How Murphy McCormack builds private equity relationships with PEI

In the zero-sum game of selling a business, there are two absolutes: you must know the active players, and you must be able to reach them.

For lower middle market investment banker Bob McCormack, Private Equity Info helps his firm achieve both.

His Pennsylvania-based firm Murphy McCormack Capital Advisors has used PEI’s research database since 2011, having completed a jaw-dropping 11,000 searches in support of its sell-side clients.

Founded nearly two decades ago, Private Equity Info was built specifically for the M&A industry by an investment banker, and custom-tailored to perform rich, targeted searches of private equity firms, their investment interests, portfolio companies, key executive contacts, and more.

For McCormack, that expertise pays off, literally. He can point to several successful relationships that were developed as a result of using the database, including a North Carolina-based private equity firm with which the investment bank has closed 3 deals, and a Florida-based firm that has led to 2 deals.

“I don't think there's anybody out there that matches the quality and ease of use,” he said on a recent call from his Lewisburg office.

Plugging into an investment bank's process

Private Equity Info's features are specifically built to plug directly into an investment banker’s deal process, like building and saving lists of private equity firms by investment criteria, industries and past transactions. It also gives the firm the ability to perform faster and more comprehensive evaluation efforts, by looking at a firm’s complete portfolio.

Even before the firm begins an engagement with a sell-side client, McCormack and his colleagues need clarity on the viability of the marketplace and an understanding of the buyers that might be interested. Using the research database, Murphy McCormack can quickly scan the buyer market by searching for private equity firms and their investments in similar portfolio companies.

Whether seeking feedback on a deal, or presenting the opportunity directly, the database is a reliable resource.

Comprehensive and accurate data

Despite having a CRM system with a network of private equity firms that the team has built over the last two decades, McCormack says that it’s tough to keep the firm's database up-to-date with personnel changes.

With Private Equity Info, he's much more confident. PEI subscribers can access data on 127,000 key executives across 16,000 firms and 33,000 funds, plus more than 1.3 million private companies, continuously updated by an in-house research team.

Typically, McCormack will build and export lists and import them directly into his CRM to perform email outreach campaigns. If emails aren’t reaching the right decision-maker, users can connect with them by using PEI's executive LinkedIn profiles. Once a list is built, the team saves the search and receives weekly notifications if any newly completed transactions are filtered.

Utilizing advanced search features

McCormack says that Private Equity Info’s Auto-Search feature is one of the most valuable and most often-used features. By simply typing in a company’s web address, and offering quick refinements on the algorithmically-generated list of relevant industries, the database instantly builds a complete list of relevant private equity firms. It’s useful to gain insights into a new market, or to quickly build initial lists of buyers to demonstrate in client pitch meetings.

It’s also useful for business trips. When traveling for meetings or events, McCormack uses the database's geographic filters to find firms and companies that he hasn’t met before. And McCormack says that he also uses the search functionality contacts that are local to his office.

Developing private equity relationships

Ultimately, the tool improves Murphy McCormack’s ability to develop relationships in the private equity community that could lead to closed deals in the future. Even when a deal doesn’t close, it generates new conversations.

In either case, it means that McCormack and his team are developing relationships with the private equity community.

"Private Equity Info is critical to nearly every aspect of our role as an investment bank, from vetting and pitching prospective sellers, to building lists of private equity firms that may be ideal buyers for our clients," McCormack said.

"We use it almost every day and the return on investment is clear."