A national record of lower middle market ownership transitions, the verified independent sponsors that have bought companies like them, and the capital observed financing those deals. Facts, inferences and estimates are labelled as such, with the source and the date, on every row.

Sectors

Who is buying in your sector, and who paid for it

Every confirmed transaction DFX has read, grouped by the sector of the company that was bought. 1,169 deals, 235 of them in the last twelve months, against a universe of 97,265 privately held employers in the same sectors. Open a sector for the buyers, the capital named on their deals and the tape.

Industrial services
Deals read
193 · 65 in 12 months
Buyers named
83 · 23 verified sponsors
Capital providers on those deals
36
Companies in the universe
8,889
Latest deal
Sep 15, 2026
Manufacturing
Deals read
321 · 54 in 12 months
Buyers named
163 · 36 verified sponsors
Capital providers on those deals
54
Companies in the universe
27,035
Latest deal
Sep 9, 2026
Business services
Deals read
162 · 51 in 12 months
Buyers named
63 · 11 verified sponsors
Capital providers on those deals
19
Companies in the universe
23,823
Latest deal
Sep 3, 2026
Healthcare services
Deals read
88 · 17 in 12 months
Buyers named
45 · 9 verified sponsors
Capital providers on those deals
8
Companies in the universe
10,479
Latest deal
Jun 1, 2026
Consumer services
Deals read
121 · 15 in 12 months
Buyers named
42 · 15 verified sponsors
Capital providers on those deals
13
Companies in the universe
6,930
Latest deal
Jul 10, 2026
Transportation and logistics
Deals read
107 · 15 in 12 months
Buyers named
75 · 5 verified sponsors
Capital providers on those deals
6
Companies in the universe
4,687
Latest deal
Aug 27, 2026
Specialty distribution
Deals read
111 · 11 in 12 months
Buyers named
55 · 10 verified sponsors
Capital providers on those deals
13
Companies in the universe
9,373
Latest deal
Sep 3, 2026
Tech-enabled services
Deals read
64 · 7 in 12 months
Buyers named
25 · 5 verified sponsors
Capital providers on those deals
9
Companies in the universe
6,049
Latest deal
Jun 25, 2026
Energy services
Deals read
2
Buyers named
2 · 2 verified sponsors
Capital providers on those deals
0
Companies in the universe
0
Latest deal
n/a

A deal is here when DFX has read an announcement naming the company that was bought and mapped it to the employer record. The capital count is the providers actually named in those announcements, which is fewer than the deals: most releases name the buyer and not the lenders.

The weekly brief

Tell us your two sectors. Every Monday: every deal announced in them, the buyer, the company and the capital named on it, and the ownership changes DFX read out of the filings.

Set up my brief No password. The first brief shows on screen before you confirm anything.

Capital provider? The lender edition leads with the sponsors that closed in your sectors and who financed each one.