L40° is a boutique M&A advisory firm specializing in sell-side M&A for SaaS, tech, and AI companies in the mid-market. We work with founders, PE sponsors, and VC-backed companies up to $100M ARR, and run competitive processes designed around a single outcome: the right exit.
Sell-side advisory is the practice of representing a company and its owners in a transaction where the objective is to sell, partially exit, or recapitalize. A sell-side M&A advisor runs the process end-to-end: positioning the business, identifying and qualifying buyers, managing competitive tension, negotiating terms, and closing the transaction.
Our team has closed more than 180 transactions over the past 20 years, across the US, Europe and LatAm. Every mandate is partner-led. That alignment matters when the outcome of your process is measured in years of work and capital.
A sell-side process is only as good as its structure. We run every mandate through four phases, each designed to create competitive tension and protect certainty of close.
We validate the equity story, financials, and valuation. We produce a clean KPI pack, a credible projection model, and a CIM that holds up under buyer scrutiny. We design the data room before going to market.
We curate the buyer universe by strategic thesis, geography, and target valuation, then pre-qualify timing and bandwidth before outreach. Strategic acquirers, PE sponsors, and PE-backed platforms each receive tailored materials.
We run structured offer letter windows to create real price discovery and forward momentum. We optimize deal structure, KPI-tied milestones, escrows, rollover terms, and certainty of close.
We lead diligence execution across commercial, product, tech, legal, finance, tax, and HR. We manage the virtual data room, coordinate vendor diligence, work alongside legal counsel, and drive through signing and cash-in.
Every mandate at L40° is structured around maximizing the seller's outcome: valuation, terms, and certainty of close. That alignment shapes how we curate buyer lists, how we negotiate, and how we advise through diligence. We work with a defined number of active mandates at any time so that partner-level focus applies to every process, not just the largest ones.
Every process is led by a senior partner from first conversation through close. Founders get the person who pitched them, not a handoff. Our partners include former Merrill Lynch and Portobello Capital bankers, former McKinsey and Deloitte consultants, and operators who built and exited their own companies.
L40°'s partners have built and exited companies, not just advised on them. That includes co-founding a mobility tech unicorn scaled to $800M in revenue, building a fintech that was subsequently acquired, and expanding a tech giant across LatAm and Europe. The team has sat on both sides of the table in real transactions.
With offices in Miami, Madrid, and Lisbon, L40° runs transactions across US, European, and LatAm markets. Cross-border is not a marketing phrase. It is how our processes are structured, and it is a meaningful differentiator in buyer competition and final valuation.
We maintain proprietary analytics and benchmarking to position and price every mandate against recent private comparables, not only public trading multiples. Benchmarks drive equity stories that stand up in diligence.
Our partners bring over 20 years of collective experience in software and tech transactions, spanning acquisitions, equity raises, debt raises, IPOs, and secondaries across the US, Europe, LatAm, and Asia. That depth creates judgment on structure, which is where the real value is preserved or lost.
Sell-side M&A advisory isthe practice of representing a company and its owners in a transaction wherethe goal is to sell, partially exit, or recapitalize the business. A sell-sideadvisor runs the process end-to-end: positioning, buyer outreach, processmanagement, negotiation, and close. The advisor's mandate is alignment with theseller, not the buyer.
L40° works with founder-ledSaaS, tech, and AI companies in the mid-market, typically $5M–$100M inrevenues. We serve US, European, and LatAm founders, with offices in Miami,Madrid, and Lisbon, and operate predominantly in sell-side mandates.
A structured sell-side process typically runs 6–9 months from signing the mandate to cash-in. Preparation and positioning take 4–8 weeks, targeted outreach and Q&A run 6–10 weeks, LOI negotiation another 3–4 weeks, and diligence plus closing typically 8–12 weeks.Well-prepared mandates close faster because surprises are reduced.
Both represent sellers intransactions. The practical difference is scale and focus. Large investmentbanks are optimized for $500M+ transactions and often manage mid-marketmandates with junior teams. Boutique sell-side advisors like L40° focus on the$20M–$200M range with senior, partner-led execution and sector specialization.For detailed comparison, see our analysis of M&A advisory firms vs investment banks.
Most boutique sell-sideadvisors, including L40°, operate on a success fee structure calculated as apercentage of transaction value, sometimes with a small retainer or work feecredited against the success fee at close. Success-based compensation alignsthe advisor's incentive with the seller's outcome rather than with time billed.
Ideally 12–24 months before the intended transaction. Early engagement allows time to clean up financial reporting, build out the KPI narrative, address customer concentration or margin issues, and position the AI story credibly before going to market. Founders who engage advisors only when inbound interest arrives typically capture less value than those who run a structured process from a prepared position.
If you are a founder of a SaaS, tech, or AI company in the mid-market thinking about a transaction in the next 12–24 months, we are easy to reach.
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Over 20 years across US, Europe and LatAm
No handoffs. The partner who pitches, closes.
Cross-border execution by design
With offices in Miami, Lisbon and Madrid, L40° bridges global markets to deliver impactful results. Our expertise and international reach ensure every transaction is handled with the highest level of professionalism and care.
CONTACT USWith offices in Miami, Lisbon and Madrid, L40° bridges global markets to deliver impactful results. Our expertise and international reach ensure every transaction is handled with the highest level of professionalism and care.
CONTACT US
