8 Best M&A Advisors in Dallas for $1M-$300M Deals (2026 Guide)

Quick answer: Eight DFW firms have a local address and a dated 2025-2026 adviser credit. Volume: Generational Group (Richardson; JMS Integrated Building Solutions, September 2026). Waste and industrial: HamptonRock (Rolfson Oil to Trive, March 2026). $10M-$100M founder sales: Optima (D.I.J. Construction to TRP, August 2026). Healthcare: VERTESS (Fort Worth; Gammie HomeCare, Dec 2025-Jan 2026). Oil and gas: TenOaks (Addison; Battalion Oil, February 2026). Buy-side: Kratos (Twin Peaks, June 2026). Also Telos (Plano; Iron Smart buyout, June 2025) and Pinecrest (A#1 Air, February 2025). Under $5M, hire a credentialed business broker.

I'm Sean Yu, co-founder of Peony, the data room 8,000+ teams use; in October 2026 I re-opened every firm's site and BrokerCheck record and rebuilt this list on dated evidence. The April version printed 14 firms. Eight survive. Allegiance Capital has no dated 2025-2026 credit, MaximForte has no DFW office, Inceptus Capital Partners is a private equity firm for retail investors, and five firms turned out to be business brokerages, which now have their own sub-$5M section. VERTESS and TenOaks are new.

Texas-wide rules on franchise tax, sales tax and successor liability are in the Texas guide. The sibling metro guides cover Houston, Austin and San Antonio, and the national directory is the M&A advisors hub.

Who are the best M&A advisors in Dallas-Fort Worth?

These eight, ranked on the recency and strength of their dated evidence. Each lists a DFW address on its own website (seven are offices; Optima's is a mailbox) and has at least one dated 2025-2026 adviser-of-record credit. The brokerage tier sits in its own section below and is not ranked.

Which Dallas advisor fits which seller?

Start from your lane, not from the rank. The rank measures evidence; the lane decides who has buyers for your company.

Which Dallas M&A advisors closed deals in 2025 and 2026?

Fifteen dated adviser-of-record credits across the eight firms, oldest first. Each links to the firm's own release, the trade press that carried it or the client's SEC filing.

Three of these sales went to DFW buyers. Trive Capital, a Dallas private equity firm with more than $8 billion of regulatory assets under management (per the HamptonRock release), bought Rolfson Oil. TRP Infrastructure Services, a Fort Worth pavement-marking and traffic-control platform backed by Arlington Capital since 2021, bought D.I.J. Construction and Alamo/Interstate on the same day. Two other DFW-headquartered buyers you will meet are NGP, the energy investor at 2850 N. Harwood St. in Dallas, and Insight Equity, at 1400 Civic Place in Southlake.

How did I verify this list?

I applied three tests on October 15-16, 2026, and printed only what passed:

1. A DFW address on the firm's own website, not a directory listing. Seven are street offices; Optima's is a mailbox at a UPS Store, and I flag it wherever it appears.
2. FINRA BrokerCheck for the firm or the broker-dealer it names. Where a firm names none and BrokerCheck has no match, the table says so. An asset sale may not need a broker-dealer, but a success fee on a stock sale can (see Texas law below).
3. At least one dated 2025-2026 adviser-of-record credit on the firm's site or a wire release.

Eight firms passed. Firms that failed were dropped or moved to the brokerage tier, and each is named below with the reason.

What does each ranked Dallas firm do, and what has it closed?

1. Generational Group

• Office: 3400 North Central Expressway, #100, Richardson, TX 75080, the firm's headquarters, plus offices nationwide (generational.com).
• Type and securities: Lower-middle-market M&A firm for privately held businesses, led by President and CEO Ryan Binkley. Securities through Generational Capital Markets, Inc. (CRD 145869, active).
• Scale: 1,900+ transactions since 2005 (firm). In LSEG's 2025 tables it ranked #1 by number of completed transactions up to $10M and up to $25M, and #2 up to $50M, $100M, $500M and $1B (firm rankings page).
• Deal evidence: JMS Integrated Building Solutions, a Carrollton building-automation integrator, to Harris Company, closed September 1, 2026; Visual Inspection Systems to The Industrial Service Group, a TJC portfolio company, closed August 14, 2026.
• Verdict: The default first call for a $5M-$50M owner sale in most sectors. Its scale is the point, so ask who your senior banker is and how many live processes that person runs.

