Member Article

Leeds entrepreneur launches online business-for-sale service

Leeds entrepreneur James Waterhouse has launched an online service bringing together buyers and sellers of businesses.

Deal Connections went live in July, and intends to provide information and daily alerts on established companies coming to the market for sale valued from £750k to £30 million in the UK and abroad.

Deal Connections sources information from accountants, business brokers, advisors, other consolidators and its own research. There are more than 6,400 opportunities currently live according to the firm.

Business acquisition opportunities with a combined turnover of £345.8 million are coming on to the UK market this month, with the number of Construction deals leading the way, closely followed by Industrial and IT according to the firm.

In value terms, the Food & Beverages sector is providing the most opportunities, with potential acquisitions totalling £131.3 million turnover, followed by Industrial (£97.2 million), and Automobiles & Parts (£68.7 million).

The data has been released by the Deal Connections Index, which is a barometer of business deals.

James Waterhouse says: “MBIs are usually carried out by people with a proven track record, trying to find the perfect match between target company, their own skills and their funders interests.

“Until now they’ve found it impossible to get a real overview of the market. To gain visibility on the 85% plus of the market that Deal Connections offers, you would have to maintain relationships with 650 entities and 15,000 people.

“If you are looking to acquire or sell a company, buy into an existing business as a management team, or just looking for investment opportunities, there has been no single place you could go to see almost the entire UK market.”

It is expected to appeal to the extensive Management BuyIn (MBI) market, where a growing economy and desire to take charge of their own destiny means an estimated 10,000 individuals are looking to buy in to businesses.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .