Independent Sponsor Practice

Counsel for the deal that closes five times.

Securities and M&A counsel built for the independent sponsor at $10M+.

The Thesis

Every $10M+ deal closes five times.

Most sponsors only know it closed once. The other four are where economics get protected or quietly lost.

The Framework

Five closings, in sequence.

Each one has its own counterparty, its own clock, and its own way to fail. Win all five.

1 LOI

Frame the deal.

2 Capital

Soft-circle the LPs.

3 Debt

Lock the stack.

4 Definitive

Wire moves.

5 100-Day

Platform begins.

A FIELD MANUAL 5 The Five Closings Why every $10M+ independent sponsor deal closes five times. JASON M. POWELL CORPORATE · M&A · SECURITIES
The field manual

The framework, on the desk.

A Field Manual for Independent Sponsors Acquiring Companies Above $10 Million.

15chapters 4parts 6appendices

Sample LOI. Capital stack calculator. Change-of-control consent matrix. 100-day plan template. Everything the practice runs on, in one book.

Read the first chapter
The independent sponsor world, in four numbers

Independent sponsors play a different game.

Committed-fund PE has one closing, one capital base, one operating cadence. The independent sponsor has none of that. Here is the math.

0 Closings per deal

Not one. The other four are where economics get protected or quietly lost.

$0 Revenue floor

Below this band, the framework is overbuilt. Above it, every closing matters.

0 Days that decide the deal

The LOI exclusivity window. Where the carry, fees, rollover, and earnout get locked.

0 Months to first refi

When capital after close becomes real. The relationships built before then decide the IRR.

What you get

Three things every independent sponsor deal needs.

1 / DEAL-SPEED LEGAL

LOIs to signed in days.

Specialist counsel who has run the independent sponsor playbook a hundred times. No generalist friction. No over-lawyering. Documents that move at deal speed.

2 / SPONSOR-FIRST ECONOMICS

Carry, fees, structure: defended.

Economics anchored in the LOI, not negotiated away in the LPA. Twenty to twenty-five percent carry. Management fee on invested capital. Transaction fee disclosed and protected.

3 / CAPITAL AFTER CLOSE

Wall Street, on call.

Refinancing at month 18. Recap at month 24. Growth equity when the thesis is proven. The relationships that matter post-close, built in before the deal closes.

How it works

Three steps to counsel.

1

Bring the deal.

The LOI on your desk. The CIM from the banker. The napkin from coffee. Whatever you have.

2

Twenty minutes.

A call that gets specific in ten minutes. The two or three structural decisions that drive the outcome. No retainer pressure.

3

Structure that holds.

Through LOI, LPA, credit agreement, SPA, and the 100-day plan. Then through the capital markets that open up after close.

Capital after close

The deal is one thing. The capital after is another.

Most sponsors solve closing capital and run into the post-close capital problem alone. The relationships that matter at month 18 are built into this practice.

MONTH 18
Senior refi
MONTH 24
Dividend recap
MONTH 36
Growth equity
YEAR 4–5
Strategic exit
Work with Jason

Bring your deal.

Direct counsel from a securities and M&A attorney built for the independent sponsor model.