Signals tracked for Perpetuo
The public records we read for Perpetuo, ordered by what they say about the two things that decide a call: whether the team that runs the business stays, and whether the business fits $2 to 7 million of EBITDA at a 15 percent margin. Every business on the Accounts tab came out of one of these classes.
How we read a record for Perpetuo
A record earns a letter when it shows who runs the business after a sale and the owner organizing what happens to the stock. A family holding company, the next generation already in the president's seat, or a partner retiring while the others stay all say the team is staying; none of them says the owner has hired a banker.
Size comes first and is read from a dated public figure: a revenue and headcount fact box in a regional business journal, a state training grant that names the workers trained, the company's own count. Earnings, margins and profit history are private, so every row says what its record cannot show and the margin is read from the sub-sector.
In the sub-sectors that clear a 15 percent margin at this size (test and calibration labs, repair and rebuild shops, route services, niche engineered products), private-equity platforms are buying the independents. The family-run ones that are still independent, with the next generation already in its seats, are the window.
Lead with these
One to three years before the owner takes money off the tableThese records show the bench a permanent owner needs already in its seats, before a banker is involved.
A family holding company registered, with the next generation as a principal
State business registries publish new entities, their principals and annual filings, and several publish them as open data. A holding company that names the owner and a son or daughter, filed beside the operating company, is the family organizing who holds the stock. Its purpose is never stated, so it is a question to ask, not a conclusion.
From this screenBauer, Inc., Bristol, Connecticut: Bauer Holdings, LLC was registered in September 2025 with Lou and Michael Auletta as principals, and Michael became president in April 2026 while Lou Auletta stays CEO and principal owner.
The next generation already in the president's seat while the founder still owns it
Company announcements, family-business award profiles and trade press name a son or daughter as president with the founder still chief executive or chair. The successor running the business day to day is the management that stays; the parent holding the stock is the one with a liquidity question.
From this screenBirk Manufacturing, Inc., East Lyme, Connecticut: the founder's son is president and revenue rose 47 percent in two years, but the company reached 160 employees in 2024 and planned a new building beside the plant, which puts it above the box.
A partner retires or a long-tenured insider steps up while the owners stay
Small-company releases and business-journal people notices record a co-owner stepping back or a ten-year insider made president. When the remaining owners or the family stay, the departing stake needs funding, and a permanent owner can provide it without changing who runs the business.
From this screenB/R Instrument Corp., Easton, Maryland: a ten-year insider became president on June 1, 2026 while the co-founder's son moved to an advisory role; its size is not published.
Fit evidence, not the reason to call
Confirms size and growth; says nothing about timingThese answer the size and growth criteria. Margins and profit history stay private, so the page shows the closest public record and says what it cannot show.
Revenue and headcount on a dated public page
Regional business journals print fact boxes with revenue and employees for award honorees, state training grants name the workers trained, and companies post their own counts. The dated figure is set against the box before anything else is read.
From this screenBauer, Inc.: $35 million of revenue and 110 employees in a May 2025 profile, and about 10 percent a year of growth for ten years in the owner's words.
Several straight years on growth lists
The Inc. 5000 and state fastest-growing lists rank revenue growth year after year. Five straight years is the closest public stand-in for steady growth, but the lists are self-reported and say nothing about profit or how the growth was bought.
From this screenAir Compressor Services, Greenville, South Carolina: five straight years on the Inc. 5000 and the South Carolina Fastest Growing 50, but most of its revenue is parts and oil distribution, which rarely clears a 15 percent margin.
Tuck-in acquisitions by a family team
Company news of small acquisitions shows a family adding to the business rather than winding it down, and an owner who will need capital for the next one. Bought growth is labeled as bought.
From this screenBraman Termite & Pest Elimination, Agawam, Massachusetts: folded in Fusion Pest Management in August 2025 and SWAT Pest Protection in September 2026, with the owner's three sons in the operating, finance and sales seats.
We do not lead with these
Late, or a different buyer's windowA plant, a loan or a building says the owner is reinvesting to grow on his own, and at this scale it usually means too large or too capital heavy for the box. An outside chief executive often arrives in the year before a banker.
A new plant, a state loan or a building purchase
State economic-development releases, industrial bonds and deeds record the spend. It confirms growth, but alone it reads as reinvestment, and a project of several million dollars usually marks a business above the box or one that needs heavy capital.
From this screenRetlif Testing Laboratories, Ronkonkoma, New York: bought the 20,000-square-foot building across from its headquarters in May 2026 to add larger test equipment, a family lab investing to grow on its own.
An outside chief executive hired as the owner retires
A release naming an outside chief executive while the owner steps back often comes in the 18 months before a sale process, and a buyer then inherits a new team rather than the one that built the business.
From this screenJLS Automation, York, Pennsylvania: the second-generation owner retired as president and chief executive in October 2026 and an executive from another company took the seat.
Roll-up purchases of independents
Acquisition releases from consolidators show which sub-sectors private equity is buying and at what price. They mark the competition for the same owners and the value an independent can reach.
From this screenEssco Calibration Laboratory, Boston area: sold to Transcat in August 2025 for $84 million; the release puts its revenue above $22 million with EBITDA margins above 25 percent.
What each business arrives with
- Company, city and the public record that flagged it, linked to the source with its date
- Who runs it and why that reads as the team staying, from the company's own page or a state filing
- Size, growth and the exclusions, each from a dated public record, with what the record cannot show
- Who would decide, by name only where the company's own page or a filing gives one, plus the first line and the correction
No email or phone appears unless it is published on the company's own site or a public filing.
Record classes describe categories of public record and how we read them. Per-business claims live on the Accounts tab with their sources.