Buying a Business
Growth through acquisition starts with finding the right target — and the best options usually aren't for sale yet. HMA provides buy-side M&A advisory for private equity firms, PE-backed platforms, and strategic acquirers across the automotive and heavy-duty aftermarket.
We are not generalists: we know what creates value for buyers in our markets, our research team finds off-market companies before anyone else, and our partners speak the owner/founder's language — because we've spent our careers in this industry.
Buy Side Engagement Services
Acquisition Strategy & Target Criteria
Every engagement begins with a working session between our partners and your team: understanding your growth objectives, portfolio, and culture, and defining the ideal target profile — size, capabilities, management, geography, and strategic fit. We revise the profile throughout the engagement as your desired company traits evolve and the search reveals what the market holds, so the pipeline always reflects your current investment thesis.
In-House Market Research
Our dedicated research team is a proactive advantage most boutique advisors cannot match. We continuously map the automotive, heavy-duty, and industrial aftermarkets — tracking ownership, acquisition activity, and strategic gaps — to surface qualified, off-market opportunities before they ever reach a broker's listing.
Owner Outreach — On Your Terms
The best targets answer the phone for people they trust. We research and propose each new target, and no owner is contacted until you've approved the name — protecting existing relationships and keeping you in full control of who we approach and how. Then our partners make every call personally; because we come from this industry and relate to owner/founders as peers, we open doors that cold calls and generalist bankers cannot.
Target Qualification & Vetting
Pursuing the wrong target is the most expensive mistake in acquisitions. We screen every interested candidate against your criteria — strategic fit, culture, management, and financial profile — and assess the owner dynamics that determine whether a deal will thrive after closing, so your team's time goes only to opportunities worth pursuing.
Valuation, Offers & LOI Negotiation
We know what aftermarket businesses are actually worth — and what specific capabilities create value for buyers in our markets. We support the crafting and presentation of offers and negotiate the Letter of Intent on terms that meet your approval: competitive enough to win the deal, disciplined enough to protect your returns.
Due Diligence Support — Scaled to Your Team
Due diligence is where deals slow down, stall, or die — and where sellers get cold feet. We scale our role to your team: full process management for acquirers who need it, or a lighter touch for firms with their own diligence resources, where our job is keeping the seller engaged, positive, and moving toward closing after the LOI is signed.
Transparent Search Management
You always know where your search stands. A continuously updated target list, a secure data room holding every document and every conversation's status, and regular progress reviews with the partner running your engagement keep your team informed and in control — from first search list to final closing.
Pre- and Post-Deal Consulting
Acquisitions succeed or fail on the work done around them. Before a deal, we support valuation analysis, deal structuring, and negotiation strategy. After close, we assist with integration planning, operational hand-off, and synergy execution — so the acquisition delivers the value your investment thesis promised.
Aftermarket Specialists — Not Generalists
Our focus on the automotive and heavy-duty aftermarket is our advantage. We know which capabilities command premiums, which businesses fit which platforms, and who actually owns the companies you want to meet. Generalist advisors run searches; we bring decades of operating experience, industry relationships, and transaction knowledge to every engagement.
The HMA Advantage
Your goals set the strategy. Our job is to get you there.
Hart Marx Advisors' principals bring more than 150 years of combined experience in the automotive, heavy-duty, and transportation markets — as operators, executives, and dealmakers. Supported by our internal research team and a global advisory network, we deliver a proven, confidential process whether you are selling the company you built, acquiring your next platform or add-on, or deciding what path creates the most value.
We’re with you every step of the way.
- Principal-led engagements — no hand-offs
- 150+ years of combined industry experience
- Proactive, off-market deal sourcing
- Confidential process from first call to close
- Proven valuation and negotiation expertise
- Dedicated in-house research team
- Deep strategic and private equity buyer network
- Full support through due diligence and integration
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions. Clear answers.
Get insight into what to expect when partnering with our team and navigating the M&A process.
What size businesses do you work with?
There is no size too large or too small for our buy-side engagements. We have succeeded for billion-dollar clients and for clients seeking specific niche businesses or highly strategic capabilities regardless of size. The right target is defined by strategic fit, not revenue.
What makes HMA unique in buy-side engagements?
We live in the industries we serve. Our principals know the companies, the owners, and the trends across the automotive and heavy-duty aftermarkets — so we can identify which businesses are strategically valuable, not just which are available. Our in-house research team proactively surfaces and qualifies off-market opportunities, and because we speak the industry's language, owners take our calls and trust us with conversations they would never have with a generalist firm.
Do you only pursue businesses that are for sale?
No — most of the best acquisitions are never publicly for sale. The majority of our buy-side work involves confidential outreach to owners who haven't listed their businesses. Our research team continuously maps our markets to identify companies that fit your criteria, and our principals make the direct, discreet approach that opens those conversations.
How long does a buy-side engagement take?
It varies with the specificity of your criteria and the readiness of the owners we approach. Some clients close their first acquisition within six months; building a relationship with the right off-market target can take longer. Buy-side engagements are often ongoing partnerships — many clients retain us across multiple acquisitions as they build their platforms.
Do you work with private equity firms?
Yes — extensively. We serve as buy-side advisor to private equity firms and their portfolio companies pursuing platform and add-on acquisitions in our markets, and we regularly bring sell-side clients to the PE firms we know are actively investing in the aftermarket. That two-sided perspective helps our clients on both sides of the table.
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Move Forward with Confidence—Let's Talk
Connect with our team to discuss your goals or to learn more. All inquiries are handled with complete confidentiality.