2. HamptonRock Partners

• Office: 100 Crescent Court, Suite 525, Dallas, TX 75201; also 609 Main St, Suite 2325, Houston, and 7500 Rialto Blvd, Bldg 2, Suite 150, Austin (hamptonrock.com).
• Type and securities: Investment banking, transaction advisory and wealth management, founded in 2019 by Founder and CEO Stuart Brown, previously at BV Investment Partners, Citigroup and Stephens Inc. Its own broker-dealer is HamptonRock Partners LLC (CRD 306647). Inc. 5000 in 2025.
• Scale: The team has been involved in over 300 transactions representing more than $30 billion of enterprise value (team experience, per firm boilerplate).
• Deal evidence: Five 2026 mandates as exclusive adviser: Tyton Holdings' sale of Rolfson Oil (Addison, TX) to Trive Capital (March), One Waste Solutions to Waste Connections (February), West Cobb Sanitation to Capital Waste Services (February), Home Town Disposal (January) and Flywheel Brands to The Distributor Exchange (October).
• Verdict: The first call for a family- or founder-owned waste, environmental-services, fuel-distribution or industrial company, with Houston and Austin desks for a Texas-wide buyer list.

3. Optima Mergers and Acquisitions

• Address: 3824 Cedar Springs Road, #184, Dallas, TX 75219, a mailing address at a UPS Store; the firm lists no street office (theoptimateam.com).
• Type and securities: Sell-side M&A for founder-owned companies of $10M-$100M enterprise value, launched around early 2024 by B. Lane Carrick, CBI. No broker-dealer is named on its site and BrokerCheck shows no firm match, so ask how a stock sale would be handled.
• Recognition: Carrick received the Texas Association of Business Brokers' President's Council Award and the IBBA's Platinum Chairman's Circle Award for 2025, each for $10M or more of aggregate closed deals in the year.
• Deal evidence: D.I.J. Construction (Bertram, TX) and, separately, Alamo Roadway Materials and Interstate Barricades & Markings, all to TRP Infrastructure Services on August 20, 2026; Texas EcoGrow (Cedar Park) to NextGen Growth Partners in February 2025, named Axial's Top Industrials Deal of 2025.
• Verdict: A senior-led choice for a $10M-$100M Texas construction, infrastructure-services or specialty-industrial owner.

4. VERTESS

• Office: 1455 W. Magnolia Ave., Suite 301, Fort Worth, TX 76104, the firm's headquarters (vertess.com).
• Type and securities: Healthcare-only M&A advisory, sell-side and buy-side: behavioral health, autism and ABA, home care and hospice, DME, pharmacy, dental, veterinary, labs and staffing. No broker-dealer is named on its site and BrokerCheck shows no firm match.
• Recognition: No. 1 sell-side adviser on Axial's 2026 Top 50 Lower Middle Market Healthcare M&A Advisors list (firm release, September 24, 2026).
• Deal evidence: Four sell-side closings in December 2025 and January 2026, including Gammie HomeCare to AdaptHealth (release datelined Fort Worth, February 5, 2026).
• Verdict: The DFW call for any healthcare-services owner. For a non-healthcare sale it is the wrong firm. The healthcare hub compares it with the national specialists.

5. TenOaks Energy Advisors

• Office: 15601 Dallas Parkway, Suite 225, Addison, TX 75001 (tenoaksenergyadvisors.com).
• Type and securities: Divestiture adviser for upstream oil and gas: operated, non-operated and mineral and royalty assets across the Lower 48. It sells asset packages, not operating companies. Its own broker-dealer is TenOaks Energy Advisors, LLC (CRD 173696; formerly Meramec Energy Advisors), member FINRA/SIPC.
• Deal evidence: Financial adviser to Battalion Oil on the $60.1M sale of its West Quito Draw assets in Ward County, in the Southern Delaware Basin, to MCM Delaware Resources, closed February 24, 2026 (Battalion 8-K). Its track record also lists Cholla Petroleum and Scout Energy Partners in North Dakota as past engagements (entries dated April 2 and June 30, 2026).
• Verdict: The DFW call if what you own is wells, acreage or minerals. For an oilfield-services or fuel-distribution company, use HamptonRock or the energy hub.

