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Buy-Side M&A Advisory UK — Acquire the Right Business | Achieve Corporation
Buy-Side M&A Advisory · UK Mid-Market

Acquire the right business — before your competitor does.

Most acquirers spend nine months and significant management time on targets that go nowhere. Achieve Corporation identifies, qualifies, and delivers a shortlist of investable businesses — in four weeks — while you run yours.

Book Your Acquisition Strategy Call See our six-stage process →
// Acquisition Performance · 2024
£1B+
Deal value closed across a decade of buy-side mandates. 30% faster than sector norms. 96% of offers hold through full due diligence.
Senior-Led. Every Step.
Mark Ross Roberts, FMVA, CBCA — every call, every negotiation, every close.
Target Shortlist
4 Weeks
Price Integrity
96% Hold Rate
Deal Timeline
Inside 6 Months
Targets Screened
200+ Per Mandate
The Acquisition Problem

Most acquisition searches fail
before they ever begin.

The target isn't right. The seller isn't motivated. The price doesn't survive diligence. And by the time you find out, you've lost six months, significant management bandwidth, and the window to close anything this year. That is the problem Achieve Corporation was built to solve.

Why Mandates Stall

The three things that
kill acquisition deals

Not lack of capital. Not bad markets. These three operational failures account for the majority of mandates that never close.

// 01

The Wrong Target List

Screening businesses that look right on paper but fail basic strategic-fit and cultural due diligence. Every week spent on a flawed target is a week a competitor closes.

// 02

Offer Prices That Don't Hold

Headline valuations set without forensic modelling collapse under diligence — triggering re-pricing, goodwill destruction, and the silent death of a deal you thought you'd already won.

// 03

Operational Distraction

Running a confidential acquisition search on top of running a business stretches leadership across two entirely different demands. One of them suffers. Usually both.

96%
Price Integrity
Valuations set at offer stage hold through full diligence. No last-minute re-pricing. No deal collapse.
30%
Faster Than Sector Norms
Structured process means your acquisition closes months ahead of competitors running unmanaged searches.
200+
Companies Screened Per Mandate
Every shortlist is earned. Analyst-grade screening means you only see targets that meet your brief.
What You Acquire

Five things a well-structured
acquisition delivers instantly

The right acquisition doesn't add cost — it compounds value. Each of these outcomes arrives on completion day, not after a multi-year integration programme.

"The best time to acquire is when you don't need to. When you're strong, patient, and advised well — that's when sellers compete to deal with you."
⚡
New Products & Services
Broaden your proposition immediately. Cross-sell to your existing client base from day one of ownership.
🔬
Proven IP & Technology
Leapfrog R&D timelines. Acquire capability that would take years to build and cost far more than the deal.
📈
Loyal, Contracted Revenue
Acquire a customer base that is already paying — and already loyal — not a pipeline that might convert.
🌐
Distribution & Geographic Reach
Slot into national or global channels overnight. Eliminate the cost and timeline of organic expansion.
🏆
Market Position
Consolidate before a competitor does. In fragmented UK SME markets, the first acquirer usually sets the price.
The Achieve Difference

This is not an off-the-shelf
acquisition service.

Every mandate begins with your specific ROI targets, your risk appetite, and your cultural non-negotiables. Nothing is templated. Nothing is delegated to a junior.

// Mandate Design

Bespoke From Day One

Your acquisition brief is built around your strategic objectives — revenue, geography, margin, technology, or customer base. We define the target before we search for it.

// Valuation Discipline

Offers That Hold at 96%

Forensic financial modelling means the number we put in front of a seller survives full diligence. No post-offer re-pricing. No margin erosion. No deal-table surprises.

// Negotiation

80 / 20 Rigour-to-EQ Framework

Hard data wins the commercial terms. Emotional intelligence turns motivated sellers into willing partners. Both matter. We use both — in the right sequence.

// Senior Access

Partner-Level Throughout

Mark Ross Roberts leads every call and every negotiation. No handoff to associates. No loss of institutional knowledge mid-deal. You get 30 years of deal experience at every touchpoint.

