How to create value from my network

I'm assuming you're operating somewhere in the LMM/MM?

There's a ton to unpack here, basically, you're building out the sourcing efforts for a specific industry/vertical at your new firm. I'll try to be as detailed as possible without taking up too much of either of our times.

Before you even get started, I'd make sure you're on the right page with the partners as to what a good deal looks like. For me, one of the most challenging scenarios when it comes to sourcing is having seniors that don't know what they're looking for (which in my experience has happened more than I initially thought). The fact that you're going into a new sector and that you're the sector expert means there's going to be trial and error, but by setting expectations and guidelines up front with regards to target metrics, acquisition strategy, entry/exit multiples, etc, you can hopefully avoid spending time finding deals that the partners won't be comfortable moving forward with. As someone new to the firm, you're probably going to have to take some time to figure out what a good deal looks like in general given the context of your new firms strategy.

After that, I'd kind of think of breaking up the sourcing efforts into different buckets. At a very simple level I think of proprietary deals and banker led as my two big buckets, even though they end up subdividing multiple ways once you actually get into things.

Proprietary deals are tough to really quantify a strategy for. They're usually the culmination of years of networking, relationship building, and a little bit of deal savvy. With that being said, the foundation of this type of effort usually tends to be some form of mining a large database of companies, some form of cold/lukewarm outreach, and then trying to network/stay in touch/add value such that when that company decides to transact, they think of you first. I would think that your industry expertise could potentially help you here either through direct/indirect connections. Even better if you have some of the numbers on the companies so you can be more targeted with your outreach. If you're operating in a niche space, I'd put together a list of the known universe of companies and try to get in touch with all of them.

It's important to note that as deals get bigger, the proprietary nature of things will change. There aren't too many 50M+ revenue businesses out there that don't use a banker, so as things get bigger a "propriety" deal might just be something that a banker shows your first because they know you well and trust that you can close quickly and at a fair price. That's something I've never really accomplished at my current firm (as we skew heavily towards proprietary deals), but I continue to lay the groundwork to hopefully someday be the first call that bankers make for certain types of deals.

Moving on to banker deals, these tend to be easy at a surface level. You could reach out to everyone, let them know you're at a new firm, layout what you're looking for, and start receiving CIMs right away. Bankers want to sell and you want to buy. As I mentioned above, the real work becomes getting bankers to be very familiar with your platform, the types of deal you'll do, what you'll pay, and what type of firm you are to work with. You ideally get to a point where the bankers have a lot of trust and familiarity with you so that they're looking out for you, knowing that if they come across a certain type of company, that you could pay a good price and close quickly. Again, that's the ideal.

In terms of general reach out, I think it should be pretty easy to get first calls. I'd say you're at a new firm, want to get to introduce yourself to the bankers (or maybe say that you can add value to a company, can provide liquidity) basically just some form of outreach email but ideally with something personalized either because of your relationship or your area of expertise. After that...there is no real formula to how to close a deal.

Taking your example 1 from above. Does an acquisition by Company A of company C make sense? What are the synergies? What numbers would you need to find out in order to get a yay/nay from your current partners to move forward with investigating? If the businesses are small enough I'd reach out to the partners of the minority owner or just the CEO and say you have an interesting partnership/investment opportunity for them and want to discuss if they have 15min. I would understand that a competitor isn't likely to give out info that readily, so I would, so I would keep that in the back of my mind as I do the intros. I'd hopefully build up some rapport and get to a point where I (or at this point I might have looped a partner in for extra firepower) could say "Let's sign an NDA and see xyz types of numbers/data, from there we can put an offer together to acquire/merge". That's obviously a super simplified example and that process might take months if not years. You might have to follow the CEO around for a while, multiple calls/emails, chance encounter him/her at a conference, continue sending them your thoughts on the space and why consolidation makes sense, send them xmas cards, I've heard of folks even sending over proxy financials on how a deal could work out. All with the hope that when they finally go to sell, he'll remember you, will know your firm (and portco) and might want to work with you moving forward.

There's a ton more to it and a lot I'm leaving out, but I'm getting tired of typing. At the end of. the day, I'd try and create an organized approach to basically telling everyone what you're looking for and why you're the best capital provider and partner for that type of business. The networking and relationship building should continue to reinforce those ideas over the course of weeks/months/years until they hopefully pay off.