6. Kratos Capital

• Office: 14160 N. Dallas Parkway, Suite 740, Dallas, TX 75254 (kratoscapital.com).
• Type and securities: Middle-market investment bank for transactions capitalized at $25M-$300M in manufacturing, industrial services, distribution and specialty services. The firm cites "over 300 completed transactions," each led by a senior banker. Its June 2026 release names an affiliate, Kratos Capital Markets, as co-adviser; BrokerCheck has no record under either Kratos name, so ask which entity signs the engagement letter and which exemption it relies on.
• Recognition: No. 8 in Axial's 2023 lower-middle-market investment-bank ranking (firm release, May 29, 2024).
• Deal evidence: Exclusive financial adviser to Summit Acquisitions, LLC, the franchisee group working toward acquiring Twin Peaks after a lender credit bid took ownership in the FAT Brands bankruptcy (firm release, June 24, 2026). That is a buy-side and restructuring role; its last sell-side release is MDS Global IT to GDT (October 2024).
• Verdict: A Dallas bank for a $25M-$300M industrial or distribution company, and the one firm here with a dated 2026 distressed buy-side credit. Ask for its recent sell-side closings in your lane.

7. Telos Capital Advisors

• Office: 2500 Dallas Parkway, #410, Plano, TX 75093 (teloscap.com).
• Type and securities: Founded in 2016; three managing directors (Robert Rough, Bernard Carrico, Bob Lutz); clients with revenue of $5M-$300M and/or EBITDA of $2M-$50M; sell-side, buy-side and capital raising. Securities through DCF, LLC (CRD 149102).
• Recognition: Named to Axial's 2023 Advisor 100 (September 2023).
• Deal evidence: Exclusive financial adviser to the senior management of Iron Smart Machinery, a heavy-equipment rental company expanding into the North Dallas market, on a management buyout and a $13M senior bank facility (June 17, 2025).
• Verdict: The Plano option for a manufacturing, distribution or equipment business, and the only ranked firm with a dated management-buyout credit. Its newest dated release is from June 2025.

8. Pinecrest Capital Partners

• Office: 8235 Douglas Avenue, Suite 550, Dallas, TX 75225 (pinecrestcap.com).
• Type and securities: Sell-side, pre-transaction, buy-side and capital-raising advisory; it calls itself "industry generalists." Founded in 2014 by Barrett Kingsriter and Bobby Renkes. Securities through BA Securities, LLC (CRD 153489).
• Scale: The firm cites "more than 80 successful transactions and over $4 billion in transactional value," a figure it says includes deals its principals closed at prior firms.
• Deal evidence: Exclusive adviser to A#1 Air, a DFW HVAC, plumbing and electrical company, on its recapitalization with a PE-backed strategic partner (February 4, 2025).
• Verdict: Ranked eighth on the age of its evidence, not its quality: A#1 Air is the firm's newest dated news item. A fit for a DFW home-services owner who wants a senior generalist; ask for closings since early 2025.

Where the DFW bench sits: Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano-Frisco, Richardson and Addison

Four ranked firms list a Dallas address (one of them a mailbox), three sit in the northern suburbs and one is in Fort Worth. Every address below is from the firm's own website.

For a Preston Hollow owner, the nearest ranked office is Pinecrest's, in ZIP 75225. Plano and Frisco owners have Telos in Plano, Generational Group next door in Richardson and TenOaks in Addison, plus two Frisco brokerages for smaller sales. Fort Worth has one ranked firm, healthcare-only VERTESS on West Magnolia Avenue, plus The Vant Group's brokerage office. I found no adviser with a Southlake address on its own site; the Southlake name you are likely to meet in a Dallas deal is a buyer, Insight Equity.

