US Business Services: Why Buy-and-Build Strategies Are Gaining Momentum

The US Business Services market is entering an important phase. Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, elevated financing costs and a more selective M&A environment, investors are increasingly looking beyond headline growth towards businesses with resilient demand, recurring revenues and clear opportunities for operational improvement.

For private equity investors, this is creating continued interest in fragmented Business Services markets; from technical and field services to compliance, outsourced professional services, cybersecurity and managed services.

But identifying the right platform is only part of the equation. As consolidation strategies become more sophisticated, the ability to execute them effectively is becoming just as important. This is putting Corporate Development teams increasingly at the centre of the value-creation story.

What is making Business Services attractive in the current market?

The US economy remains relatively resilient, although the outlook is not without uncertainty. The IMF projected US GDP growth of 2.4% in 2026, while J.P. Morgan's mid-year outlook anticipated growth of 1.5–2.0%, alongside continued inflationary and geopolitical pressures.

For investors, this environment places greater emphasis on businesses that can perform across different economic conditions.

Many Business Services companies offer characteristics that are particularly attractive in this environment: recurring or contractual revenues, mission-critical customer relationships, fragmented end markets and services that customers cannot easily defer.

PwC's 2026 Industrials and Services outlook highlights continued private equity interest in recurring-revenue, fragmented markets and buy-and-build strategies, spanning areas including legal, staffing, BPO, compliance, managed IT and cybersecurity.

The attraction, therefore, is not simply defensive characteristics. Fragmentation can create a structural opportunity to build scale.

Why is consolidation becoming such an important part of the investment thesis?

For many Business Services platforms, organic growth alone may not be enough to achieve the scale, geographic reach or capability expansion investors are targeting.

That is where buy-and-build strategies come into play.

A fragmented market can provide a platform company with a substantial pipeline of potential bolt-on acquisitions. Acquiring smaller competitors can expand geographic coverage, add specialist capabilities, broaden customer relationships and create operational efficiencies across the combined organisation.

Current market activity reflects this focus. KPMG's 2026 private equity analysis identified resilient and fragmented sectors as areas of continued investor interest, while highlighting consolidation potential across industries such as legal services.

The same dynamic is visible across other Business Services categories. In HVAC services, for example, Capstone Partners identifies market fragmentation and consolidation opportunities as important drivers of M&A activity.

The opportunity is clear — but executing a successful buy-and-build strategy requires considerably more than finding acquisition targets.

What does this mean for Corporate Development teams?

As acquisition strategies become more ambitious, the role of Corporate Development is evolving.

A strong Corp Dev function is no longer simply responsible for sourcing deals and managing transactions. Increasingly, teams are expected to help shape the acquisition strategy, identify target markets, build relationships with owners and intermediaries, assess strategic fit, lead execution and work closely with the business on integration and value creation.

This is particularly relevant in today's more selective M&A environment. PwC reports that US M&A deal value reached approximately $1.2 trillion in the first five months of 2026, despite a 4% decline in deal volume — pointing towards capital being concentrated around higher-conviction opportunities.

KPMG's 2026 M&A outlook also highlights the increasing importance of integration, with integration due diligence and synergy realisation among the priorities for PE investors.

For Corp Dev leaders, the skill set required is therefore becoming broader. Transaction execution remains critical, but so are commercial judgement, integration experience, financial fluency and the ability to partner effectively with CEOs, CFOs and operating teams.

Is the next competitive advantage the Corporate Development team itself?

For PE-backed Business Services companies pursuing multiple acquisitions, the quality and structure of the team behind the strategy can become a significant part of the value-creation equation.

A business targeting one acquisition every few years can operate with a very different model from one targeting five, ten or more acquisitions during an investment period.

The latter requires a repeatable M&A engine: clear investment criteria, disciplined processes, strong pipeline management and the internal capability to move quickly when the right opportunity emerges.

This is creating demand for Corporate Development professionals who have operated in acquisitive environments and can take ownership across the full deal lifecycle — from sourcing and modelling through diligence, negotiation, execution and post-close integration.

For investors and management teams, building that capability early can be as important as identifying the right acquisition targets.

For Corporate Development professionals, meanwhile, the expanding Business Services consolidation story offers an opportunity to take on broader mandates, work directly with senior leadership and play a meaningful role in shaping the growth of a business.

What does this mean in practice?

For PE firms and management teams, a successful buy-and-build strategy requires more than capital and a strong acquisition pipeline. The internal capability to identify, evaluate, execute and integrate acquisitions can be a meaningful differentiator.

As acquisition programmes become more ambitious, firms should ask whether their Corporate Development structure is fit for the strategy ahead. Does the team have sufficient capacity? Does it combine strong technical M&A skills with commercial judgement? And can it work effectively across investment, finance and operational teams?

For Corporate Development professionals, the opportunity is equally significant. Experience in a highly acquisitive, PE-backed environment can be particularly valuable — especially where individuals have had ownership across sourcing, execution and integration rather than specialising in one stage of the process.

The question is increasingly not simply “How many deals have you done?”, but “What impact have you had on the broader M&A strategy?”

Key takeaways

For investors: resilient and fragmented markets can create compelling consolidation opportunities, but repeatable execution is critical to translating the investment thesis into value creation.

For management teams: Corporate Development should be viewed as a strategic capability, not simply a transaction function. The right team can help shape the acquisition roadmap as well as execute it.

For Corp Dev leaders: breadth of experience is increasingly valuable. The ability to connect strategy, transactions, integration and value creation can differentiate senior talent.

For the market: as US Business Services continues to attract capital and consolidation accelerates, competitive advantage may increasingly depend not only on the assets being acquired, but on the people executing the strategy.

The US Business Services market may therefore be entering a period where resilience attracts the capital — but execution determines the outcome. As buy-and-build strategies become increasingly sophisticated, Corporate Development may be one of the most important capabilities behind the strategy.