Acquisitions and disposals for the AI shift.
AI is changing which businesses are strategically valuable. We help acquirers find the businesses that hold the capability they need, and help companies selling a non-core division or subsidiary find buyers with a strategic reason to own it.
Get in touchFrom thesis to introduction
Thesis
We set out what the acquirer should own and why it matters to its strategy.
Targets
Named businesses that fit the thesis, qualified for ownership, scale, capabilities and strategic fit.
Approach
Once the mandate and terms are agreed, we approach selected owners directly.
Introduction
Where there is mutual interest, we introduce the principals.
Buyers with a strategic reason to acquire
For companies considering the sale of a division or subsidiary, we identify potential buyers and explain how the business could fit each buyer's strategy. This can include buyers outside the seller's industry.
Once our scope and fees are agreed, we approach selected buyers directly. We can work alongside an adviser already running the sale.
Our acquisition work does not start with a database screen
Most target searches begin with a sector and look for companies inside it.
We start with the capability the acquirer needs and work backwards. That can lead beyond the obvious peer group to businesses whose data, technology, distribution, IP or specialist expertise has acquired new strategic value.
Selected themes
Physical AI & world models
Businesses with proprietary real-world data, sensing, simulation and capture capabilities that enable AI systems to operate in the physical world.
Professional services & succession
Owner-managed UK professional-services firms where AI is changing margins, staffing models and succession economics.
Defence & autonomy
Dual-use technology and autonomous-systems businesses positioned for Europe's defence investment cycle.
Testing, certification & compliance
Businesses whose accreditations, domain expertise and regulated workflows create barriers that software alone cannot replicate.
Analyst support for deal and strategy teams
For advisers, corporate development teams and other professional firms that need research turned round quickly. We use AI tools to gather and organise the material, and every figure we report comes with its source, so you can see where it came from.
Company profiles
Who owns a business, how it has performed on its filed accounts and what you would want to look into next.
Company screens
Lists of companies that match the criteria you set, with why each one is in and which ones we left out.
Meeting briefs
What you need to know before you sit down with someone: their business, what they have said in public and the questions worth asking.
First drafts
Research notes, presentations and market maps in draft, for your team to review and finish.
Available by the month or by the piece. Before we start, we agree with you which tools may handle your confidential material. This is research and analysis, not investment advice.
Ask about the analysis deskAkhilesh Sharma
Founder, Akhil Partners
Akhilesh combines capital-markets experience with more than a decade working with financial institutions, alongside research into how AI and structural change are reshaping industries, business models and strategic value.
- Previously at BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Barclays.
- MSc Mathematical Finance, Bayes Business School. CISI Level 4 Diploma in Investment Advice.
- Long-standing work with professionals at JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Citi, Morgan Stanley and HSBC.
- AI training for financial institutions and government bodies.
Specialist finance
Introductions between borrowers, lenders and capital providers in UK specialist lending.
Principal investments
Separately from our origination work, we may also consider acquiring profitable UK businesses for our own account. Client mandates are ring-fenced, and we do not pursue businesses identified for an origination client.
Buying a capability, or selling a business that no longer fits?
Tell us the capability you want to acquire or the business you are considering selling.