# How Do I Source Deals for Private Equity or M&A With Revnu?

> Find owner-run companies that fit your investment thesis on their filed accounts, ownership and succession, then reach each owner in your firm's voice. Filters Revnu reads from public company registries, copyable example requests, and how portfolio companies use Revnu to grow.

Canonical: https://revnu.com/docs/uc-deal-sourcing
Last updated: 2026-11-08

Revnu finds owner-run companies that fit your thesis on their own filed numbers, scores each owner for succession, finds the owner's verified email and phone, and writes to them in your firm's voice. Describe the deal you want in one message, the way you'd brief an analyst.

> Find 50 owner-run UK manufacturers with £10m to £100m turnover, flat or falling profit for three years, no debt and an owner over 60 with no successor. Find each owner's email and phone.

[Try this in Revnu](https://revnu.com/sign-up?prompt=Find%2050%20owner-run%20UK%20manufacturers%20with%20%C2%A310m%20to%20%C2%A3100m%20turnover%2C%20flat%20or%20falling%20profit%20for%20three%20years%2C%20no%20debt%20and%20an%20owner%20over%2060%20with%20no%20successor.%20Find%20each%20owner's%20email%20and%20phone.)

## What Revnu reads for each company

Revnu reads each company's public registry record before it keeps it, so every figure on a lead comes from a filing you can open yourself. In the UK that is Companies House: the filing history, the filed accounts (scanned PDFs included), the officers and the register of people with significant control.

| What you can filter on | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Turnover | The profit and loss account in the filed accounts |
| Operating profit, and its trend over several years | The last three to five sets of filed accounts |
| Net assets and cash | The balance sheet |
| Debt | Borrowings on the balance sheet |
| Average employees | The notes to the accounts |
| Owner's age | Directors' birth month and year on the officers register |
| Years as a director | Each officer's appointment date |
| Other directorships | The owner's other appointments, current and resigned |
| Who owns the shares | People with significant control and the shareholder list in the confirmation statement |
| Succession signals | No younger director, no family member on the share register, a long-serving founder |

In the US, Revnu reads SEC filings, including Form D for private raises, which name each company's officers and directors. In other countries it reads the national company registry, and filters on turnover, profit, net assets and debt wherever the country publishes filed accounts.

Behind the registry research sits Revnu's data network of 800 million+ people profiles and 200 million+ companies, which it uses to find each owner's verified email and a phone number where one is available.

## Example requests

Mix as many filters as you like in one message. Revnu keeps only the companies that pass all of them, and each lead shows the filed figures and why it fits.

> Find owner-run UK engineering companies with 20 to 200 employees, net assets over £2m, no borrowings, and a founder who has been a director for 25 years or more. Leave out anything already owned by a group.

> Find family-owned UK food and drink manufacturers with turnover between £5m and £30m where every shareholder is over 55 and no director was appointed in the last ten years.

> Find UK distribution businesses with operating profit down three years running, cash over £1m and a sole shareholder. Rank them by the owner's age.

> We own a commercial cleaning platform in the Midlands. Find bolt-on targets: cleaning and facilities companies within 60 miles of Birmingham with £2m to £15m turnover and an owner looking to step back.

> Find US companies in industrial services that filed a Form D in the last two years, and list their officers. Then find the founder's email.

> Find owner-run accountancy firms in the north of England with 10 to 50 staff and a senior partner over 60. The senior partner's email and phone.

## Reach each owner in your firm's voice

Finding the companies sends nothing. When you're ready, Revnu writes to each owner about their own company: one fact from their accounts, who your firm is and why the company fits your thesis, and an easy first step. It follows up every few months, because timing decides most owner sales.

> Write to the 30 best-scoring owners on this list from our partner's inbox. Mention one thing from each company's accounts. Keep it short and personal, with no talk of valuation.

Your first sequence waits for your yes. Replies come back to your inbox, and Revnu drafts each answer for you to approve. See [book calls with cold email](https://revnu.com/docs/uc-cold-email.md).

## Make it a standing deal feed

New accounts are filed every day. Put the search on a schedule and Revnu brings back only the companies that newly pass your filters:

> Every Monday, check newly filed accounts for UK manufacturers that now match our thesis and add them to the Deal Flow campaign.

See [run work every day or week](https://revnu.com/docs/recurring-work.md).

## Grow your portfolio companies

After the deal closes, each portfolio company can hire Revnu for its own growth: finding its buyers, writing to them, publishing pages that rank on Google and get named in AI answers, and running ads. Each company gets its own account, and its management team approves the work and hears every morning what moved.

> We just backed a UK fire safety company. Find facilities managers at hospitals, universities and housing associations in the south east, and book calls for the sales director.

## Related

[Revnu for private equity](https://revnu.com/for/private-equity), [add-on acquisitions play](https://revnu.com/docs/play-add-on-acquisitions.md), [find companies](https://revnu.com/docs/uc-find-companies.md), [find leads by buying signal](https://revnu.com/docs/uc-buying-signals.md), [find leads in a niche](https://revnu.com/docs/uc-niche-leads.md), [find people and their contact details](https://revnu.com/docs/uc-find-people.md) and [keep people off your outreach](https://revnu.com/docs/exclude-contacts.md).

## Frequently asked questions

### Can Revnu filter companies on turnover, profit and debt?

Yes, from filed accounts wherever a country publishes them. In the UK, Revnu reads each company's Companies House accounts, including scanned ones, for turnover, operating profit over several years, net assets, cash and borrowings, and keeps only the companies that pass your filters.

### How does Revnu tell an owner might be ready to sell?

It reads the officers and the people with significant control: the owner's age, how long they've been a director, their other directorships, and whether a younger director or family member holds shares. It stacks those with the profit trend and ranks the owners most likely to talk.

### What about small companies that file abridged accounts?

UK small and micro companies can file a balance sheet without a profit and loss account. Revnu screens them on what they do file, such as net assets, cash, borrowings and average employees, plus ownership. Tell it how to treat them and it applies that to every company.

### Does deal sourcing work outside the UK?

Yes. In the US Revnu reads SEC filings, including Form D, which name the officers of private raises. In other countries it reads the national company registry and uses filed accounts wherever they're published.

### Can Revnu find the owner's phone number?

Yes, where one is available. Revnu finds each owner's verified email and a phone number when one can be found, and saves both on the lead.

### Can our portfolio companies use Revnu?

Yes. Each one gets its own account that finds its buyers, writes to them, publishes search pages and runs ads, with its management team approving the work.