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Boomer Exits

Why baby-boomer business owners are choosing syndication

May 12, 20266 min read

Roughly 2.3 million U.S. businesses are owned by people 65 or older. Most are too small to interest PE alone. Syndication changes the math.

Boomers own a disproportionate share of small American businesses, and a wave of them want out within the next ten years. The problem is the standard exit paths — strategic buyer, PE platform, internal sale — all require scale most of these businesses don't have individually.

Virtual syndication lets owners pool with peers in the same industry to clear the threshold PE actually buys at. The combined entity, on paper, looks like an acquisition target. The members keep voting rights, equity interests, and a path to cash.

This article walks through who this works for, what the math looks like at $9M combined revenue with 15% blended margin, and where the friction tends to be.

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