I agree with William and Max. It's possible for a person to bring a deal that size to investors and get it funded, it's just not within my understanding of ETA.

Even though I don't have a definition of ETA and where the boundary might be, I agree that $50M EV requires capabilities outside the space. A corporate acquirer can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in diligence and legal support. The portfolio value of an equity investor (or syndicate) is at least hundreds of millions to finance a deal that size, regardless of deal structuring. That's swimming in a different pool. Just like there's a 'know it when I see it' line between VC and PE, there's a line in there somewhere, well below $50M, where it's no longer ETA. It requires a different set of tools to assess risk and value for the transaction plus a different set of tools for creating value in a business of that size.

As a practical matter, I have sell side clients in this size range. If an individual (not on behalf of a fund or corporation) approached me, the next conversation after introductions would involve understanding their experience in the sector and how they would finance a transaction. If they are financing it themselves, I would ask for a bank letter verifying funds (and asking why an UHNW individual is doing this themselves). If it's an investor, I'm asking for both a bank letter and to meet the investor. Even if they have the money, both sector experience and transaction experience are a must to continue the conversation.

Thanks ^redacted‌. Is it possible? Sure, anything is possible. Is it likely that a 1st time "searcher" (or anyone who describes as a searcher) in the ETA model will get this done? No. One would need deep domain expertise in something and an ability to convince a seller, an intermediary / adviser, and capital providers that they should be backed to do the deal. Run those parameters and the probability is, well, 0. Or damn close to 0. Unless of course they hail from a family that can write the equity check. In which case they are a family office, not a searcher. Finally, I would suggest that if a searcher pulls off a "bigger"-ish deal (even much smaller than $50MM), they are working for someone else. By a lot. And if things go well, you will make $. If things go sideways - or even slowly - you will find out that you helped someone else do a deal, learned a lot, and then be out looking for a smaller deal.