Who is not on this list, and why?

Dropped:

• MaximForte: its site lists offices in New York and Sugar Land only and now positions it in healthcare investment banking; securities through Finalis Securities LLC (CRD 305908).
• Inceptus Capital Partners: a private equity firm for accredited retail investors, affiliated with The Vant Group, not a sell-side adviser.

Demoted:

• Allegiance Capital: a real Dallas firm since 1998 at 14180 Dallas Parkway, Suite 350, with securities through ACC Securities, LLC (CRD 167019, active), but I found no dated 2025-2026 credit; the deal featured on its homepage closed in 2018 (allcapcorp.com).

Moved to the brokerage tier: The Vant Group, MDR & Associates, ESA Mergers, DBG Advisors and Trinity Transaction Advisory. None publishes a dated 2025-2026 credit, and their deal pages show Main Street sales. They are listed in the next section.

National firms without a Dallas street address: Capstone Partners lists a Dallas office but publishes no Dallas street address or Dallas-dated deal. Founders Advisors (Birmingham headquarters) lists a Dallas office, with securities through Founders M&A Advisory LLC (CRD 269926).

Who sells a sub-$5M DFW business?

Below about $5M of value, most DFW sales run through business brokers on a success fee, and a third of advisers in the Firmex/Axial 2021-22 survey would not take a deal under $5M at all (fees hub). These DFW brokerages publish addresses on their own sites:

• Sigma Mergers & Acquisitions (2626 Cole Ave, Dallas): represents sellers only; "1,000+" businesses sold since 2003 (firm).
• The Vant Group (Dallas and Fort Worth): since 1999; 700+ closed transactions (firm); serves revenues up to $250 million; Managing Partner Alex Vantarakis.
• MDR & Associates (Frisco): since January 2009; over 200 transactions (firm); serves companies with $1M-$100M of revenue; IBBA and M&A Source affiliations.
• ESA Mergers (Frisco): family- and founder-owned companies of $5M-$100M of revenue (firm); Bill Nicholson holds the M&AMI, CM&AA and CM&AP designations; the firm also offers commercial real estate services.
• DBG Advisors (Richardson): sellers, buyers and valuations; the firm says it closes 85% of the businesses it takes to market.
• Trinity Transaction Advisory (N. Central Expy, Dallas): since 2002; serves companies with annual revenue over $2M (firm).

Run five checks before you sign with a broker:

1. CBI, the IBBA's designation, which requires coursework, an exam and closed transactions.
2. M&AMI, the M&A Source's designation, which requires education credits and completed middle-market transactions.
3. Texas Association of Business Brokers membership, whose members subscribe to its code of ethics.
4. A TREC license lookup if real estate or a lease moves in the deal.
5. FINRA BrokerCheck if stock or LLC interests are sold.

The line between the tiers is not fixed. Optima's founder Lane Carrick holds the CBI and received TABB's President's Council Award and the IBBA's Platinum Chairman's Circle Award for 2025, yet his firm works from $10M of enterprise value. At $5M of value and above, go to the ranked bench: Telos works from $5M of revenue or $2M of EBITDA, and Generational Group ranked #1 by count up to $10M and up to $25M in LSEG's 2025 tables.

Texas law for a Dallas sale

Texas leaves your gain untaxed at the owner level, but five state rules still shape the deal. This is general information, not legal or tax advice; the Texas guide adds sales tax, the Comptroller tax clearance, non-competes and the Business Court.

