Buy to hold means you cannot sell the mistake.
A sponsor can exit an end market that turns. You hold it. The customers behind a software company’s revenue are the part of the purchase you keep longest, so they are the part to read first.
Discuss acquisition criteriaof SaaS M&A in the second quarter of 2026 was vertical software. The category you hold for decades is now the larger half of the market.
Software Equity Group, 2Q26 SaaS M&A and Public Market Report, published August 5, 2026. Share of SaaS M&A transactions in the quarter.
A retention rate is a median. The customers behind it are what you will hold.
Published retention figures for private software companies differ by twenty-one points, depending on who was measured. A holder with no exit needs the answer for one company, and for the customers behind it.
SaaS Capital, annual survey of more than 1,000 private B2B SaaS companies, April 24, 2026. ChartMogul, billing-platform data, December 10, 2025. The two retention figures measure different populations and are shown side by side, not averaged. PitchBook LCD, September 2, 2026. A lower-middle-market deal platform’s published study of broken letters of intent, January 27, 2026: seventy-five broken letters across eight buyer types and eight industries, with 2023 comparisons from the same series. The percentages are separate reported categories and are not summed here.
Six things the desk does before a name reaches you.
A permanent holder cannot sell the mistake. The desk reads what you will hold before you hold it.
The companies in it, the buyers active in it, and where its deals break, read before any owner has decided to sell.
With no exit, the customers’ own industry is the whole case. The desk reads its condition and its direction, not the quarter.
Relationships built before a banker is hired, so a holder with a long horizon is already known when the owner decides.
Revenue reconciled to bank deposits, every adjustment marked supported or unsupported, before the letter is priced.
A retention rate is a median. The desk reads the customers behind it, their contracts and their own markets.
Each business scored and ranked against criteria and weights you approved. You decide which to pursue.
What is on the record before you price it.
| Question | How it is usually answered | How the desk answers it |
|---|---|---|
| Who are the customers? | A top-ten list from the deck. | Every customer, by revenue, contract term, renewal date and the condition of its own industry. |
| Does the retention hold? | A figure from the CRM. | Gross and net retention by cohort, rebuilt from invoices and bank deposits. |
| What does the business earn? | Adjusted earnings, as presented. | Every adjustment marked supported or unsupported, with the document that decides it. |
| Can it run without the owner? | A conversation at the management meeting. | Who decides, who sells, who delivers, from the records and the procedures, before the meeting. |
| What transfers? | Counsel’s review, in week six. | Every contract, license and permit with a consent requirement, listed before the letter. |
| What ended the last deal in this sector? | Nobody asks. | The Dead Deal Notes, coded by sector, stage and finding. |
Each engagement starts with your criteria and a clearly defined sector.
Your acquisition criteria and one clearly defined sector. The work covers one sector at a time, with scope agreed in writing before it begins.
The software businesses in that sector, scored and ranked against criteria and weights you approved. You decide which to pursue.
Built ahead of a process. Nothing about a company reaches you without its owner’s permission.
Each opportunity assessed before a letter of intent, so you are pricing against the findings instead of renegotiating after them.
Plain answers, then a conversation if you want one.
Why is the end market the whole case for a permanent holder?
Because there is no exit buyer to run the end-market work for you. A fund sells before the customers’ industry turns; a holder carries it. The desk reads the customers’ market before the opportunity is priced.
What does criteria on file ask of me?
Your criteria, confirmed with you each quarter. A retained search covers one sector at a time, with scope agreed in writing.
Do you represent the seller as well?
Never on the same transaction. Capital Row acts for one side, under a scope agreed in writing.
How does a company reach me?
Only with its owner’s permission, and only when it fits criteria you approved. You hear about the ones that fit, with the evidence attached.
What is the first conversation?
Your criteria and the sectors that match them. Read by a person.
The end market, read before the opportunity is priced.
You are buying the customers along with the code. The work starts with the sector and ends with one company’s numbers traced to source.
Each engagement starts with your acquisition criteria and a clearly defined sector. Scope is agreed in writing before any work begins.
The software businesses in that sector that match your acquisition strategy.
Built ahead of a process. Nothing about a company reaches you without its owner’s permission.
Each opportunity assessed before a letter of intent, with revenue reconciled to bank deposits and each adjustment marked supported or unsupported.
Put your criteria on file.
See the rest of your market.
Capital Row helps buyers see more of their own market, with the financials traced to source before the letter of intent.
Read by a person.