NCL Partners
At a Glance
The most complete published deal arithmetic here, and the clearest example of a program that sounds salaried and is not.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Investment terms, not fees. No fee is charged to a searcher; what the firm publishes about its own side is noted in the row.
- Best For
- A traditional searcher who wants to know how a backer will price and finance a deal before starting, rather than only what size it wants.
- Track Record
- Its combined-experience figure appears as both 75-plus years and 25-plus years on its own pages. The 22x return named on its people page belongs to a founder's own acquisition.
- Lane
- Traditional
- Funds
- The search phase and the deal
- Based
- Austin, Texas.
- Invests
- No investing scope on the pages this review read, so ask whether it will look at a search where you are.
- Buys
- Ratios rather than a band: recurring revenue above 65 percent, EBITDA margins above 15, an average multiple of five to six times EBITDA which it calls roughly half the buyout average, and leverage below three times.
- Before A First Call
- Two doors: a general form, and a real application for its executive-in-search program taking a name, an email, a phone number, a professional profile and a resume. The application is a route, and the program's own experience requirement is recorded under what a searcher must bring.
- First-Time Operators
- Its core searcher program asks for a mix of rigor, work experience and academic excellence, which is a profile. Its executive-in-search program does state three years post-MBA controlling a profit and loss, and that is a real requirement for THAT program only, not for the search it backs.
- How Long The Search Runs
- No length on the search and nothing about what happens if it ends without a deal, on the pages this review read. Ask what the clock is before you sign anything.
- Published Terms
- A target gross internal rate of return of 35 percent, which is the firm's own bar rather than anything a searcher pays.
- What A Searcher Gets
- Not published on the pages this review read. It is the figure a searcher most wants and most of this shelf does not print it, so ask before the first call rather than after.
- Roadmap Stages
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Publishes the transaction multiple it pays and the leverage it will carry, which almost nothing here does
- Publishes a target return openly, so a searcher can see the bar a deal has to clear
- Publishes a real application with a resume upload for its executive-in-search program
Cons
- Its executive-in-search program describes acting as a searcher's primary limited partner rather than paying a salary, so it is not a salaried route
- Its own pages give two different figures for the team's combined experience
- The firm is mid-rename and three different names for it appear across its pages and footers
What Searchers Say
Named as a backer on the rosters of eight separate searchers, under three different names across their pages, all of which are this firm.
How to Approach
Firms do not publish a term sheet you can prepare against, so this is how traditional (investor-backed) search capital comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A first conversation on your background and why search, before any deal.
- A deep dive on your plan: industries, criteria, and how you will source.
- Backing for the search itself, then a fresh underwrite when you bring a live deal.
- A board seat and governance once you close.
What It Weighs
- Whether you will finish a two-year search, not only start one.
- The quality of your thesis and target criteria.
- How you will behave on a cap table over a long hold.
How to Prepare
- Bring a sourcing thesis, not a blank slate. Buyer Profile Builder
- Know which firms lead versus follow, and on what terms. Investors
- Make your operator case on one page. Buyer Profile Builder