1. No individual income tax. Article 8, section 24-a of the Texas Constitution bars a tax on individuals' net incomes, including partnership shares (added November 5, 2019). Section 24-b, added November 4, 2025, bars a tax on the realized or unrealized capital gains of an individual, family, estate or trust.
2. The franchise (margin) tax hits the entity. For 2026-27 reports the no-tax-due threshold is $2,650,000 of revenue, the rate is 0.75% (0.375% for retail and wholesale), the compensation deduction is capped at $480,000, and the report is due May 15 (Comptroller). An asset sale puts the gain inside the entity; a stock or membership-interest sale keeps it at the owner level.
3. Community property. Under Family Code sections 3.002 and 3.003, property either spouse acquires during marriage is presumed community property, and separate status needs clear and convincing evidence; section 3.102(c) puts community property that is not under one spouse's sole management (section 3.102(a)) under joint management unless the spouses agree otherwise. Buyers will ask for spousal consent or joinder.
4. No state business-broker license, but TREC can apply. TABB states that Texas has no formal business brokerage license. Occupations Code section 1101.002 defines a broker as anyone who, for a commission, sells, leases or negotiates the sale or lease of real estate, and defines real estate as "any interest in real property, including a leasehold." Section 1101.351 makes a TREC license a precondition, so a broker paid on a deal that sells real property or transfers a lease needs one; TABB recommends every business broker hold one.
5. The securities layer. A stock or LLC-interest sale is a securities transaction. The State Securities Board's M&A dealer exemption, 7 TAC section 139.27, applies only to a qualifying M&A transaction: a privately held operating company, a buyer that takes control and actively operates it, and no public offering or shell company. The federal Exchange Act exemption in section 15(b)(13) sits alongside it. Check every intermediary on BrokerCheck; the CRDs are in the table above.

What will a Dallas M&A advisor charge?

None of the eight ranked firms publishes a fee schedule, and the two Lehman scales are the ones you will most often be quoted. Classic Lehman (5-4-3-2-1) on a $25M sale is $350,000 (1.4%); Double Lehman (10-8-6-4-2) is $700,000 (2.8%). In Axial's 2026 M&A Fee Guide (331 advisers, second quarter of 2026), 71% of advisers charge some upfront fee and Lehman-style formulas remain the most common success-fee structure. The M&A advisor fees hub covers retainers, minimum fees, tails and the engagement-letter clauses to negotiate.

What should I do before I call a Dallas advisor?

1. Commission a quality-of-earnings report from an accountant who is not your tax CPA. It sets the EBITDA a buyer will diligence and surfaces working-capital adjustments before a buyer finds them.
2. Check the adviser's record yourself. Search the firm and its named broker-dealer on FINRA BrokerCheck and ask for dated closings in your sector since 2025. My co-founder Deqian Jia puts it this way: "When you're picking a Dallas advisor, ask to see a sample data room from a recent close -- not a pitch deck. The folder structure tells you everything."
3. Interview three firms in parallel, at least one from your lane in the table above, and get the fee scale, minimum fee, retainer credit and tail in writing.
4. Organize the data room before the first buyer call: customer concentration, material contracts, an employee roster with key-person flags, AR aging by customer and AP aging by vendor. The M&A data room guide has a folder structure.

Which data room should a Dallas seller use?

Use one from the first buyer conversation, because the room is your confidentiality system. We make Peony, so read this as a disclosure. Page-level analytics, time spent on each page by each viewer, are on every Peony plan. Business ($30 per admin per month billed yearly, $44 monthly) gives up to 3 data rooms per admin, acknowledge-only NDAs, download prevention, email verification, AI document Q&A with cited page numbers, and screenshot protection that blocks screenshot shortcuts and screen recording on supported desktop browsers. The Data Room plan ($52 yearly, $75 monthly) adds unlimited rooms, e-signed NDAs with a signed PDF and audit trail, dynamic watermarks, mobile screenshot protection, a custom domain and auto-indexing. Viewers are free and unlimited, so one Data Room admin costs $624 a year billed yearly however many buyers you invite. Try the Data Room plan free for 7 days with no card (AI features are not in the trial), and see the data room cost guide for how legacy VDRs price.

Frequently asked questions

Who are the best M&A advisors in Dallas?

