Crown Peak Advisors Partners with Founders to Deliver M&A and Strategic Advisory Backed by Deep Industry Insight
Having led M&A for an acquisitive MSP and advised founder-owned businesses through multiple acquisitions, we understand what matters most to MSP owners: (i) protecting people and culture; (ii) maintaining client continuity and excellence; and (iii) achieving the right valuation and structure. We combine operator-level strategic insight with disciplined execution to guide founders through the transaction process, maximizing value and certainty of close.
Sell-Side Advisory
Crown Peak Advisors partners with founder-owned MSPs exploring liquidity events, including full or partial exits and ownership transitions. Blending operator-level strategic insight with disciplined execution, the firm serves as a true strategic partner, guiding founders through the sale process to maximize value and certainty of close. We help owners prepare their businesses for a successful transaction, guiding them through every stage of the sell-side process, from initial positioning, marketing and buyer outreach through soliciting offers, negotiating terms and closing. Our approach emphasizes rigorous preparation, thoughtful positioning and disciplined execution. From articulating a compelling story and identifying the right buyers to negotiating terms, structuring the transaction and managing execution, Crown Peak provides sound strategic guidance and advice backed by a highly experienced team dedicated to achieving a superior outcome for one of the most important decisions in a founder’s journey. We work closely with management teams to manage the complexities of the transaction process, proactively identify and address diligence issues, implement appropriate risk mitigation strategies and support informed decision-making throughout the sale. At the outset of each engagement, we conduct a comprehensive assessment of transaction readiness across financial, operational, organizational and reporting dimensions to position the business for an optimal outcome for all stakeholders. We understand what matters most to MSP owners considering a transaction: 1. Protecting their people and culture; 2. Ensuring continuity and excellence for clients; and 3. Achieving the right outcome on valuation and structure. Having sat on multiple sides of the table as operators, advisors and investors, Crown Peak is uniquely positioned to align these priorities. We run highly targeted, founder-centric processes, engaging the right strategic and financial acquirors, and executing with precision, so that founders can transact on their terms while preserving the legacy they have built.
Buy-Side Advisory
Crown Peak Advisors partners with MSPs, private equity firms and other institutional capital providers pursuing MSP platform and add-on acquisitions. We support acquirors executing buy-and-build and acquisitive growth strategies by translating strategic acquisition objectives into a disciplined, repeatable M&A process. We work closely with clients to define and clarify investment criteria, evaluate opportunities and enable efficient, high-conviction decision-making through a rigorous approach to pre-LOI vetting, diligence and valuation to ensure all parties are aligned. Post-LOI through closing, Crown Peak serves as an outsourced corporate development and M&A execution team, managing the transaction end-to-end. We deliver comprehensive due diligence, insightful analysis, and high-quality, decision-ready deliverables for internal stakeholders and external deal partners. Backed by over 35 years of combined experience across investment banking, corporate development, investing and consulting, Crown Peak enhances and supplements internal capabilities, reduces execution risk and drives consistency across transactions. This approach allows management teams to remain focused on strategic and operating priorities while pursuing inorganic growth with confidence. Our buy-side engagements are custom-tailored to support clients across the full acquisition lifecycle, from early strategy development and target evaluation through execution, closing and transition planning. We emphasize aligning each transaction with long-term strategic, operational and financial objectives to ensure disciplined capital deployment and sustainable value creation.
Strategic Advisory
Crown Peak provides strategic advisory services closely integrated with transaction readiness to help MSPs define a clear vision for growth and margin improvement, and execute against it to enhance value. Our work focuses on strategic revenue growth, market positioning, service expansion, and operational efficiency with strategies grounded in operational and financial realities. We partner with founders and leadership teams to clarify strategic objectives, evaluate growth alternatives and align stakeholders around a cohesive value creation roadmap. Our work includes assessing organic growth opportunities, pricing and service mix optimization, geographic and vertical expansion, and the leadership and governance structures required to support scale. Our strategy engagements are closely integrated with transaction readiness. We help clients articulate a compelling, investor-ready narrative supported by clear strategic priorities, measurable initiatives and a governance framework that supports buyer confidence. The result is a credible growth story that aligns vision, execution and value realization. We work closely with management teams to assess and help them enhance core operating, back-office, financial management and accounting functions, such as financial reporting, KPI frameworks, cost structure and standard operating procedures. Our engagements help elevate middle-market MSPs to top-quartile Service Delivery Index (SDI) performance benchmarks, positioning them for an optimal transaction outcome upon an eventual sale. We help drive operating margin improvement through disciplined, data-driven decision-making, clear ownership of value-creation initiatives, and consistent execution accountability. For MSPs that are not yet fully optimized for a value-maximizing transaction, a focus on strategic growth and operational improvement is a critical foundation of transaction readiness. Crown Peak helps MSPs build the systems, controls and reporting infrastructure required to support scalable growth, expand margins, enable efficient integration and reduce execution risk in a transaction.
Valuation Services
Crown Peak provides valuation services designed to give MSP founders and owners clear, defensible and actionable insight as they evaluate potential liquidity alternatives. Our approach combines rigorous financial analysis and valuation methodologies with deep sector expertise informed by our founder’s experience leading the acquisition strategy of a founder-owned MSP that successfully completed 10 acquisitions. We deliver detailed benchmarking analyses against relevant peer sets to determine valuation ranges and the key operational and financial drivers that influence the valuation in IT services businesses. Our valuation engagements are practical, transparent and decision-driven. We work closely with owners and management teams to normalize financials, assess quality of earnings and recurring revenue durability, and evaluate key value drivers such as growth, margins, retention, customer diversification and operational efficiency. Our analyses enable clients to better evaluate strategic alternatives, enter negotiations well-prepared and approach potential transactions with clarity and confidence. Crown Peak provides forecasting, scenario modeling and transaction-related analyses across a range of operating and deal outcomes, incorporating key structural and economic considerations. We deliver precise, decision-ready valuation materials designed to support internal planning, stakeholder engagement and transaction preparation.