// Momentum

24 / 7 Deal Availability

Deals don't stall at weekends with Achieve. We match the pace the deal requires — keeping seller confidence high and process momentum unbroken throughout.

// Fee Structure

Results-First Engagement

Our engagement concludes when you own the asset and synergies begin accruing — not when a document is filed. Our incentives are aligned with your outcome, not our hours.

The Acquisition Process

Your six-stage roadmap
to close in six months.

Every stage has a defined outcome. No ambiguity. No drift. You know exactly where you are and what comes next.

01 Week 0
// Outcome: Target Brief
Define & Qualify
We clarify your strategic objectives, financial parameters, and cultural red-flags. NDAs executed. A precise target brief is produced — specific enough that every analyst knows exactly what they are looking for and why.
02 Weeks 1–4
// Outcome: Ranked Shortlist
Target Discovery
Analyst team screens 200+ companies against your brief. Every target is scored by strategic fit, financial profile, and price realism. You receive a shortlist ranked by priority — not a long list to wade through.
03 Weeks 5–8
// Outcome: Engaged Targets
Confidential Outreach
Discreet, code-named approach positions you as a preferred buyer from first contact — not a speculative enquirer. We protect your identity until you are ready to reveal it, eliminating market leakage and auction dynamics.
04 Weeks 9–12
// Outcome: Locked Exclusivity
Secure & Benchmark Offers
We negotiate headline commercial terms, protect against value gaps, and lock exclusivity before diligence costs mount. Offers are forensically modelled to hold — at 96% — through the full due diligence process.
05 Weeks 13–22
// Outcome: Signed SPA
Due Diligence & SPA
80% forensic rigour, 20% EQ. We answer buyer questions before they are asked, surface and neutralise deal risks proactively, and produce clean Share Purchase Agreements. Lawyers polish — they don't renegotiate.
06 Weeks 23–26
// Outcome: Day-One Synergies
Post-Acquisition Integration
A structured implementation blueprint safeguards culture, cash-flow, and your Day-One synergy targets. The deal does not end at completion — your value creation starts there.
What You Gain

Five competitive advantages
from instructing Achieve

These are not intangible benefits. Each one has a direct, measurable impact on your acquisition outcome — price paid, time to close, and value retained post-completion.

✓
Live Buyer Hot-List Access
Actively mandated corporates and PE funds — not a cold database — means your approach lands with genuine decision-makers from day one.
✓
Legal Cost Efficiency
In-house heads-of-terms and SPA reviews save acquirers up to 40% on legal costs. Clean documentation means lawyers approve rather than renegotiate.
✓
Zero Operational Distraction
We run the search so you run the business. Management bandwidth stays where it belongs — in your P&L — throughout the entire acquisition process.
✓
Adaptive Mandate Strategy
If market conditions shift mid-mandate, we pivot immediately. Price integrity and timeline are maintained regardless of external pressure.
✓
Confidentiality Preserved
Your acquisition intentions are commercially sensitive. Our code-named approach ensures your identity and strategy stay protected until you choose to reveal them.
// Why This Matters Now
The UK SME acquisition
window is open now.

Business owner retirements are peaking. Many motivated sellers have not yet engaged an adviser — which means well-advised buyers with a structured process have a short window to approach before the formal sale process begins, competition arrives, and the price rises.

A pre-emptive acquisition costs less than an auction. It also closes faster, with fewer lawyers, and fewer competing interests at the table.

£5m–£75m
Enterprise Value Range
26wks
Average to Completion
Confidential · No Obligation

Ready to acquire
the right business?

Book a confidential acquisition strategy call with Mark Ross Roberts, FMVA, CBCA. In 20 minutes, you receive a clear-eyed assessment of your mandate and your market — with no obligation to proceed.

// What this call delivers
  1. A timeline-locked roadmap to close your target acquisition inside six months
  2. An honest assessment of deal risk in your target sector and size range
  3. Answers to your top three concerns — price, confidentiality, and operational impact
Book Your Confidential Acquisition Call
Senior partner availability is limited. We take a maximum of four buy-side mandates per quarter.
Mark Ross Roberts · FMVA · CBCA via CFI · 30 Years UK M&A Advisory