quotes. This is what we see.

Acme Capital Partners website
acme-capital.com · scraped 28 April 2026 · 11 portfolio companies, 9 transactions in last 18 months

The actual pattern.

Seven of nine deals over the last 18 months are specialist distribution and aftermarket services in the £8–22M EBITDA band, with a strong preference for second-generation owner-managed businesses in the Midlands and the North.

The £5M floor is real, you've drawn it as a portfolio company, never as a platform. The £50M ceiling is theoretical, your largest stand-alone has been £24M EBITDA at entry. The implied range we'd actually pursue: £8–25M EBITDA, owner-managed, Midlands or further north.

Two of nine deals were add-ons under existing portfolio companies (Northland Engineering, Severn Fluid Power). That tells us the next acceleration lever is add-on adjacencies in fluid power and aftermarket distribution, not new platforms.

02 Activity in your sub-sector

UK specialist distribution & industrial services, £5–30M EBITDA band.

What's moving in the bracket you actually deploy in, last 12 months, trailing.

47
Closed transactions in the band, last 12 months
+23%
Deal velocity vs prior 12 months
6.5–9×
EBITDA multiple range observed
11
Sub-sector add-ons completed by direct comps

Why now is interesting.

Two converging pressures. First, founder-led supply: a wave of business owners born 1955–1965 are retiring through 2027–2029, and the UK lower-middle-market lacks the trade-buyer absorption capacity for the cohort. Second, debt market easing: senior unitranche pricing is back to mid-2023 levels, opening the £4–10M debt envelope you typically build into your platforms.

Net effect: more deals at the supply side, more capacity at the financing side. The bracket is structurally favourable for the next 18 months. After that, if rates compress further, expect mid-market trade buyers to re-enter and ratios to tighten.

Active firms in your bracket

Endless LLP
Industrial Defenders, Q4 25
Apiary Capital
Specialist Coatings Group, Q1 26
Inflexion
Industrial Maintenance Holdings, Q3 25
BGF
Yorkshire Engineered Products, Q2 25
NorthEdge
Bedford Industrial Services, Q4 25
Connection Capital
Hyde Industrial, Q1 26
03 Your target universe, sized

We count 340 UK companies meeting your size + sector criteria.
Eleven of them are priority targets we'd contact this month.

From the deployed pattern, narrowed by ownership shape, narrowed again by transaction-window signal.

340
UK companies, £5–25M EBITDA, in industrial services or specialist distribution. Source: Companies House filings + Tentt sub-sector taxonomy. De-duplicated against your active portfolio.
152
In the Midlands, North, or Scotland (your deployed geography). Drops 188 firms based outside your deployment pattern.
89
Owner-operated, founder still active, no PE or trade ownership. Filtered by Companies House officer history + LinkedIn cross-reference.
31
Where at least one transaction-window signal has fired in the last 90 days. Signals: senior hires, planning applications, equipment finance refinancings, public retirement-ideation, trade buyer outreach reported.
11
Where two or more signals have fired AND ownership transition appears imminent. These are the targets we'd open conversations with in week 3.

The full unredacted list is available on request, see the close.

04 Live targets we'd surface this month

Eight examples from the priority cohort.
Three are redacted, the rest, named where we can defend it.

Each fits the deployed pattern, has a fired signal, and is reachable in the first wave.

