SDR Ventures
has acted as exclusive sell-side advisor to
Robertson Tire & Auto Service
Closed · February 2025
Independent Boutique Investment Bank — Greenwood Village, CO — Est. 2002
Realizing your vision & value.
We advocate for the individual, not the deal. A highly personal approach to understanding your business, your vision for the next chapter, and the complexities of M&A — creating unique solutions to sell a business, buy a company, or raise capital.
0+
Years serving the lower & middle market
0+
Deals — shared successes
0%
Close rate vs. 20–30% avg
0/50
States — national reach
SDR Ventures
has acted as exclusive sell-side advisor to
Nicklas Medical Staffing
Closed · January 2025
SDR Ventures
has acted as exclusive financial advisor to
Project Copper
Illustrative composite
Axial · 2026
Top 25 Investment Banks
Lower middle market
Axial · 2026
Ranked #22 — Top 50 LMM Industrials M&A Advisors
Industrials deal activity
Axial · 2026
Top 50 Industrials Award
HVAC · Construction · Engineering
Inc. Magazine
2× Inc. 5000
Fastest-growing private companies
EO · Fortune
2× Entrepreneur 360
Company of the year list
Firm record
88% close rate
vs. 20–30% deal-study average
Instrument 01 — Enterprise Valuation
What is your company worth — and what will you keep?
The EBITDA multiple modeler SDR uses in first meetings. Set your revenue, margin and sector; read the enterprise value range, the advisory fee under three common structures, and your estimated net proceeds.
TTM Revenue$12.0M
EBITDA margin24%
Sector multiple8.0×
Fee structureModern Lehman
Net debt at close$2.0M
Estimated tax rate25%
Typical LMM engagement: monthly retainer $5K–$15K (credited against the success fee at close) plus a 3–8% success fee. Minimums generally $150K at smaller deal sizes. Benchmarks synthetic
Indicated enterprise value — base case
$23.0M
Implied EBITDA
$2.9M
Range — low
$19.6M
0.85× base
Range — high
$26.5M
1.15× base
Success fee
$0.78M
3.4% of EV
Less net debt + est. tax
$6.1M
debt $2.0M · tax $4.1M
Estimated net proceeds to owner
$14.9M
You keep
64.8%
EV by sector multiple — at your EBITDA Illustrative benchmarks
Sensitivity — EV across margin & multiple Illustrative
The SDR differential
SDR-facilitated deals close 19% higher than average, and 24% of transactions require moving to a second option — a buyer kept waiting in the wings after the primary bidder fell short. Applied to your base case, a 19% process premium on $23.0M is worth approximately +$4.4M of enterprise value. Structure matters just as much as headline price — most deals are not 100% cash.
Instrument 02 — Confidential Deal Vault
Blind teasers, under NDA.
A cross-section of live and recently mandated sell-side engagements. Financial details stay blurred until a mutual NDA is executed — the same discipline we bring to your process.
Instrument 03 — Transaction Tombstones
The deal ledger.
59 lifetime deals advised from Denver, 160+ shared successes since 2002, and an 88% close rate against a 20–30% industry average. Below: a representative cross-section of how those deals were structured and won.
0
Lifetime deals — Denver office · verified
0%
Close rate · verified firm record
+0%
Higher realization than average · verified
0%
Required a second-option buyer · verified
| Code / Parties | Sector | Buyer | Region | Status |
|---|
Two listings — Robertson Tire / Big Brand Tire (Feb 2025) and Nicklas Medical Staffing / Argosy (Jan 2025) — are verified closed engagements. All other individual entries are illustrative composites of typical LMM transactions and are tagged accordingly. Terms of actual engagements are confidential.
SDR has had an incredible 24 years working with the most interesting entrepreneurs and founders across America — from pets to pies to pallets, and beyond. Geoff Eliason — Principal, SDR Ventures
Instrument 04 — Deal Lifecycle
Eight stages. Six to twelve months. One process owner.
