M&A and Corporate Development Recruitment for Private Equity
Finatal partners with private equity funds and their portfolio companies to build in-house M&A and corporate development capability. We place people who originate opportunities, execute transactions, lead integration and capture synergies, helping buy-and-build strategies deliver measurable value across the investment cycle.
About the practice
Building the Capability Behind Buy-and-Build
M&A is a core lever of value creation in private equity, but an acquisition strategy needs people within the portfolio business who can carry it through. Dedicated capability reduces reliance on fund teams and external advisers. The right people understand the investment case, progress deals with management and turn acquisitions into an integrated business.
Origination with Purpose
An effective pipeline reflects the platform’s strategic priorities, sector and ability to integrate. Origination professionals need to understand which businesses could strengthen the group and build relationships that create credible acquisition opportunities over time.
Disciplined Execution
As diligence becomes more demanding, transactions need clear ownership. M&A professionals coordinate analysis, advisers and management, challenge assumptions and maintain focus on the decisions needed to progress a deal without losing sight of risk.
Integration and Value
The work continues after completion. Integration leaders align people, processes and systems, establish responsibility for synergies and keep business performance visible. The acquisition case should translate into specific actions that management can deliver and review.
Exit Readiness
A credible record of completed acquisitions and captured synergies strengthens the equity story. Clear deal documentation and integration evidence help the business withstand buyer scrutiny at exit.
Our Private Equity M&A and Corporate Development Network
Finatal supports permanent and interim appointments, from Associates and Managers through Directors, Heads of M&A and Chief Corporate Development Officers. We also recruit origination and business development professionals who build the pipeline, plus specialists for transaction delivery, integration, carve-outs and exit preparation.
We begin with the fund or company’s M&A model: sector focus, deal size, origination strategy, geography, expected deal cadence and approach to integration. We then target professionals with comparable transaction experience and assess what they personally delivered across the deal lifecycle. Fit depends on transaction complexity, enterprise value and the level of ownership the appointment requires. Building a first internal M&A role calls for different experience from adding capacity to an established corporate development team.
What We Look for in a Private Equity M&A Hire
Deal experience needs to be specific. We look for analytical strength combined with hands-on delivery, often developed in investment banking, private equity investing, consulting or transaction services. Candidates should distinguish their contribution from the wider team’s, explain the decisions they owned and show how they managed issues through to resolution. Familiarity with transactions alone does not demonstrate execution capability.
Judgement under pressure becomes particularly important when forecasts are uncertain, valuations are contested or a carve-out must establish standalone operations. Strong professionals have seen multiple deal cycles and can anticipate risks across buy-side and sell-side transactions, carve-outs and refinancing. They move at pace without losing control, explain the commercial implications of diligence findings and keep the right stakeholders involved in decisions.
Integration also demands interpersonal skill. A successful hire aligns internal teams, external advisers, founders and acquired management, adapting communication while keeping responsibilities clear. Sector understanding and relevant language capability can be important where the acquisition strategy crosses borders. The test is timely, high-quality delivery against the value creation plan, not simply participation in deals.
Tell us about your acquisition strategy, current deal capacity and integration priorities. We can help define the permanent appointment or interim expertise needed for the next stage.
The Role of Interim M&A Capability
Deal activity rarely arrives at a steady pace. Interim M&A professionals give funds and portfolio companies experienced capacity for peaks in activity without building a permanent team around temporary demand.
They can support diligence, integration planning, carve-outs, data-room preparation, lender diligence and exit readiness. A defined mandate keeps the work focused on an outcome and enables rapid deployment when the transaction timetable is compressed.
Having worked through multiple deal cycles, strong interim specialists can spot risks early, maintain momentum and bring senior, hands-on capability into the business for the period it needs it. We also support permanent appointments when the company is building a lasting M&A function.
Tell us where the transaction process needs more capacity. We can identify interim expertise for a specific deal or help build the permanent team for a sustained acquisition strategy.
Track Record
For both permanent and interim assignments, we fuse our extensive expertise and broad network to match the strong candidates with the businesses that complement their ambitions.
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Finatal supported Forterro with M&A, integration and origination appointments, including two UK-based roles, to strengthen its acquisition capability across Europe.
“Nick delivers on all fronts every time I approach him for help expanding our team.”
M&A and Corporate Development
Our Team
M&A and Corporate Development insights
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Read the insightFAQs
Which M&A and corporate development roles do you recruit for?
We recruit across origination, transaction execution and integration, from Associate and Manager positions to Heads of M&A and Chief Corporate Development Officers.
Do you support funds and portfolio businesses?
Yes. Our work includes in-house capability for investors and corporate development teams within their portfolio companies.
When is interim M&A expertise useful?
Interim professionals can add capacity during concentrated deal activity or bring specialist experience for diligence, integration, carve-outs and exit preparation.
Can you recruit a company’s first M&A professional?
Yes. The brief should establish the expected ownership, relationship with the sponsor, transaction pipeline and support available from management and advisers.
How do you assess transaction experience?
We examine the candidate’s responsibilities, transaction complexity and delivery record, then assess how that experience matches the business’s strategy and execution model.