A successor for your life’s work.
You built something real. We take the operational weight off your hands, protect what you built, and pay you fairly at close. Whatever the transition looks like for you, we shape the deal around it — not the other way round.
The structure follows the owner.
Nothing the customer sees changes.
There is no template. What fits is set per acquisition and written into the definitive agreements — from advisory and growth capital at one end to full ownership at the other.
Most often it starts as a buy-in rather than a buy-out. DMX McArthur enters alongside the owner as an adviser and a source of capital, in exchange for equity, and buys out the owner later only if and when the owner wants that.
Owner keeps controlFirm takes it on
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Advisory and growth capital
DMX McArthur enters alongside the owner with capital and the back office for a minority stake. The company remains the owner’s to run.
Where most of the firm’s deals begin -
Staged control
Control moves on a schedule agreed to at the start, against milestones written down before close — not on a date the firm picks afterwards.
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Majority with rollover
DMX McArthur takes control. The owner keeps a stake and operating authority through a documented transition.
51/49 is the familiar example of this one -
Full ownership
The owner sells the whole company and hands over the keys. Some owners want a clean line, and that is a legitimate answer, not a failure.
Additional structures include employee ownership, joint venture, SPV participation, preferred equity, a debt-supported acquisition, or another structure the firm’s counsel approves. Which one applies is decided in the transaction and written into the definitive agreements before close.
What does not change at close
- The name and brand. Preserved by written policy.
- Customer relationships. The last thing any integration touches.
- The retained stake, where the structure leaves one. Equity in the business the owner built, on terms set before close.
- Transition authority. Documented in the closing agreements.
- Founder protections. Negotiated and set out in the definitive agreements before close.
- Standing in the community. That is the asset, and stewarding it is the obligation assumed.
“Back-office changes precede customer-facing changes. Always.” DMX McArthur Integration Playbook | Standing rule, no exceptions without Board approval
How we differ from private equity.
A generation of owners is reaching retirement without a succession plan. We acquire established service businesses intending to own and grow them for decades, not quarters.
Permanent partnership, not a fund timeline
We are a permanent-capital holding company: no fund expiration date, no investor pressure to exit inside a fixed window. When we acquire a business we are growing it for the long run, not positioning it for resale in five years.
Operator-embedded, not fund-distant
We operate inside the businesses we acquire rather than from a fund office at a distance. Our people are in daily operations, know the local labour market and the customer base, and build alongside founders rather than over them.
Built-in infrastructure, not theoretical synergies
Every acquisition runs on Humaneers, our shared-services spine for HR, IT, finance and compliance, from day one: already built and already operating, which is a different thing from a promise on a slide.
Six stages. No surprises.
Every transition runs on the same written framework, so you and your crew always know exactly where things stand.
Partnership launch
Letter of intent and agreements finalised, entity structure established, transition support begins.
Support mapping
Playbook matched to your sector. Legal, payroll and insurance set up. Systems readiness reviewed.
Spine activation
Humaneers support switched on, software and phones migrated, operating standards set to your business.
Team support
Team onboarding and training, operator culture alignment, and continuity for everything customer-facing.
Refinement
Performance tracked and supported, improvement fed back continuously, operational gaps closed.
Steady state
Fully integrated partner company, strategic reporting active, learnings shared across the group.
Humaneers shared services — HR and payroll, IT and systems, finance and books, operating standards, reporting, compliance — are active from Stage 02 onward.
The questions sellers actually ask.
Will you fire my team?
No. Your team is part of what we are buying: the skilled labor, the customer relationships, the institutional knowledge. There is no close-day layoff and no restructuring playbook. Every worker gains health insurance and real benefits on Day one.
What we will not do is pretend nothing ever changes: back-office functions move onto the shared Humaneers platform, which changes the tools people use and how work gets done. Over years of operating, roles evolve in any healthy business. But we do not cut people to manufacture a return. Our returns come from the business getting stronger.
Would you ever sell my business?
The model is an evergreen hold. There is no fund, no limited-partner exit clock, and no five-year plan that ends in a sale. We acquire in order to own.
The honest answer, though, is that no one can promise you forever. Circumstances change in any life and any firm. That is exactly why the protections are negotiated and written into the definitive agreements before close. If ownership ever changes, it happens on terms you signed at the start, not terms you discover later.
If I keep a stake, what does it actually get me?
First, the honest caveat: not every structure leaves you one. Full ownership is on the menu too, and some owners want exactly that.
Where a stake is part of your deal, it is a genuine equity stake in the business you built. It is not an earn-out and not a contingent promise. It is ownership. The distribution schedule, the transfer provisions, and the buyout terms are set in the definitive agreements for your transaction and are not published here.
The exact economics are set in the definitive agreements for your transaction, and we will encourage you, in writing, to have your own lawyer and accountant review every page before you sign.
What happens if we disagree during the transition?
Your transition authority is documented in the closing agreements, so a disagreement is resolved by what the documents say, not by who has more leverage after close. Integration follows a written playbook with a standing rule that back-office changes precede customer-facing changes, and any deviation from that playbook requires Board approval with documented rationale.
We built it this way deliberately: the moment a founder’s protection depends on the buyer’s goodwill, it is not protection.
Do I have to keep working after the sale?
Only through the transition period you agree to. Its length and shape are negotiated up front and written down. Some founders want to hand over the keys and coach from the sidelines; some want to keep running operations for years. Both work in this model. What you are owed is set by the definitive agreements, not by how many hours you keep.
How is this different from selling to private equity?
A private equity fund buys your business with other people’s money on a clock: it must sell, usually within about five years, to return capital, and everything between close and exit is optimized for that sale. We are an operating company, not a fund. There is no clock, no exit committee, and no incentive to dress the business up for the next buyer.
The practical differences follow from that: your name stays, your team stays, the structure is built around what you want rather than dropped on you as a template, and your workers get benefits on Day one instead of a promise.
I’m not ready to sell. I’m two or three years out.
That is the best time to talk. There is no urgency on our side and no obligation on yours. A conversation now means you understand your options before you need them, and we can point you to what makes a business transition well: clean books, documented procedures, a team that runs without you in the room. Email [email protected] and ask for the Confidential Operator Transition Checklist.
These answers describe our operating model in plain language. The terms of any actual transaction are established solely by definitive written agreements between the parties. Bring your own advisors. We will insist on it anyway.
Inquiries are answered by a partner.
Every inquiry receives a reply from a partner, by email, within five business days.