Acquiring with Intention: Scaling Strategic Growth Through M&A Leadership

Client Overview

Our client is the fastest-growing provider of land management services in the United States, with national reach and a stronghold across a range of essential infrastructure sectors. Since its founding in 1985, the company has expanded to serve clients in utilities, electric transmission and distribution, pipeline, transportation, telecommunications, renewable energy, rail, and public infrastructure. Its offerings include land solutions, title services, permitting, regulatory consultation, staffing, and acquisition expertise.

With current revenues of approximately $155 million and a workforce of 1,000—70% of whom are field-based—the company has built a robust operational foundation and is now focused on accelerating strategic growth through acquisition.

The Challenge / Mandate

To support its goal of reaching $225–$250 million in revenue by 2025, the company was seeking a seasoned M&A leader to join the executive team. This new Senior Vice President would lead the company’s M&A efforts end-to-end—from identifying and qualifying acquisition opportunities to executing deals and overseeing integration.

The role required a hands-on, entrepreneurial leader who could own every aspect of the deal lifecycle, including:

• Building and maintaining an active M&A pipeline
• Leading diligence, valuation, negotiations, and integration efforts
• Collaborating with senior management and sponsors to ensure alignment on strategic goals
• Drawing insights from data to inform decision-making and value assessment
• Building and maintaining relationships with sellers and internal stakeholders

The ideal candidate needed not only strong technical and financial skills, but also exceptional communication ability, stakeholder management, and the agility to operate within a high-growth, PE-backed environment.

The Search

We focused our search on professionals with deep buy-side experience and a demonstrated ability to lead M&A strategy within acquisitive companies, especially those backed by private equity. Strong candidates typically had experience at the intersection of corporate development and private capital, and had built or scaled M&A functions in similarly sized organizations. 

We prioritized candidates who had a clear history of owning transactions from origination through integration, with the strategic lens to identify high-impact opportunities and the executional rigor to drive deals to completion. Industry knowledge of utilities, land management, or infrastructure services was considered a bonus.

The Placement

The candidate selected for the role brought a sophisticated understanding of growth strategy, with a career that spanned corporate development, private equity, and venture-backed environments. A CFA® charterholder, they had developed a reputation for designing and executing effective M&A strategies across a range of industries and organizational structures. 

They had led complex, high-impact transactions and demonstrated success in navigating stakeholder dynamics, assessing business cases, and driving integration efforts. Their experience positioned them to operate effectively in a matrixed environment and to bring a structured, scalable approach to the company’s M&A function.

The Outcome

The selected executive had previously built multiple M&A programs from the ground up and successfully led strategic acquisitions that helped their former companies strengthen market position and achieve successful exits. This track record made them an ideal choice for the client’s current growth stage.

They joined the organization as a key member of the leadership team to build momentum behind the firm’s active M&A strategy, which included several pending LOIs and IOIs. Their ability to manage and execute deals independently complemented the company as it pursued acquisitions as a core lever for scale. The hire aligned with the client’s broader vision to grow rapidly through thoughtful, high-impact transactions.