Modern polymath Nadim Kapadia (Managing Partner & Founder of Aligned Partners HoldCo) has worn every hat: diplomat-turned-consultant, FTSE-100 advisor, VC mentor, Singapore expat, and now self-funded searcher on a mission to buy and build UK SMEs in healthcare & early-years education.



In this episode he breaks down:



Why a purpose-driven diplomat left Big-4 consulting for entrepreneurship-through-acquisition



Swapping VC & PE for a self-funded, multi-decade HoldCo (and keeping maximum equity)



How he screens care-home & nursery deals: CQC/Ofsted reports, culture audits and council contracts



Broker vs proprietary sourcing, “no-win-no-fee” buyside mandates, and the email + letter combo that’s landing off-market calls



Mind-set lessons from marathon running: consistency, persistence & discipline in a long-game search



[0:00 ]  Intro & welcome  

[1:12 ]  Nadim’s global career and first brush with ETA  

[3:20 ]  Autonomy, impact & leaving corporate life  

[5:05 ]  LBS MBA, VC/PE electives & early search-fund FOMO  

[6:42 ]  Why go self-funded (vs traditional partnered search)  

[9:18 ]  Launching Aligned Partners – HoldCo vision & values  

[11:32 ] Sector focus – UK healthcare & early-years education  

[14:06 ] Deal sweet-spot, revenue / EBITDA ranges & leverage  

[15:55 ] Building the deal team (advisors, lenders, buyside “no-win-no-fee”)  

[18:22 ] Multi-channel sourcing – brokers, letters, BizCrunch email campaigns  

[22:34 ] Seller psychology, legacy & the “alignment” litmus test  

[26:08 ] Culture & CQC / Ofsted due-diligence in care businesses  

[29:17 ] When offers fall apart – lessons from broken deals  

[32:46 ] The marathon mind-set: consistency, persistence, discipline  

[35:04 ] First-100-days plan once an acquisition closes  

[36:48 ] Who Nadim wants to meet next (owners, financiers, operating partners)  

[38:12 ] Key take-aways & wrap-up  



🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED



Aligned Partners HoldCo → https://alignedpartners.co.uk

Nadim Kapadia on LinkedIn → https://linkedin.com/in/nadim-kapadia

Care Quality Commission (CQC) reports → https://cqc.org.uk

Ofsted inspection reports → https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk

BizCrunch searcher tools & community → https://www.bizcrunch.co



About M&A Zing

Host: Gareth Hawkins – CEO & Co-Founder, BizCrunch (exited founder & M&A investor).

Each week we dive into real-world SMB M&A across the UK & Europe.



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