Skip to content
SearchSphereSource
Sign inSign up

MidStreet vs OffDeal

Side by Side

MidStreet and OffDeal, attribute by attribute
AttributeMidStreetOffDeal
What It IsA North Carolina and Southeast lower-middle-market business broker and M&A advisor, 20-plus years and 400-plus closed deals, selling companies in the $1M to $25M revenue range, with a widely-read library explaining how the sell side actually works.An AI-native M&A advisory firm that sells lower-middle-market businesses, using AI to match a seller against 25,000-plus past deals and run a competitive buyer auction, on a success fee with no retainer.
CategoryBusiness Brokers & M&A AdvisorsInvestment Banks
Pricing ModelSuccess FeeSuccess Fee
What It CostsSell-side representation on a Double Lehman success fee (10% of the first $1M, then 8%, 6%, 4%, and 2% above $5M), paid at close with no upfront retainer or listing fee, on a dedicated pricing page that also states the typical 12-month listing term and 24-month tail. Its educational content is free.Sell-side representation on a 5% to 10% success fee with no upfront cost; initial valuation and AI buyer-matching are free. It targets businesses with roughly $5M to $100M of revenue and aims to close within about 180 days.
Best ForBuyers hunting Southeast lower-middle-market deals, and any searcher who wants to understand the seller's side from a broker that publishes its processBuyers who want to be in the deal flow for larger lower-middle-market businesses, and sellers of $5M-plus-revenue companies who want an AI-run auction
Where It FitsDefine & Test Your Thesis, Source & Screen DealsSource & Screen Deals
Our VerdictWorth a bookmark for its sell-side education whatever your geography, and a real option for finding or selling a Southeast lower-middle-market business.Worth being in its buyer network for larger lower-middle-market deals; too big-focused for the smallest Main Street searches.
Pros
  • Twenty-plus years and 400-plus closed transactions in the $1M to $25M revenue range, so it knows the lower-middle-market Southeast deal
  • A large, genuinely useful free library of articles and videos on how the sell side prices, packages, and runs a process, which is buyer intelligence too
  • A transparent Double Lehman fee with no big upfront retainer, so its incentives sit with closing
  • AI-native process that matches a business against 25,000-plus past M&A deals and can surface a thousand-plus potential buyers in a competitive auction
  • Success-fee only, 5% to 10%, with no retainer and a free initial valuation, so its incentives sit with closing
  • Faster than traditional advisory, with a first LOI typically inside 60 days and a target close around 180
Cons
  • Regional: it works the Carolinas and the Southeast, so a buyer outside that footprint uses it for its content more than its listings
  • It represents sellers, not buyers, so on a live deal its duty is to the other side of the table
  • Deal flow is limited to what it has listed at any moment, a fraction of a national marketplace's
  • It targets $5M to $100M of revenue, so the smallest Main Street deals a searcher looks at fall below its range
  • It represents sellers, so on a live deal its duty is to the other side of the table
  • It is a young, AI-native firm, so its track record is shorter than the established M&A advisors it competes with

Our take

Choose MidStreet if the business runs between $1M and $25M of revenue, and especially if it sits in the Carolinas or the Southeast. Its fee is a published Double Lehman, 10% of the first $1M then 8%, 6%, 4% and 2% above $5M, paid at close with no retainer and no listing fee. Two things to weigh. It works a regional footprint, so a seller outside it gets the content rather than the network, and it represents sellers, so on a live deal its duty is to the other side of the table from a buyer.

Choose OffDeal if revenue is $5M or more and you want a national process rather than a regional one. It charges a 5% to 10% success fee with no upfront cost, and both the initial valuation and the buyer matching are free, with the auction run against its own matching rather than a local rolodex. Two things to weigh. Below $5M of revenue it is not the firm, which is the case for most Main Street businesses, and it is young, so the track record is shorter than the fee structure is generous.