Edward McDonnell·February 26, 2026

Taking a Single-City Acquisition Nationwide | Edward McDonnell Interview

Edward McDonnell, a mechanical engineer turned MBA (UVA Darden), used a traditional search fund to acquire Botanical Designs in Seattle in 2018 — an 80-employee, ~$11M revenue interior commercial plant design and maintenance company serving Class A office buildings and urban developments in the greater Seattle area. The business was highly recurring (75%+ of revenue), had low customer concentration, and fit neatly into the traditional search fund size and multiple range. Edward had never managed an employee before closing, but benefited from a strong existing management team and implemented EOS and a full tech stack (CRM, field service management, fleet software) to professionalize operations. Over six and a half years, he grew the company from one branch in Seattle to eight branches across five states (Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, Georgia, Florida) through a disciplined, same-niche acquisition strategy — sourcing targets largely through industry conferences with retiring owners — then exited to private equity via a full investment banker process, hitting the 35% IRR hurdle and realizing his full 25% carry. He remained CEO for two more years post-PE acquisition before fully departing. The episode is a textbook traditional search fund journey: nationwide search, operational transformation, roll-up value creation, and a successful institutional exit.

Deal facts

multiple: traditional search fund sweet spot (implied mid-to-high 4x to 6x EBITDA per host)
sde ebitda: ~$2m EBITDA (implied: ~$11m revenue at ~20% margin per host's framing, not confirmed by guest)
revenue: ~$11m at acquisition
financing structure: traditional search fund equity raise
notes: Asset sale structure. Guest neither confirmed nor denied specific financials. Exited via PE recapitalization (full go-to-market process with investment banker) at approximately 4.5 years post-acquisition; guest retained minority equity stake. Hit traditional search fund hurdles (implied ~35% IRR). Grew from 80 to ~200 employees across 8 branches in 5 states by full exit.

Why this business

Botanical Designs checked every box: highly recurring revenue (over 75% including holiday decor), limited customer concentration (largest customer ~5% of sales), low capex, a growing industry with strong tailwinds (biophilic design trend, commercial construction boom in Seattle), and it was right in the heart of the traditional search fund size and valuation range. Edward also saw clear back-office improvement opportunities — no CRM, informal systems — that he could fix without needing to be a plant expert.

What's working

Highly recurring maintenance revenue model (75%+ recurring) with low customer concentration created a durable, predictable revenue base
Strong existing management team and company culture made day-one transition smooth — all 80 employees returned to work within half an hour of the ownership announcement
Implementing EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) with an external implementer transformed internal communication, meeting cadence, and team alignment across a growing multi-site company
CRM and tech stack upgrades (field service management, fleet management software) professionalized operations and removed daily friction for field staff
Geographic expansion via acquisition in same niche (interior plants / commercial landscaping) allowed the team to apply proven systems to new markets; maintained local branch brands for goodwill
Staying niche (central business district interior plants) rather than diversifying into adjacent landscaping lines kept operations manageable and expertise deep
Industry conferences were a key sourcing channel — Edward built relationships with retiring owners in non-competitive markets over time
COO Nick Moreno (Marine Corps infantry officer background) provided strong operational leadership and cultural reinforcement, especially during multi-site expansion

What's hard

Managing travel across eight branches in five states (Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Colorado, two in Washington) was draining by the end — two to three weeks per month on the road with two young children at home
The sellside process (going to market with an investment banker) was described as the hardest thing Edward had ever done: emotionally taxing, longer than expected, and required simultaneously running the business at full performance while answering hundreds of diligence requests
Had never formally managed an employee before acquiring an 80-person company — a steep learning curve, though mitigated by a strong existing management team
Early acquisitions required hands-on travel by founder and COO because they lacked a regional VP layer they couldn't yet afford; had to learn and refine the acquisition integration playbook through experience
Self-implementing EOS before hiring an implementer did not work well; needed a trained external implementer for ~six quarters before the team could go independent

Notable quotes

I had never let's just call formally supervised an individual an employee in my career to that point. And now I have 80, you know, a team of 80 that I'm in charge of. So it was a wild it was a wild year.

I really liked that and I was able to get exposed a little bit to that during the diligence process and really understand what they were doing and what they were not doing and there were certainly gaps like there are in any company.

There's a certain that that's from the ownership mindset. I actually think size and scale of company gives you more autonomy where the business is not controlling you.

If we had tried to do that all day one meaning April 2018 it would have been extremely difficult. So I think if you see people buying multiple acquisitions in year one who are really successful in whatever call it rollup or consolidation they've probably been in the industry before and they already know and have a model for how to do that.