Praxus Research

Notes on the
lower middle market.

Dated notes from the Praxus Capital desk on private markets, technology deal-making, and market structure.

Current note / Construction

Price a contractor’s backlog job by job

September construction releases show rising input costs and nonresidential spending growth concentrated in data centers. Acquisition terms should follow the unfinished jobs, not the sector headline.

Read the note Published September 14, 2026 · 3 min read

M&A / Technology

How buyers underwrite AI exposure now

Acquirers have stopped paying for the word and started testing the substance. In technology processes, AI claims are now diligenced like revenue quality. Sellers should prepare for that scrutiny before launch, not during it.

Read the note Praxus Research · 3 min read

M&A / Strategic buyers

When the strategic comes to the table

Corporate acquirers are the largest buyers in the market and the most selective. In 2025 they drove software M&A and paid the widest premium in a decade. By mid-2026 they had pulled back from sponsor-owned assets. A credible strategic bid changes the design of a process, and the process has to be designed for it.

Read the note Praxus Research · 3 min read

Capital raising / Timing

The cost of waiting for a better market

Timing a raise or a sale to the rate cycle is a trade most private companies lose. The window that matters is company-specific, set by momentum, runway, and buyer attention. It rarely lines up with the macro one.

Read the note Praxus Research · 3 min read

Capital raising / Secondaries

Secondaries move to the center

What began as a release valve for institutional portfolios has become ordinary market plumbing. Sponsors, LPs, and founders alike now treat the secondary market as a first-class source of liquidity, and structure for it from the start.

Read the note Praxus Research · 2 min read

M&A / Software

Durable revenue beats headline growth

In software processes this year, buyers are paying for retention, pricing power, and mission-critical workflows over raw growth rates. The diligence bar moved; positioning has to move with it.

Read the note Praxus Research · 3 min read

M&A / Process

Process quality is the multiple

In a market where buyers hold the clock, outcomes are decided before launch, in the data room, the model, and the narrative. Preparation is not a formality. It is the spread between a fair price and a full one.

Read the note Praxus Research · 2 min read

Capital raising / Private credit

Private credit and the founder's balance sheet

Non-bank lenders now set the terms of leverage in the lower middle market. Speed and flexibility come with covenants and cost. Founders should understand both sides of that trade before the term sheet arrives.

Read the note Praxus Research · 2 min read

M&A / Exits

The exit market has changed shape

The straight line from build to IPO or outright sale has bent into a set of paths. Continuation vehicles, minority recaps, and structured partials are all normal outcomes now. Choosing among them early is part of building the company itself.

Read the note Praxus Research · 3 min read
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