At Elite Business Exchange, we build the tools business brokers, brokerages, and M&A professional use, but we don't just build tools. We were built by brokers, for brokers, so we actually pay attention to the market like our professional lives depend on it; because yours does.
So, let’s not waste any more time. The market is shifting (again). Quietly, Strategically. And if you’re not paying attention, you're going to be left with listings nobody wants and buyers who ghost mid-deal. Whether you’re closing 10 deals a year or still building your pipeline, here’s what we’ve been seeing and reading (so you don’t have to).
That thing everyone said was dead? Nope; it’s in the corner doing push-ups. In fact, in the last few weeks SPAC IPO activity has jumped. 44 new SPACs have launched already in 2025 and they’ve raised almost as much in the first few months of the year as they did in all of 2024. But, it's not Goldman or Morgan behind them; it’s boutique banks and leaner deal teams. These aren’t the billion-dollar “EV startups of the future”. These are smaller deals, faster cycles, and they’re looking for operational companies now.
If you are sitting on mid-sized businesses with clean books, consistent revenue, and clear upside; this is the buyer profile you’re looking for. They don’t want to chat for six months after LOI; they’re ready to close. If you understand how to package a seller’s story to fit the SPAC narrative, i.e. clean team, expansion path, low CapEx; you're already ahead of 90% of brokers still thinking this trend is dead.
Takeaway: Pull 2-3 listings that could fit a SPAC playbook and revisit how they're positioned. Tidy up financials and define the growth narrative. Make it look like a match, not a maybe. If you don't know what a SPAC looks like or how to position a target for one, now is the time to learn.
China is back in the conversation, and not in a vague “geopolitical” way. Their engine was idling, now it’s warming up and it’s not about massive conglomerates buying up real estate. It’s about institutional money returning to the global deal table after regulatory reforms made tech, healthcare, and logistics acquisitions more viable.
We’re seeing renewed M&A activity from cross-border buyers, especially in industrial, supply chain, and healthcare adjacent sectors. The red tape is loosening, the money is looking, and international dealmakers are hungry for clean, U.S.-based opportunities.
If your brokerage handles any listings with global relevance, you need to understand how to prepare for cross-border due diligence. You need to clean up your data rooms, and learn to speak the language (figuratively, and maybe literally).
Let me say this again for those in the back: If you have listings with international supplier exposure, sellers in regulated or complex industries, or a buyer list that includes cross-border investors who’ve been quiet for the past 18 months; these are prime listings and buyers.
This isn't about spamming listings to overseas inboxes. It’s about understanding how transparency, clean legal and clear IP protections are becoming deal-makers again.
This could be the most valuable; and most ignored, buyer group in your database right now.
Takeaway: Start speaking the language of platform and bolt-on. Ask your sellers how their business fits into a bigger ecosystem. Then reframe the listing around that story. This is where smart brokers are going to stand out.
If you’ve got listings in legal, accounting, financial services, healthcare staffing, or light B2B; your time is now. These industries are getting rolled-up… hard.
Why? Lower interest rates and loosened capital. PE firms who spent 2024 sitting on their hands are buying again, but they're not looking for fixer-uppers. They’re looking vertical. They want clean, tuck-in ready businesses that plug into their existing portfolios with minimal mess.
Private buyers are also coming back, valuations are climbing, and the ones with a playbook aren’t browsing listing sites. They're working with platforms (like us) and brokers who know what they’re looking for and how to position it.
If you’re not segmenting your listings by vertical potential, you’re leaving money on the table. So ask yourself: Do you know how to talk platform vs. tuck-in? Are your listings framed in a way that gets attention from PE and vertical acquirers? Or, are you just posting and waiting, because this isn't the time to be passive.
Takeaway: Start speaking the language of platform and bolt-on. Ask your sellers how their business fits into a bigger picture, then reframe the listing around that story. Review your inventory. Anything with recurring revenue, clean ops, or growth-by-acquisition potential? Repackage it. Segment your buyer lists. If you’re sending every listing to every buyer, you’re just part of the noise, and frankly, you’re burning leads. Watch your listing language. “Great lifestyle business” doesn't sell anymore; “Expand your vertical” does.
The brokers who win this year are the ones who move with the market, not behind it. The deals haven’t stopped. The buyers haven’t vanished; but the rules of the game have changed. If you’re still running the 2022 playbook, you’re invisible.
(Shameless Self Promotion)
“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” - Confucius (although google gives credit to 4 different people, we stopped with one)
At Elite Business Exchange, we don't just give brokers a platform. We give them the tools, insights, and strategic edge to stay sharp; week after week. Elite Business Exchange was built for brokers who do more than just hold the deal together. We built it from real world experience for those who lead the deal. Let’s make sure you’re one of them.
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