Architecture · Engineering · Construction
Too small for the big banks. Too good to sell blind.
FideoMosaic advises owner-led AEC firms on both sides of a transaction. We work the twenty to one hundred person firms the national advisors will not take, and we run those deals to the same standard the nationals reserve for their largest clients.
Mandates
One client per deal. You will always know which one.
Some advisors quietly collect from both sides of a transaction. We take a single mandate, put it in writing, and turn down the fee on the other side.
Sell-Side Representation
For founders and partner groups deciding what comes next, including the cases where the right answer is to wait three years.
- What your firm is worth, and why
- The fixes that raise the number before you go to market
- A confidential, competitive process
- Negotiation through diligence to close
- What happens to your people afterward
Buy-Side Representation
For firms adding capability, geography, or licensed staff in a market where the best targets never run a process.
- What you are actually trying to buy
- A mapped universe of firms that match
- Direct approach to owners who are not for sale
- Price, structure, and diligence
- The first hundred days after close
Who we serve
The firms nobody sends a banker to.
The national M&A advisors work with ENR-ranked firms. Below that line sits most of the industry: profitable regional practices whose owners are five years from retirement with no successor and nobody credible to call. That is our entire book.
| Profile | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Headcount | 20 to 100 employees, occasionally up to 250 |
| Revenue | $3M to $40M |
| Ownership | Founder-owned or a small principal group |
| Geography | Single-state or regional, United States |
| Situation | Retirement horizon, a stalled internal buyout, or growth by acquisition |
Why both sides
We have read the other side's memo.
Buy-side work makes us better sellers
Sitting on the acquirer's side of the table teaches you exactly where a buyer discounts and what they quietly stop caring about. We use that when we are defending your price.
Sell-side work makes us better buyers
Owners tell their advisor things they never put in a management presentation. That is how you learn what an owner will actually accept, and what ends a deal.
Never both on the same deal
Holding both mandates across the practice is an advantage. Holding both on one transaction is a conflict. We do the first and refuse the second.
Sector focus
AEC is the whole practice, not a vertical.
A generalist broker will value your firm on EBITDA and miss the things that decide the price. Backlog quality, utilization, licensure continuity, and bonding capacity are where these deals are actually won and lost.
Diligence
Sellers are rarely surprised by the price. They are surprised by the questions.
Here is what a serious buyer will open first. If any of these worry you, that is the conversation to have now rather than in month four of a process.
| Area | What gets tested | Why it moves the price |
|---|---|---|
| Backlog & WIP | Contracted versus anticipated work, burn rate, margin by project | Separates durable revenue from one good year |
| Client concentration | Top-client share, public versus private mix, repeat relationships | The single most common reason offers come in low |
| Utilization & labor | Chargeability, realization rates, staff mix, overhead load | It is the profit engine, and buyers model it hard |
| Licensure & leadership | Licenses by state, key-person dependence, bench depth | Decides whether the firm still works once you leave |
| Bonding & risk | Surety capacity, EMR, claims history, coverage | Caps the size of work the combined firm can chase |
| Working capital | DSO, unbilled receivables, the peg negotiation | Quietly moves real money on the day you close |
The best time to call is before you need to.
Twelve to twenty-four months out, there is still time to change the outcome. Inside of six, you are mostly managing what you have.
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