Find M&A Deals That Need Diligence & Advisory

Overview

Every announced transaction spawns work that the acquirer's team cannot absorb alone: financial and operational diligence, quality of earnings, valuation, tax structuring, and post-close integration. Mid-market deals are especially fertile — the acquirer has real money and a thin internal bench. The advisory firm that reaches corporate development or the CFO while the deal is live can win the overflow, and being on the bench matters more than winning this one.

This Hound watches deal announcements in your sectors, filters for the transactions that mean work you can win, finds the person running the deal, and opens the conversation while it's active.

How to set it up

Four things to brief your Hound. This is the exact configuration behind this play.

A · Describe the opportunity

This is the brief every source is filtered against. You describe what you're looking for in plain language, add keywords to sharpen it, then set the structured criteria.

Tell Forest what you're looking for:

"I'm looking for M&A activity in my sectors and deal-size range — announced acquisitions, letters of intent, and 'exploring strategic alternatives' signals. These create diligence, QoE, valuation, and integration work. I want them early, while advisors are still being selected, especially mid-market deals where the acquirer's internal team is stretched. Prioritize serial acquirers, who'll have a next deal. Skip mega-cap transactions with entrenched Big Four relationships."

Keywords to watch for: acquires · to acquire · merger · letter of intent · definitive agreement · exploring strategic alternatives · bolt-on · add-on acquisition · [your sectors] · [your deal-size range]

Fields to extract: acquirer · target · deal_value · announced_date · deal_type · sector · deal_stage · advisors_named

Match criteria:

• ✓ Sector matches your practice

• ✓ Deal value in your target range (mid-market has the widest advisory gap)

• ✓ Deal stage early enough that advisors may not be locked

• ✗ Exclude deals with advisors already publicly engaged

• ✗ Exclude transactions outside your expertise

B · Choose the sources to monitor

Deal signals live in the press and in public filings — Forest reads both, plus firmographic context from its data partner.

Public & partner data

• News & Press 🟡 default source, always on — the primary source for M&A. Reads the open web against your brief for deal announcements, LOIs, and "exploring strategic alternatives" language across business and sector press.

• SEC EDGAR — sec.gov/edgar — 🟢 8-K filings disclose material transactions; S-4 for stock deals. Free, authoritative, same-day for public acquirers.

• Crustdata (via Forest) 🔌 — Firmographics on acquirer and target to size and qualify the deal.

C · Define the ICP to reach

Who to reach, in priority order, with fallbacks.

1. VP / Head of Corporate Development — Primary — owns the deal and its advisors — PRIMARY

2. CFO — Owns advisor selection, especially on mid-market deals

3. General Counsel — Fallback, coordinates the diligence workstream — FALLBACK

D · Email & LinkedIn sequence

The play the Hound runs for each match. Fields drop in as variables.

Email · Day 0 Saw {{acquirer}}'s deal for {{target}} — congrats. Deals this size tend to generate more parallel diligence than internal teams can absorb, right when speed matters most. We support acquirers on {{your_offering}} and can flex to overflow. Worth a quick call while it's live?

↓ Wait 2 days · no reply

LinkedIn · connection request · Day 2 Hi {{first_name}} — reaching out regarding the {{target}} transaction. Would value connecting.

↓ Wait 4 days · no reply

Email · Day 6 · follow-up Following up on the {{target}} deal — even if this one's fully staffed, we'd welcome being on your bench for the next. Happy to send a short overview of the {{sector}} transactions we've supported.

⏸ Any reply on either channel pauses the whole sequence — the conversation is yours.