Building Successful Buy-and-Build Platforms: Alpine's Blueprint for Strategic M&A with Haley Van Cleve

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Jul 28, 2025

Haley Van Cleve, a Partner at Alpine Investors, shares her expertise in building successful buy-and-build platforms. She reveals how Alpine transforms small businesses into huge platforms through strategic M&A and operational tactics. Key insights include a unique talent model, an integration-first approach, and aligning management for long-term success. Haley also discusses their priorities in selecting businesses with scaling potential and the importance of early team alignment to ensure smooth acquisitions. It's a must-listen for anyone involved in corporate development and private equity!

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ANECDOTE

Legal Tech Platform Growth Story

Alpine built a $4 million legal tech time-billing business into a $30M+ platform through four acquisitions.
They integrated companies heavily and cross-sold products, culminating in a successful sale to another PE firm.

INSIGHT

Integration Is The Hardest Part

Integration is the hardest part of roll-ups, focusing heavily on people and systems.
Standardizing systems within 20-30 days post-close preserves visibility and operational control.

ADVICE

Align On Integration Early

Be transparent upfront about system standardization and operational changes to avoid future misalignment.
Set clear expectations with founders before LOI to ensure cultural and operational fit.

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Haley Van Cleve, Partner at Alpine Investors

Haley joins us to decode the art of building successful buy-and-build platforms from the ground up. In this episode, Haley walks through Alpine's proven methodology for transforming small $3M EBITDA businesses into $100M+ platforms through strategic M&A and operational excellence. Learn how Alpine's unique talent model, integration-first approach, and buyer-led M&A strategy has driven over 850 deals, including 170 in 2024 alone. Whether you're a corporate development professional or private equity investor, this conversation delivers actionable insights on platform identification, integration best practices, and scaling through acquisitions.

Things you will learn:

Alpine's team-market-business prioritization model for identifying $3M businesses with scaling potential
Building 20-30 day system rollouts upfront to enable high-velocity acquisitions without operational breakdowns
CEO-in-residence programs and profit interest pools that align management for long-term value creation

Episode Chapters

[00:02:30] Alpine's Evolution – From $400M Fund V to $4.5B today with 180+ team members across three offices

[00:04:30] Platform Definition – Why Alpine takes a liberal view of platforms, starting with $3M EBITDA businesses in fragmented markets

[00:07:30] Software vs. Services – Rule of 40 for software deals versus EBITDA-focused services acquisitions and different scaling approaches

[00:13:30] Legal Tech Case Study – Building a $4M revenue time-billing business into a $30M+ platform through four strategic add-ons

[00:16:00] Integration Excellence – People and systems integration within 20-30 days to maintain visibility during high-velocity M&A

[00:22:00] Vision Alignment – Setting clear expectations upfront about system standardization and operational changes before LOI

[00:25:00] Platform Challenges – Overhiring executive teams early and building integration capacity before closing deals

[00:36:00] In-House M&A Teams – When and how to build dedicated M&A functions at portfolio companies for double-digit acquisition strategies

[00:44:00] CEO-in-Residence Program – How Alpine hires executives before finding deals and pairs them with markets for 12+ month searches

[00:49:00] When Deals Go Sideways – COVID impact on K-12 businesses and pivoting M&A strategies when market assumptions prove wrong

Questions, comments, concerns?Follow Kison Patel for behind-the-scenes insights on modern M&A.