The exact cadence of an SDR sell-side mandate. Select any stage to see its tasks, documents, who does what, where fees fall, and what typically goes wrong.
Stage / timeline
Week 8 / 24
88% vs 20–30%
SDR close rate against the average reported across various deal studies. Process discipline is the difference.
+19%
SDR deals close 19% higher than average. Structure matters just as much as headline price.
24%
of deals require moving to a second option. We keep a qualified buyer waiting in the wings after the primary bidder falls short.
Instrument 05 — Buyer Universe
Do we have buyers for your company?
An anonymized concentration map of strategic acquirers and financial sponsors tracked across SDR's coverage. Filter by sector, buyer type and region — then compare against the universe a typical LMM process actually contacts.
Profiles anonymized · synthetic
Strategic acquirer
Financial sponsor
Dot size = acquisition appetite · stylized map, not to scale
Buyers in current filter0
Strategic acquirers0
Financial sponsors0
Typical buyer universe contacted by deal size
Lower middle market ($5–50M EV)60–150
Middle market ($50–500M EV)150–400
Bulge bracket ($500M+ EV)50–200
SDR reach: 41 of 50 states · national capabilities with local feel. Benchmarks synthetic
06 — The Firm
Partner-led. Thirty-four people. No hand-offs.
Your deal is run by the partner you met in the first conversation — supported by a dedicated team of roughly 34 across Denver and regional practices.
07 — Capabilities
One firm, the full transaction lifecycle.
Services delivered through SDR Ventures and its subsidiary SDR Capital Markets LLC — investment banking and securities offerings, member FINRA & SIPC.
08 — How We Work
Client advocate,
not deal advocate.
Anyone can be incentivized to close. We are retained to be incentivized to close well — on your terms, in your timeline, with the structure your next chapter actually requires. That is why we take fewer mandates and finish more of them.
I.
We engage with roughly 20% of the businesses we meet
If we cannot help you transact successfully, we say so in the first conversation. Zero-down, success-only economics turn advisors into deal advocates. Ours never do.
Selective by design — verified firm practiceII.
Structure matters as much as headline price
Most deals are not 100% cash. Earn-outs, rollover equity, escrows and employment terms decide what you actually keep — we negotiate all of it.
Consideration · verified firm doctrineIII.
Certainty is a product we manufacture
An 88% close rate against a 20–30% deal-study average is not luck. It is buyer qualification, diligence preparation and a second option always in the wings.
88% close rate · verifiedIV.
When deals go sour, the backup buyer is already warmed
24% of transactions require moving to a second option after the primary bidder falls short. Our process keeps that buyer engaged through diligence — living the dream, not losing the sale.
24% second-option rate · verifiedV.
23+ years of collaborative perseverance
Generational transfers, pre-investment roll-ups, recapitalizations — the mandate changes, the advocacy doesn't. Local feel, national capabilities.
Est. 2002 · 41 of 50 states09 — Sector Coverage
Traditional and niche — industrials at the core.
Our Axial #22 industrials ranking reflects deep concentration in HVAC, construction, engineering and industrial technology — with consistent deal flow across the sectors below.
10 — Begin Confidentially
Get started on your next chapter.
A consultation is a conversation, not a commitment. Here is exactly what happens after you reach out:
Headquarters
5613 DTC Parkway, Suite 830
Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111
+1 (720) 221-9220 · smitchell@sdrventures.com
Offices: Denver · Dallas · Chicago · Miami · Milwaukee
5613 DTC Parkway, Suite 830
Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111
+1 (720) 221-9220 · smitchell@sdrventures.com
Offices: Denver · Dallas · Chicago · Miami · Milwaukee
Request a confidential consultation
No obligation. No distribution of your information. Replies come from a principal.
Request received
Expect a reply within one business day.
SDR-2026-0000
A principal will reach out from smitchell@sdrventures.com or 720.221.9220. Prefer to go direct now? Call the office line — no gatekeepers.