Eight Dallas-Fort Worth firms pass three tests: a DFW address on the firm's own site, a FINRA BrokerCheck check of the firm or its named broker-dealer, and a dated 2025-2026 adviser-of-record credit. Generational Group in Richardson is the high-volume generalist; it advised JMS Integrated Building Solutions on its sale to Harris Company, closed September 1, 2026. HamptonRock Partners has five dated 2026 sell-sides, including Rolfson Oil to Trive Capital. Optima Mergers and Acquisitions advised two sales to TRP Infrastructure Services in August 2026. VERTESS in Fort Worth is healthcare-only, TenOaks in Addison sells oil and gas assets, Kratos Capital advised Summit Acquisitions on Twin Peaks in June 2026, Telos Capital Advisors in Plano advised the Iron Smart Machinery buyout in June 2025, and Pinecrest Capital Partners advised A#1 Air in February 2025. I'm Sean Yu, co-founder of Peony, the data room 8,000+ teams use, and I rank on dated evidence, not brand.

I'm selling a DFW company worth $5M-$25M. Who should I call first?

Interview two or three firms whose published range starts at or below your number. Optima Mergers and Acquisitions works on $10M-$100M enterprise values and advised two sales to Fort Worth's TRP Infrastructure Services in August 2026. Telos Capital Advisors in Plano works with companies of $5M-$300M in revenue and/or $2M-$50M of EBITDA, and advised the Iron Smart Machinery management buyout in June 2025. Generational Group in Richardson ranked first by number of completed transactions up to $10M and up to $25M in LSEG's 2025 tables. In waste, environmental services or fuel distribution, add HamptonRock Partners. Ask each firm for its closings in your sector since 2025 and the name of the banker who will run your process.

My business is worth under $5M. Do I need a business broker or an M&A advisor?

Usually a business broker. Below about $5M of value most DFW sales run through brokerages on a success fee, and a third of advisers in the Firmex/Axial 2021-22 fee survey would not take a deal under $5M at all. DFW brokerages with addresses on their own sites include Sigma Mergers & Acquisitions and Trinity Transaction Advisory in Dallas, The Vant Group in Dallas and Fort Worth, MDR & Associates and ESA Mergers in Frisco, and DBG Advisors in Richardson. Filter on credentials: the CBI designation from the IBBA, the M&AMI from the M&A Source, and Texas Association of Business Brokers membership. If real estate or a lease transfers, check the broker's TREC license; if stock or LLC interests are sold, check FINRA BrokerCheck.

Who are the best M&A advisors in Fort Worth and Plano?

Fort Worth has one ranked firm: VERTESS, healthcare only, at 1455 W. Magnolia Ave. It was named the No. 1 lower-middle-market healthcare sell-side adviser on Axial's 2026 Top 50 in September 2026. A Fort Worth generalist seller will draw on the Dallas bench, and The Vant Group keeps a Fort Worth brokerage office for smaller deals. In Plano, Telos Capital Advisors at 2500 Dallas Parkway advised the Iron Smart Machinery management buyout in June 2025. Generational Group is headquartered next door in Richardson, and MDR & Associates and ESA Mergers are brokerages in Frisco.

Do I need a licensed business broker to sell a business in Texas?

No: Texas has no state business-broker license, but two other licenses can apply. Occupations Code section 1101.002 defines a broker as anyone who, for a commission, sells, leases or negotiates the sale or lease of real estate, and real estate includes a leasehold, so a broker paid on a deal that sells real property or transfers a lease needs a TREC license under section 1101.351. If stock or LLC interests change hands, the deal is a securities transaction: the State Securities Board's M&A dealer exemption (7 TAC section 139.27) covers only qualifying control sales of private operating companies, and the federal exemption in Exchange Act section 15(b)(13) sits alongside it. Check the intermediary on FINRA BrokerCheck and ask which exemption it relies on.

Does Texas tax the gain when I sell my Dallas company?

Not at the owner level. Article 8, section 24-a of the Texas Constitution bars a tax on individuals' net incomes, and section 24-b, added in November 2025, bars a tax on an individual's realized or unrealized capital gains. The entity is different: the franchise (margin) tax applies above a $2,650,000 no-tax-due revenue threshold for 2026-27 reports, at 0.75% (0.375% for retail and wholesale), so an asset sale puts the gain inside the entity while a stock or membership-interest sale keeps it at the owner level. If you are married, property acquired during the marriage is presumed to be community property, so buyers will ask for your spouse's consent or joinder. Federal tax still applies.

What will a Dallas M&A advisor charge on a $25M sale?

