Benefits strategies that help transactions succeed.

Protect the people the deal depends on. Build a benefits platform that scales with it. Free review on any live deal — five days.

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Findings memo — Project Cardinal

Benefits & human-capital diligence

Confidential · NDA

Target

HVAC services

Headcount

214 FTE

Enterprise value

$48M

Flagged items3 require attention

Rate-cliff forecast+28% @ 18 mo

Current rates are credit-subsidized; renewal models a 28% jump after the honeymoon period — unmodeled in the LBO.

High

§4980H exposure$312K

14 full-time employees not offered compliant coverage across two measurement periods — potential employer-mandate penalty.

Medium

Earnout at risk$4.2M

Earnout hinges on the owner-operator; no key-person life or disability coverage in place to protect the consideration.

High

Delivered 5 days from data-room access

One workstream, both sides of the people cost.

Earnout & key-person protection· Disability & buy-out triggers· Coverage on both sides of the table· Predictable per-head benefits cost· Roll-up-ready ICHRA design· §4980H, COBRA & rate-cliff exposure

What we do

Protection at the close. A platform after it.

Health

A benefits platform built for the roll-up

One defined-contribution design every tuck-in slots into — fixed per-head cost, no renewal shock, transitions that track your close calendar.

Multi-state workforces without six group plans
Three-way analysis on every census — the numbers decide, not the pitch
Employees choose their carrier; you set the cost

Life

Protection for the people the deal depends on

Earnout coverage for the seller, key-person coverage for the buyer — one underwriting, both sides of the table.

Sized to the at-risk portion, matched to the earnout term
Read from the purchase agreement, not a checklist
One exam, one underwriting file, every policy the deal needs

How it works

Five days from data room to findings.

The people cost is the second-largest line after payroll. Priced right and protected early, it stops being a closing risk and becomes part of the investment case.

We give it a workstream of its own — five days, no fee on live deals.

What lands in your inbox

Findings memo

IC-ready · 10-minute read

PDF

Rate-cliff forecastHigh

Renewal exposure not modeled in the deal.

§4980H exposureMedium

Employer-mandate penalty risk quantified.

Earnout at riskHigh

Consideration tied to one uninsured life.

STEP 1

Send

Share the CIM or data-room access under NDA.

STEP 2

Review

We work the plans, census, 5500s, and the purchase agreement.

STEP 3

Report

A findings memo your IC can read in ten minutes.

STEP 4

Protect

Coverage for the risks the deal creates — earnout, key person.

STEP 5

Transition

Post-close we're already inside the file. Day one lands on the platform.

Who we help

The two sides of the table.

For the buyer

The value walks out the door

The target's value walks out if the operator can't work. We size the key-person exposure and place the coverage — life and disability, owned by you.

Protect the acquisition

For the seller

An earnout is a bet on a life

A multi-million earnout that dies with the entrepreneur isn't a payout — it's a bet. We insure the at-risk portion, matched to the earnout term.

Protect the earnout

One underwriting covers both sides. One platform carries the company after close.

Deal counsel, QofE teams, and fractional CFOs: we'll run the benefits chapter your report doesn't have.

What we cover

From diligence to day one.

At the close

Earnout protection — life + disability

Key-person coverage

Disability buy-out on rollover equity

Lender-required placements

After the close

Defined-contribution (ICHRA) platform design

Three-way analysis on every census

Medical, dental, vision & ancillary

Benefits administration & day-one onboarding

We're not the insurance diligence. We're the benefits strategy that runs alongside it — protection at the close, a benefits platform after it.

5-day turnaround

On every live deal, from data-room access

Both sides, one underwriting

Buyer key-person and seller earnout together

Diligence free

No fee on live deals — you pay only to place coverage