Acquisition Origination

Proprietary acquisition opportunities for lower middle market buyers.

Stratus Holdings helps lower middle market buyers originate qualified off-market acquisition opportunities through owner-facing digital campaigns, qualification, and warm introductions.

Get a Confidential Conversation How Deal Sourcing Works

Learn about our long-term ownership path

Who We Help

Built for buyers with a clear mandate.

Stratus works with lower middle market acquirers who know what they want to buy and need a stronger channel for reaching owners before a process begins.

Private Equity Firms

Platform and add on sourcing aligned to fund theses and portfolio strategies.

Independent Sponsors

Owner direct pipelines for sponsors building conviction around a specific mandate.

Family Offices

Patient capital acquirers looking for founder led businesses off market.

Strategic Acquirers

Operators expanding through acquisition in defined sectors and geographies.

M&A Advisors

Buy side advisors who need consistent, mandate aligned owner conversations for clients.

The Sourcing Gap

The best opportunities rarely start in a process.

Brokered deals are crowded. By the time a business is formally marketed, multiple buyers are reviewing the same opportunity under compressed timelines, and leverage has already shifted to the seller.

Referral networks are inconsistent. Manual outbound is difficult to scale, and owners' inboxes are increasingly flooded with the same messages from the same buyers.

Stratus helps buyers create an earlier, owner direct channel: conversations that begin before intermediaries are involved and before a competitive process exists.

Only a small share of lower middle market businesses are ever formally marketed for sale. The strongest opportunities start earlier, in direct conversations with owners.

The brokered process

Many buyers, one deal. Compressed timelines, and leverage sits with the seller.

The owner direct channel

The owner starts the conversation with you, before a process exists.

How It Works

A structured path from mandate to introduction.

The full process is detailed on the Deal Sourcing page. In short:

Step 01
Define the mandate
Sector, geography, size range, owner profile, and fit criteria.
Step 02
Map the market
Identify the segments and owner types most likely to match.
Step 03
Reach qualified owners
Professional, confidential owner facing campaigns.
Step 04
Filter for fit
Every conversation is screened against your mandate.
Step 05
Deliver warm introductions
Qualified opportunities, introduced with context.

See the full sourcing process

What Stratus Delivers

Owner initiated conversations, aligned to your mandate.

Owner direct deal flow

Business owners reach out to you. The conversation starts on different footing: they initiated it.

Opportunities before the process

Conversations begin before intermediaries are involved and before a competitive process exists.

Mandate aligned qualification

Every inbound owner is screened against your criteria before anything reaches your desk.

Warm, structured introductions

Context on the business, the owner's motivation, and a recommended next step, routed into your pipeline.

Warm introductionOwner initiated

Commercial services company, Eastern US

Qualified

MotivationRetirement and succession

Timeline6 to 12 months

ProcessNone, owner initiated

Mandate fitAligned

Founder led, 20+ years operating history, recurring commercial contracts. No broker involved. Screened against your mandate before introduction.

Recommended: intro call this week

Results

Proof from active mandates.

Stratus has worked with buyers across North America, each with distinct investment criteria, primarily B2B service businesses in the $1M to $5M EBITDA range.

Altenbruck Capital

Two Under LOI

B2B Services, Multi Vertical

Sector: B2B services (4 verticals)

Geography: Eastern US

EBITDA: $300K to $4M

Qualified opportunities in 2 months

Progressed to direct conversations

Opportunities under LOI

From first reach to qualified conversation

Business owners reached~22,000

Landing page visits566

Qualified opportunities24

Direct conversations15

Under LOI2

“Working with Rylan at Stratus Holdings was a strong decision for our firm. The campaign generated dozens of genuinely prequalified business owner leads aligned with our acquisition focus. The targeting was disciplined, the messaging resonated, and the introductions were organised and actionable. For firms serious about sourcing off-market opportunities with precision, Stratus is a valuable partner.”
David C. Penrod · Altenbruck Capital

NextGen Fleet Solutions

Active Campaign

Transportation and Fleet Logistics

Sector: Mobile fleet repair and trucking

Geography: US national

EBITDA: $500K to $5M

Inbound owner inquiries

Qualified conversations

~0K

Unique owners reached

From first reach to qualified conversation

Ad impressions~232,000

Business owners reached~80,000

Landing page visits1,455

Owner inquiries67

Qualified conversations35

“Working with Stratus has been a great experience. They spend the time and energy to truly understand your messaging and buy-box to create tailored ads that resonate with business owners. It's been a valuable addition to our off-market sourcing efforts, and I look forward to our continued partnership.”
Nicholas Lee · NextGen Partners (NGFS)

Results vary by mandate, market, and campaign conditions.

Looking Ahead

Building toward long term ownership.

Beyond client work, Stratus has a long term interest in acquiring and operating small businesses. That path is future facing and kept separate from active client mandates.

Learn About Our Acquisition Path

Founder

Founder led, by design.

Stratus was built by Rylan Schebesch to give serious buyers a more proactive, owner direct acquisition channel, grounded in confidentiality, discipline, and respect for founder led businesses.

About the Founder

Common Questions

Frequently asked.

Is this a database or a list of businesses for sale?

No. Stratus does not sell scraped lists or generic leads. Every opportunity is an owner initiated conversation, qualified against your specific mandate before it reaches you.

How is this different from a broker?

Stratus is not a broker and does not represent sellers. We build an owner direct origination channel on the buy side: conversations begin before any intermediary or process is involved.

What kinds of buyers does Stratus work with?

Private equity firms, independent sponsors, family offices, strategic acquirers, and M&A advisors with buy side mandates, typically targeting founder led businesses in the lower middle market.

What do I need to get started?

A clear mandate: target sector, geography, revenue or EBITDA range, and owner profile. The clearer the thesis, the stronger the pipeline. It starts with a confidential conversation.

More detail on the Deal Sourcing page

Start with a confidential conversation.

Tell us about your mandate. We'll walk through how an owner direct sourcing channel would work for your criteria. No obligation, fully confidential.

Get a Confidential Conversation Contact Us