None of the eight ranked firms publishes a fee schedule, so price it from the two Lehman scales you are most likely to be quoted. Classic Lehman (5-4-3-2-1) on $25M is $350,000, or 1.4%; Double Lehman (10-8-6-4-2) is $700,000, or 2.8%. In Axial's 2026 M&A Fee Guide, built from 331 adviser responses in the second quarter of 2026, 71% of advisers charge some upfront fee and Lehman-style formulas remain the most common success-fee structure. Get the scale, any minimum fee, the retainer credit and the tail period in writing before you sign.

I run a healthcare company or own oil and gas interests in DFW. Who handles that?

Two specialists sit outside the generalist bench. VERTESS, headquartered on W. Magnolia Ave. in Fort Worth, is healthcare-only; Axial named it the No. 1 sell-side adviser on its 2026 Top 50 lower-middle-market healthcare list in September 2026, and it announced four sell-side closings from December 2025 and January 2026, including Gammie HomeCare to AdaptHealth. TenOaks Energy Advisors in Addison sells upstream oil and gas assets, operated, non-operated and mineral, rather than whole companies, and advised Battalion Oil on the $60.1M sale of its West Quito Draw assets, closed February 24, 2026. For a fuel-distribution or energy-services company, HamptonRock Partners advised Tyton Holdings on Rolfson Oil's sale to Trive Capital in March 2026.

Which Dallas firms take buy-side mandates?

Five ranked firms list buy-side work. Kratos Capital acted as exclusive financial adviser to Summit Acquisitions, LLC, the franchisee group working toward acquiring Twin Peaks after the FAT Brands bankruptcy, in June 2026. HamptonRock Partners, Pinecrest Capital Partners, Telos Capital Advisors and VERTESS list buy-side advisory on their sites; Telos advised the senior management of Iron Smart Machinery on a management buyout and a $13M senior bank facility in June 2025, and VERTESS shows healthcare buy-side work such as VirtuOx's acquisition of Instant Diagnostic Systems. If you are the buyer, ask each firm for its dated buy-side mandates rather than its sell-side tombstones, and how it is paid if no deal closes.

How do I share my CIM and financials with Dallas buyers without losing control of them?

Use a data room with an NDA gate instead of email attachments. On Peony's Data Room plan ($52 per admin per month billed yearly, $75 monthly), each buyer e-signs your NDA before any file opens, and with dynamic watermarks on, every page carries the viewer's email and a timestamp. Page-level analytics show who spent time on the quality-of-earnings report and who only skimmed the CIM. Turn downloads off and keep files in the tracked viewer, because a copy someone has already downloaded cannot be pulled back. Viewers are free and unlimited, so you pay only for your own admins, and the Data Room plan has a 7-day trial with no card.

Bottom line

Dallas has eight M&A firms with a local address and a dated 2025-2026 credit, and each owns a lane: Generational Group for volume, HamptonRock for waste and fuel distribution, Optima for $10M-$100M founder sales, VERTESS for healthcare, TenOaks for oil and gas assets, Kratos for $25M-$300M industrials and buy-side work, Telos for buyouts and Pinecrest for generalist mandates. Below $5M a credentialed brokerage is the right hire; above it, ask every firm for dated closings in your sector since 2025. Texas leaves your gain untaxed at the owner level, so plan instead for the franchise tax, your spouse's consent and, if real estate moves, a TREC-licensed broker.

Related resources

• Best M&A Advisors in Texas: the four-metro router plus the franchise-tax, successor-liability, non-compete and Business Court rules
• Best M&A Advisors: the national directory: route by city, sector and deal size
• Best M&A Advisors in Houston, Austin and San Antonio: the other Texas metro benches
• M&A advisor vs business broker vs investment bank: which intermediary fits your deal size
• M&A advisor fees: Lehman and Double Lehman math, retainers, minimums and tails
• Best energy M&A advisors and best healthcare M&A advisors: the sector hubs behind TenOaks and VERTESS
• M&A data room setup: the folder structure buyers expect
• Data room cost guide: what VDRs charge in 2026
• Peony for M&A and Peony for investment banking