How we work with UK private equity

US buyers are most valuable when they're part of the exit strategy from the outset, rather than added to the buyer list late in the process. The challenge is knowing which sponsors, portfolio companies and strategic acquirers have a genuine rationale for the asset, and getting the opportunity to the right people. LAVA's integrated UK and US teams combine knowledge of the asset and its home market with direct US buyer and sponsor relationships, helping build credible transatlantic competition rather than simply extending the geographic reach of a buyer list. 

A US buyer doesn't automatically mean a premium. The opportunity comes where a buyer sees value others may not: access to a new market, specialist capabilities, technology, customers or a strong fit with an existing platform; or approaches valuation from a different reference point. LAVA's role is to identify where those specific rationales exist across the US buyer universe and bring the right parties into the process, creating the conditions in which that additional value can actually be tested. 

The underlying equity story shouldn't change, but the way it is communicated often should. US buyers may need different context around the UK market and competitive landscape, while international scalability, US growth potential and areas such as recurring revenue or margin can be viewed through a different lens. With deal experience and senior teams on both sides of the Atlantic, LAVA can shape the story for both markets from the outset, without asking management to translate it for US buyers halfway through a process. 

The difficulty isn't finding a list of US buyers; it's knowing which ones are genuinely relevant right now. Investment priorities change, portfolio strategies evolve and some of the most credible buyers won't be obvious from historic transaction data. LAVA's US team maintains direct relationships with sponsors, corporates and their advisers, giving our UK clients a live view of where appetite exists and who is worth bringing into a process. That means US buyer mapping is driven by current market intelligence and relationships, not simply databases and precedent deals. 

A US office or a database of investor contacts isn't the same thing as buyer access. The useful questions are: who actually knows the relevant buyers, at what level, and are they speaking to them often enough to understand what they are looking for today? LAVA's US Partners provide direct, senior-level coverage of the US investor community as part of the same deal team as our UK advisers, rather than relying on an affiliate or referral network.