Independent M&A freelancer for the past 4 years. Ask me anything..
“Is this a thing?” - I’ve gotten this question a dozen times by people in finance/M&A/PE.
So I would like to start this conversation with people interested in this transition or already in it.
I am a generalist, did deals in semis, energy, software. Pay is considerably better, and you make your own hours. But there is a catch!
In my city there is a community of at least 300 such freelancers, and this trend seems to be growing.
Studied Masters in Finance & Investments in the Netherlands, stayed in Amsterdam since then. After a short internship in Equity Research I moved to a mid-market IB (for European Standards) where I did a combination of M&A and ECM. After 2.5 years I got promoted to Associate, right about when COVID hit. Left the bank to join as Strategy Associate in a Fintech but it was too slow for me. Approached one of the former leads at the bank. He hired me to help out preparing his business for exit. Sold the business for EUR >100m EV, and it started from them.
I do around 2-3 deals per year, it is mostly M&A and Funding. Sometimes take smaller filler projects around business planning, IM review etc. I mostly do the grunt work myself, recently experimenting with outsourcing execution (mainly modeling work) to a couple of friends interested in this space.
Pay is around EUR 135-150 per hour. I've done a couple of success fee deals, including a small equity stake in a software startup.
You do not have a manager, but a partner. It is a different dynamic really, you learn to sell yourself, and cut through non-important work. Learning curve slows down after a couple of years. You are flexible with time, this means you have to push yourself to do the work.
Are there more people like me on here?
How do you get clients? And why do they pick you instead of a bank
I did a good job on my first projects and got referrals to other people. In the SME world the founders and their board members are well connected, and they generally want to help each other out. I did very little to no cold outreach to get new deals in.
Banks are generally asking for too much from these smaller companies, plus bankers have a bit of a bad rep in western Europe.
How much do you charge for a modeling fee
Started at EUR 60 on my first job. Now at EUR 150 per hour. Other freelancers with the same skillset in my city are in this range 125-175.
How does this work from a regulatory perspective? Are you licensed to handle securities, or do you simply act as a business advisor and work with a BD to handle that part?
Only working on private companies, no regulatory licensing needed here in EU
How can i reach out to you? I’m looking for potential buyer if you have interested in.
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