A referral program for cross-border M&A advisors with US clients

Why are cross-border deal advisors well placed?

You already sit between US companies and the people deciding their future. A boutique in Frankfurt, Milan or Tokyo running buy-side mandates for strategics acquiring in the US meets target after target; a corporate-finance team in London advising US founders on a sale to a European buyer knows those owners long before they go to market. Few advisers see as many US operating businesses at the moment owners think hardest about what their company holds.

SourceX's referral program turns that access into an introduction when a client's operational records could be licensed to AI labs and data buyers. You make the introduction and give basic fit information; SourceX and the company handle qualification, the data inventory, pricing, buyer review, contracting and delivery. You can be based in any supported country. Only the referred company has to be in the US.

The pool of owners heading toward a transition is large. McKinsey's research on the great ownership transfer estimates that by 2035 about six million US small and medium-size businesses will face ownership transitions as baby boomers retire, and that more than one million are viable candidates for sale. Many will not sell, and some owners who hold on will want another way to realize value from what the business has built.

Which US clients and targets fit?

Size, history and system depth matter more than sector, although B2B software, IT services, professional services, engineering, logistics and distribution businesses tend to screen well.

The deal-stage rule: when does licensing help, and when does it get in the way?

Raise licensing when no buyer has a claim on the company's time or assets, and coordinate with the deal team whenever one does. Exclusivity periods, conduct-of-business covenants and confidentiality undertakings all limit what a company can agree mid-process.

A four-question screen before you pick up the phone

Answer from what you already know. A clear no on any line means park it.

• US and size: is the company a US business with 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded) and several years of documented operations?
• Own records: did it create its records, and do client contracts and employee notices leave room to license them?
• Clean access: can you reach the owner, CEO, CFO or another authorized sponsor without breaching any confidentiality obligation?
• Appetite: would that sponsor consider a one-time payment for an exclusive AI-training license for an agreed term?

Four yeses: the who qualifies page has the full baseline. If the company is the US subsidiary of a group you advise at headquarters, follow the playbook for introducing the US subsidiary of a foreign-headquartered client instead.

How does the introduction work from outside the US?

1. You register as a partner, then send the US sponsor your referral link, which takes them to sourcex.si/apply with your referral code attached, or you submit the company through the referral form.
2. SourceX qualifies the company on size, history, breadth of records and rights.
3. The company completes a data inventory: each system, how far back it goes and what can be exported.
4. SourceX and the company agree one all-in price, with SourceX's fee included, and the licensing terms.
5. AI labs and data buyers review the opportunity; once a company is deal-ready, buyers typically respond within about two weeks.
6. The agreement is signed, the data is prepared under de-identification and redaction rules agreed with the company before any work began, and it is delivered only on the company's authorization. The company receives a one-time payment, typically within about 60 days of invoicing once the buyer selects the data.
7. Your reward is paid after SourceX receives its fee.

One rule matters more for deal advisers than for anyone else: you never export, upload or describe confidential records. Anything you saw in a virtual data room, an IT diligence report or a management presentation stays covered by the confidentiality terms you accepted. Fit information should come from what the client tells you for this purpose, with their agreement.

What to say to a US owner

Keep it short and separate from the sale conversation.

Your regulatory position, tax forms and rewards

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 cumulative per referred company. Rewards become payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; an introduction, meeting or signed agreement alone does not trigger payment, and no reward is guaranteed. The reward is a share of SourceX's fee, never deducted from what your client receives, which makes it easier to disclose cleanly. The referral earnings calculator shows how the published formula works, and the program terms govern the details.

Three checks before you register:

• US securities rules. If your firm or a US affiliate relies on the statutory M&A broker exemption in Exchange Act section 15(b)(13) for US sell-side work, remember what it covers: securities transactions in connection with transferring ownership of an eligible privately held company. A data license is not an ownership transfer, and the exemption does not address data-licensing introductions, so do not read it as covering or excluding this program. Ask your compliance counsel.
• Home-country rules. Your regulator or professional body may have rules on third-party payments, conflicts and client disclosure. Check them, and tell the client in writing that you may receive a reward.
• Tax documentation. A firm that joins in its own name will usually give the payer a W-8BEN-E; the W-8BEN-E walkthrough for advisory firms covers it, and the explainer on 30% US withholding and non-US referral rewards lists what to ask the payer.

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel, tax adviser or professional body before acting.

When is it not worth raising?

• The US business is a sales office or holding entity without a real workforce of its own.
• Its records mainly belong to its clients, as at many agencies and outsourcers, and those clients have not consented.
• The data is mostly consumer personal information, or medical records and claims without the authorization or de-identification HIPAA requires.
• Archives were deleted, or systems were cancelled without an export.
• The records have already been licensed for AI training.
• A court, trustee or assignee controls the assets and has not been involved.
• The owner would never consider an exclusive license.

Next step

If a current or former client fits, register as a partner and send the owner your referral link. For the US-domestic version of this playbook, see referral opportunities for M&A advisors.