Intro · Searcher School

Intro

Hey all, James Bunting here, out of Broussard, Louisiana (Lafayette area).

1. Search method: Independent sponsor. I'm an operator first. I'm currently co-owner and COO of a federal-focused medical staffing company, and I've founded and scaled multiple (4+) businesses from $0 to seven-figure revenue in healthcare, medical staffing, VA/DoD contracting, and residential construction/real estate. My brother is set to be my post-close operating partner. He brings the finance/accounting depth and hands-on ops.

2. Buy box:

Geography: Gulf South (Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas) is ideal. I'll flex outside the region for a strong business, since I've spent 10+ years running remote teams and operations.
Size: $1M–$3M EBITDA, roughly $5M–$20M revenue
Primary focus: Industrial and construction platforms, including wholesale/supply distribution, that sell products and/or services to GCs and major operators
Also interested in: Aggregates distribution and hauling, and other unglamorous B2B businesses with recurring customers and a real workforce
Ideal situation: A founder heading toward retirement, no clear successor, and a solid #2 or crew leads who'd stay on
Pass: Retail/consumer and software

If you come across an industrial, construction materials/services, distribution, or hauling business in the Gulf South, please send it my way.

3. Biggest pain point: capital partners. The deals that fit my background are big enough that I am likely going to need outside equity, so I'm trying to build those relationships before I have an LOI instead of scrambling after one. I'm looking for HNW operator-investors, family offices, and other sponsors or searchers who co-invest. What I've found is that a lot of potential investor partners are already doing deals themselves, so they see me as a competitor rather than a partner. I'd love to hear how others here have found equity partners who back a sponsor and not just a single deal. I'd also like to connect with anyone open to co-investing or sharing deals that fall outside their own box.

Glad to be here, and I'm happy to help anyone looking at Louisiana deals or federal contracting businesses.

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Intro