Platform company

The first substantial business a consolidator buys in a trade, the base its later add-ons tuck into and share back-office, systems, and management with.

It explains the two-speed market a searcher competes in: a platform buyer pays up for the anchor, then buys smaller add-ons at lower multiples, so the business you are bidding on can be worth more to a consolidator building around it than to a standalone buyer.