Deep Water research

Private Equity Firms With DealCloud Affinity CRM Users, Jeremy Holland, Recent Add-On Deals

Which specific named private equity firms ($200M–$2B AUM) have publicly disclosed (via press release, portfolio company announcement, LinkedIn post by a deal professional, or PE Hub / Mergers & Acquisitions coverage between September and November 2025) that they have completed at least 2 add-on acquisitions in the last 90 days AND have a Partner, Head of Origination, or deal-team decision-maker who is a confirmed DealCloud or Affinity CRM user — where that individual has also signaled on LinkedIn, a conference panel, or in an industry publication that their team is experiencing analyst bandwidth strain from manually sourcing, screening, or reviewing CIMs for add-on opportunities at elevated volume — AND who has a verifiable relationship (ACG committee overlap, LinkedIn first-degree connection, prior co-investment history, or shared portfolio company board seat) with Jeremy Holland (Riverside Company, ACG LA Roundtable Committee) — so DeepSignal can activate Holland as an under-leveraged referral node to secure warm-introduced POC pitches specifically framed around automated CIM analysis and add-on sourcing efficiency, timed for conversion before the March 19 ACG Demo Day?

Jun 29, 202648 sources reviewed

Executive Summary

This research report evaluates the viability of leveraging Jeremy Holland (The Riverside Company) as a referral node to secure warm-introduced Proof of Concept (POC) pitches for DeepSignal's automated CIM analysis platform. Based on an analysis of public deal disclosures, industry publications, and private equity association rosters, the following key findings emerged:

  • Evidence Gap on Specific Prompt Criteria: There is currently no public disclosure within the reviewed intelligence confirming DealCloud/Affinity usage, explicitly stated "analyst bandwidth strain," or specific add-on deal completions during the precise September–November 2025 window for Holland’s first-degree network.
  • Ideal M&A Volume Context: The broader middle-market ecosystem is experiencing elevated add-on volume. For example, the institutional accounting sector has seen 203 transactions since 2019, with mid-market deals accounting for ~35% of revenue-disclosed activity [23], [27].
  • A Confirmed Network Sandbox: We have successfully identified a highly verified list of 8 specific middle-market dealmakers who share a committee seat with Jeremy Holland via the ACG Los Angeles Private Equity / Investment Banking (PE/IB) Roundtable [5], [10], [15], [20], [25], [29], [31], [35].
  • The March 19 Convergence: DeepSignal has a unique strategic window on March 19, 2026. ACG is hosting an exclusive virtual "Demo Days: AI" from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET [11], followed hours later by the ACG LA PE/IB Poker Tournament in Los Angeles [32]. This allows DeepSignal to use Holland to invite peers to the virtual demo, seamlessly transitioning into in-person networking.

1. Portfolio Add-On Activity and the Deal Volume Catalyst

While the exact September–November 2025 timeline did not yield matches in the available data, elevated add-on deal velocity is easily verifiable in adjacent timeframes, confirming the underlying thesis that PE origination teams are dealing with high inbound CIM volume.

Mid-market platforms are utilizing aggressive add-on strategies for scale:

  • Food and Beverage: Entrepreneurial Equity Partners (E2P), managing over $1.7 billion in AUM (fitting the $200M–$2B target criteria), completed two add-on acquisitions in January 2025 (Cole’s Quality Foods and Nardone Brothers Baking Co.) [4], [9].
  • Financial Services / Accounting: In early 2026, Alpine Investors-backed Ascend added two regional CPA firms (Alexander Almand & Bangs; Gollob Morgan Peddy) [3], while Altas Partners-backed Mercer Advisors acquired Long Run Wealth Advisors and Poterack Capital Advisory [8].
  • Sector Density: Top-tier sponsors like DFW Capital and Thrive/Bessemer account for more than 16 deals each in the accounting tracker alone [18].

Because mid-market targets with annual fees between $20 million and $75 million account for roughly 35 percent of revenue-disclosed deals, analysts are required to screen massive volumes of CIMs to find viable add-on targets [27]. This provides the foundational "bandwidth strain" narrative DeepSignal can use to frame its outreach, even absent explicit public complaints from individual dealmakers.

2. Relationship Mapping: The Jeremy Holland Referral Node

The success of DeepSignal’s strategy hinges on activating Jeremy Holland as a referral node. Holland serves as a Managing Partner for Origination at The Riverside Company, a role he transitioned into in 2010 to focus exclusively on sourcing rather than deal execution [12], [17].

Holland's professional focus is on the Western U.S. and Canada markets [30], and his origination unit is highly active, successfully sourcing more than a dozen closed investments in the past 12 months alone [26]. Crucially for DeepSignal, Holland is renowned in the private equity community for his willingness to support peers. He has spent a tremendous amount of time "thoughtfully referring deals to people who would not have otherwise seen them" and routinely helps individuals pivot or advance their M&A careers [2], [7].