Northwood Hydraulic Services
Midlands · £14M EBITDA
Founder succession + capacity expansion
Why fit
Owner-managed, founder 67, no internal succession; specialist hydraulic distribution + service centre footprint matches your add-on logic for Severn Fluid Power.
Signal fired
Planning application Q1 for second site; equipment finance refinancing visible on charges register, January 2026.
Last filing
£14.2M EBITDA, 22% margin, three sites, 84 staff.
Approach
Founder-direct outreach, succession-window angle, week 3 first wave.
Yorkshire Plant Distribution
Yorkshire · £11M EBITDA
Owner-operated North + thesis-aligned
Why fit
Second-generation, two co-founders both over 60; specialist plant hire and aftermarket parts. Squarely inside your deployed shape.
Signal fired
New CFO appointed six weeks ago, finance hire commonly precedes a sale process by 9–14 months.
Last filing
£10.8M EBITDA, 18% margin, four sites, 71 staff.
Approach
Co-founder direct outreach, peer-referenced angle (citing your Endless-comp deal), week 3.
Penn Bearings & Power Transmission
Birmingham · £18M EBITDA
Specialist distribution, Midlands
Why fit
Founder 65, family-held since 1971; bearings and power transmission distribution, direct adjacency to Northland Engineering's catalogue.
Signal fired
Trade buyer outreach reported in industry trade press Q1; founder posted publicly about "next chapter" on LinkedIn February.
Last filing
£18.1M EBITDA, 26% margin, five sites, 132 staff.
Approach
Founder-direct, add-on framing (Northland's network), week 5 wave.
Caledonian Industrial Solutions
Glasgow · £9M EBITDA
Geography + scale boundary
Why fit
Owner-operated, single shareholder; industrial maintenance and aftermarket parts. At the lower edge of your deployed band, would suit add-on or platform-with-acquisition framing.
Signal fired
Senior LinkedIn activity from owner around exit ideation, sustained Q4 2025–Q1 2026.
Last filing
£9.1M EBITDA, 19% margin, two sites, 47 staff.
Approach
Founder-direct, add-on angle to Northland or Severn, week 4.
Sheffield Specialist Tooling
Sheffield · £22M EBITDA
Top of band, deployed-shape match
Why fit
Second-generation owner-management; specialist precision tooling distribution + light service. Inside your top-end deployment range.
Signal fired
EHS director hired three months ago, typical pre-sale process tidying. Strong forward indicator of a 12-month transaction window.
Last filing
£22.0M EBITDA, 24% margin, three sites, 96 staff.
Approach
Direct ownership outreach, signal-triggered angle (EHS hire), week 4.
Company X
Yorkshire · £14M EBITDA
Highest-priority signal stack
Why fit
Founder 67, no succession plan, second site lease signed Q1, equipment finance refinancing in process. Three converging signals.
Reveal
Available on request, full file is 2 pages including charges register, officer history, and the public retirement-ideation timeline.
Approach
Founder-direct, signal-triggered angle, week 3 first wave. Highest expected response in the cohort.
Company Y
Midlands · £19M EBITDA
Late-stage owner transition signals
Why fit
Owner-managed since 1979; equipment finance refinancing closed Q4 2025; new MD appointed February 2026, classic "build the bench then sell" pattern.
Reveal
Available on request.
Approach
Founder-direct, peer-referenced angle, week 4.
Company Z
North West · £11M EBITDA
Public retirement ideation
Why fit
Owner posted publicly about retirement planning across Q1 2026; specialist distribution business in the deployed shape.
Reveal
Available on request.
Approach
Founder-direct, succession-window angle, week 3.
05 Signals we'd track for your thesis

Eight signals tailored to industrial services roll-ups.

Generic categories ("hiring", "leadership change") aren't useful in your sub-sector. These are the eight that fire in the right band, with the right lead time, on companies that actually fit the deployed shape. Each one has fired in the last 30 days on at least one in-bracket UK firm.

Founder over 60 + succession ideation
Public retirement chatter, family transition references, sustained second-half-of-career framing on LinkedIn or trade press. Highest predictive signal we have for owner-managed exits.
Last 30 days: founder of UK fluid-power distributor, 64, posted three times about "the next chapter", has not engaged trade buyers publicly.
Second-site lease signed
Capacity expansion typically precedes a financing event. For owner-managed businesses, that financing event is often the start of a sale conversation, not a debt rollover.
Last 30 days: Land Registry filing for a 22,000 sq ft industrial unit by a £16M EBITDA Sheffield-area distributor.
Equipment finance refinancing
Charges register filings show debt rollovers. In owner-managed businesses, this is often pre-sale tidying, closing out personal guarantees and consolidating facilities into a clean position.
Last 30 days: two refinancings visible on Companies House charges register for businesses in your deployed shape.
EHS director hires
Environmental, health, safety hires are commonly part of pre-sale process, buyers in your bracket put weight on the regulator-readiness file. The hire usually precedes the process by 6–12 months.
Last 30 days: an industrial maintenance business in your bracket added its first dedicated EHS director, replacing an outsourced consultant.
CFO / finance director appointments
Owner-managed businesses with sub-£20M EBITDA typically don't carry a dedicated CFO. The hire is almost always either a fundraise or a sale signal.
Last 30 days: three CFO appointments across our universe, two were ex-PE-portfolio finance leaders, the strongest possible tell.
Planning applications
Capacity expansion and site development, submitted by owner-managed businesses signal forward investment intent, often debt-financed, often the prelude to a process.
Last 30 days: 12 planning applications visible across our universe, two for site expansions over £2M.
Senior LinkedIn activity
Owners thinking about exit publish before they engage advisers. Sustained "succession", "next chapter", "legacy" framing across multiple posts is one of the cleanest signals available.
Last 30 days: four founders in your universe with a sustained pattern, one of whom we've named above.
Trade buyer outreach reported
When trade press picks up an unsolicited approach, the founder's process clock has started. Window typically 4–8 months until adviser appointment.
Last 30 days: two reports in industry trade press touching businesses in your sub-sector, one already in our priority cohort.
06 How we'd run it for you

Three concrete playbooks, scoped to Acme.

