Bolt-on acquisition

Definition

A smaller company bought to fold into an existing platform business, adding customers, capacity, or a new location rather than starting a fresh line.

Why It Matters

Roll-up strategies live or die on these add-on deals, because a bolt-on bought at a low main-street multiple and merged into a larger platform is instantly worth the platform's higher multiple. For a searcher running a platform, each bolt-on also spreads fixed overhead across more revenue, which is where the margin expansion in a roll-up actually comes from.