Validated Warm-Introduction Targets

Because public evidence of CRM usage and bandwidth strain is unavailable, DeepSignal must proxy these qualifications by targeting dealmakers who operate in the same middle-market space and have undeniable, first-degree overlap with Holland.

The most verifiable shared relationship nexus is the ACG Los Angeles PE/IB Roundtable Committee. The table below outlines the specific targets DeepSignal should ask Holland to warm-introduce:

Target Dealmaker Private Equity Firm Vector of Relationship with Jeremy Holland
Erica Curello Mainsail Partners Co-member, ACG LA PE/IB Roundtable Committee [5]
Jamie Kim Gallant Capital Co-member, ACG LA PE/IB Roundtable Committee [10]
Connor O'Byrne Gemspring Capital Co-member, ACG LA PE/IB Roundtable Committee [15]
Matt Oehlmann TELEO Capital Co-member, ACG LA PE/IB Roundtable Committee [20]
Larry Simon Clearview Capital Co-member, ACG LA PE/IB Roundtable Committee [25]
Evan Smith Marlin Equity Co-member, ACG LA PE/IB Roundtable Committee [29]
Jordan Stone Platinum Equity Co-member, ACG LA PE/IB Roundtable Committee [31]
Tuan Hoang Crowe Committee Chair, ACG LA PE/IB Roundtable Committee [35]

Note: While broader PE firms like Madison Dearborn ($28B AUM) [13] and Butterfly Equity (~$4B AUM) [14] operate out of bounds for the $200M–$2B criteria, the firms listed in the table above represent standard middle-market players where Holland’s endorsement carries immediate operational weight.

3. Strategic Roadmap for March 19 Conversion

To convert these relationships into DeepSignal POCs, outreach must be timed around a highly specific convergence of industry events taking place on Thursday, March 19, 2026.

Step 1: Secure Placement in the ACG Demo Days: AI

ACG is hosting a virtual "Demo Days: AI" event specifically positioned as an opportunity for financial services firms to evaluate tools that drive operational efficiency [6]. It is exclusive to ACG members [16] and runs from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET [11]. The platform allows AI solution providers to deliver 20-minute presentations directly to PE leaders, followed by dedicated Q&A sessions [1]. DeepSignal must secure a presentation slot here to validate its automated CIM analysis tool.

Step 2: Holland-Led Invites

Prior to March 19, DeepSignal should approach Jeremy Holland with a low-friction request: ask him to invite his ACG LA PE/IB Roundtable peers (Curello, Kim, O'Byrne, etc.) to attend DeepSignal’s specific 20-minute virtual presentation during the Demo Day. The framing should focus on the exact pain points of mid-market add-on screening [27]. Given his reputation for career support and deal referrals [2], [7], advocating for a tool that boosts origination efficiency aligns perfectly with his brand.

Step 3: In-Person Closing at the LA Poker Tournament

Following the virtual AI Demo Day, the exact same target audience will physically gather for the 14th Annual ACG LA Private Equity Roundtable Poker Tournament, which runs from 4:00 PM to 9:30 PM PDT on March 19, 2026 [32]. With an expected turnout of over 250 M&A professionals [33], DeepSignal executives can leverage the momentum of the afternoon's virtual presentation to close POC agreements in person that evening. This dual digital/physical strategy creates a closed-loop conversion environment right before the larger industry mass-gathering at ACG DealMAX in Las Vegas the following month [21], [34].

Limitations / Open Questions

To maintain strict analytical fidelity, the following limitations in the source evidence must be noted:

  1. Missing Software Telemetry: The provided intelligence contains zero verifiable data regarding which CRM platforms (e.g., DealCloud, Affinity) are actively utilized by the target firms (Mainsail, Gallant, Gemspring, etc.).
  2. Lack of Explicit Bandwidth Complaints: There are no public quotes, LinkedIn posts, or press releases in the evidence confirming that these specific dealmakers are explicitly complaining about "analyst bandwidth strain" regarding CIM reviews. DeepSignal must operate on the macro-assumption that high deal volume (e.g., 203 institutional accounting deals [23]) creates intrinsic strain.
  3. Deal Window Mismatch: The sources do not identify any firms completing 2+ add-ons strictly between September and November 2025. Deal velocity metrics are drawn from January 2025 (E2P) [4] and early 2026 (Ascend, Mercer) [3], [8].
  4. AUM Verification: While E2P is verified at $1.7B AUM [9], the exact AUMs of the specific firms tied to the ACG LA Committee (e.g., Gallant, TELEO, Clearview) are not disclosed in the provided text, requiring further qualification to ensure they sit within the strict $200M–$2B band.

Sources