Not abstract methodology. Specific volumes, specific accounts, specific weeks.

Playbook 02 · Add-ons
Adjacencies for Northland Engineering

Map fluid-power and aftermarket distribution adjacencies within a 200-mile radius of Northland's main site. Estimated target universe: 110 businesses. Direct founder outreach, framed as add-on conversation under your existing platform.

Universe 110 firms
Cadence 3 waves over 6 weeks
Expected 4–6 founder conversations by week 8
Owner Northland MD + Tentt operator
Playbook 04 · Succession-window
Top-60 founder outreach, signal-prioritised

The 60 highest-confidence accounts from the priority cohort: founder 65+, owner-managed, deployed-shape match, at least one transaction-window signal fired in last 90 days. Founder-direct outreach, succession-window framing.

Universe 60 firms
Cadence Weeks 3 + 5 + 7
Expected 6–9 first conversations by week 8
Owner You + Tentt operator
Playbook 07 · Reactivation
Mandate-fit dormant pass

Run your existing CRM against the deployed-shape filter. Surface the dormant prospects whose situation has changed since you last talked to them, new owner, new signal, new financing event. Estimated dormant pool: ~350 contacts; mandate-fit subset: ~90.

Universe 90 firms
Cadence Single wave, week 8
Expected 2–4 reopened conversations
Owner Tentt operator with your CRM access
07 Sample outreach

Three angles. Real drafts, ready to send.

We're not selling outreach. We're selling judgement. These are the three angles that fit your thesis, written in your voice, sent under your name, never as Tentt.

08 Modeled outcomes

90 / 180 / 365 days. Conservative, base, bull.

Inputs visible. Show your work, that's the only credible way to model PE origination.

Inputs. Average deal size £15M EBITDA midpoint · founder-outreach → meeting conversion 4% base / 2% conservative / 6% bull · meeting → progressed deal 18% base / 10% conservative / 26% bull · progressed → close 14% base / 8% conservative / 22% bull · weekly outreach volume 250 founder-aligned across all 3 playbooks
Period Conservative Base Bull
90 days 4 meetings · 0–1 progressed · 0 closed 8 meetings · 2–3 progressed · 0 closed 14 meetings · 4–5 progressed · 0–1 closed
180 days 12 meetings · 2 progressed · 0 closed 22 meetings · 5–7 progressed · 0–1 closed 38 meetings · 12 progressed · 1–2 closed
365 days 28 meetings · 4–6 progressed · 0–1 closed 52 meetings · 12–18 progressed · 1–2 closed 80 meetings · 28 progressed · 3–4 closed

Conversion rates anchored to comparable engagements with sub-£25M EBITDA UK PE firms over the last 18 months. We can walk through the underlying data on the call.

09 90-day plan

Week-by-week. Your specific universe, your specific signals.

Not a generic timeline. Volumes, named playbooks, named portfolio company adjacencies.

Week 01
Onboarding call with you and the team. Mandate alignment against the deployed pattern. Signal taxonomy locked. Northland Engineering adjacency map starts.
Week 02
List assembly: top-60 succession-window targets surfaced, top-110 add-on adjacencies for Northland Engineering identified, copy drafted across three angles.
Week 03
First wave, succession-window angle to top-60 targets, founder-direct, your name and signature.
Week 04
First responses landing. Iterations on copy. Signal-triggered second touch on top-15 fired-signal accounts.
Week 05
Add-on adjacency wave for Northland Engineering, 110 founder outreaches over five days. First booked discovery calls from week-03 wave.
Week 06
Signal-triggered angle for any new CFO/MD hires that fire in your universe (rolling). First completed founder conversations from week-03 cohort.
Week 07
Second touch on week-03 non-responders, peer-referenced angle. First introductions to your portfolio MDs for live deals.
Week 08
Reactivation pass against your existing CRM, scoped to mandate-fit only. ~90 reopened conversations. First "qualified" deals enter your pipeline.
Week 09
Third wave to expanded universe (340 → 89 segment). Signal taxonomy review based on what's actually firing.
Week 10
First completed founder conversations report, what we've learned, where the response patterns are concentrating, what to amplify.
Week 11
Refinement of copy and signal weighting based on response patterns. Add-on conversation introductions to Northland's MD start.
Week 12
90-day review. Sustained-pipeline plan for months 4–6. Decision on scaling outreach volume from 250/week to 400/week if response rates support it.
10 Close

The unredacted list, and the rest of the conversation.

Two ways to take this further. The first is a 30-minute briefing: we walk through everything in this memo, plus the eleven priority targets in full. The second, if you're not call-ready: ask for the unredacted target list and the live signal feed, and we'll send them.

Book a 30-min briefing → Request the unredacted list
David Walker-Dobson · david@tentt.com · tentt.com
v.04.28 · Confidential