Deephaven Legacy Partners

What we look for

Deephaven is not limited to a single industry. What matters is the shape of the business and the character of the people inside it.

$1M+

Consistent earnings

At least a million dollars of EBITDA, with several years of steady profitability behind it. Durability matters more here than growth rate.

Loyal customers

Relationships that have lasted

Long-term customers you have served well for years. A name people in your market know and trust, and a reputation that took a long time to earn.

A strong team

Honest people worth growing with

A team you are proud of, who know the work better than anyone could write down, and who we would be glad to invest in for years to come.

Ownership

A willingness to sell 51% or more

A majority position lets us take real responsibility for the outcome. Many owners choose to keep a meaningful stake and stay along for the next chapter.

Succession

An owner thinking about what comes next

Retirement, a partner stepping back, or simply the wish to hand the company to someone who will look after it.

Nationwide

Anywhere in the United States

Matt will relocate for the right business. Where you are headquartered rules nothing in or out.

About Matt

Matt Keepman

Founder and Managing Director

Matt grew up in Deephaven, Minnesota, the youngest of five children. From an early age he had a front-row seat to what it means to build something from the ground up, watching his father spend more than two decades growing his own equipment leasing business. The highs and the lows both came home to the dinner table, and that upbringing left him with a lasting respect for the entrepreneurial spirit and for the patience, grit, and conviction it asks of a person.

Before founding Deephaven Legacy Partners, he began his career in investment banking at Piper Sandler, where he advised business owners on transactions in the healthcare space. He then joined DW Healthcare Partners, where he invested in and partnered with exceptional founders and CEOs to grow their businesses. Working alongside founders solidified his desire to build, own, and operate a business. Matt holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a degree in Latin American Studies from Brigham Young University.

The role Matt values most, and his crowning achievement, is that of husband and father. He and his wife welcomed their second daughter in early 2026, which only sharpened his desire to build something that lasts.

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Understanding your options

Every path has something to recommend it, and the right one depends on what you want for your company and the people in it. Here is an honest look at how the common choices compare.

	DEEPHAVEN LEGACY PARTNERS	Private equity	Corporate buyer or competitor	ESOP
Time horizon	Patient. There is no timeline to sell.	A resale, typically inside three to five years	Held while it fits the parent's strategy	Long-term, though the debt taken on at closing shapes the early years
Leadership	A full-time owner-operator comes with the purchase	Some firms bring in-house operators; many do not	Much of the existing management team is often no longer needed	Current management continues, with a trustee overseeing the plan
Employee impact	Protected, invested in, and given a share of the upside through ownership and profit sharing	Efficiency and workforce changes, varying considerably by fund	Their culture is usually adopted and overlapping roles reduced	Employees become owners, though vesting and liquidity add complexity
Guiding priority	The long-term health of the business and the people in it	Building value for the next sale	Serving the needs of the parent company	Servicing the plan's debt while keeping the business healthy
Your name and brand	Stays. It is a large part of what we are acquiring.	Frequently folded into a larger platform	Usually retired once integration is complete	Stays
Commitment to place	Matt moves to your community and stays there	Generally indifferent to location	Decisions affecting the site may be made elsewhere	Local operations are maintained

Scroll the table sideways to compare.

How we work

A clear path forward

No games. A transparent, professional path to a smooth transition, moving at whatever pace suits you.

Introduction

A short phone call to get to know one another and hear about the business. No pressure and no obligation.

Discovery

We sign a mutual NDA and review high-level information about the business.

In-person meeting

We visit you and your business, talking through what makes your business and its people special.

Offer

A fair and transparent letter of intent, with the reasoning behind the number explained.

Diligence

Confirmatory accounting and legal review, handled quietly and without dragging on.

Close

Funds are wired, and we celebrate the beginning of the next chapter together.

From first conversation to close, the process usually takes three to four months.

Questions owners often ask

Will our people keep their jobs?

Yes. The team is most of what makes a business like yours worth acquiring. There is no corporate staff to fold them into and no cost-cutting plan waiting in a drawer — the company works because those people know how to do the work.

What happens to the company name?

It stays. The trust attached to that name in your market took years to build and could not be recreated.

Can I keep an ownership stake?

Often, yes. Deephaven looks to acquire a majority position, and many owners prefer to retain a meaningful minority stake and share in what comes next.

I'm not sure I'm ready to sell.

Most owners we speak with are not, and that is fine. A conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Sometimes the most useful thing is simply to think out loud with someone who has seen a number of these.

Do our books need to be in perfect order?

No. Very few companies of this size have audited financials, and there is no expectation that yours will. We work with what you have.

Will our employees find out we're talking?

Not from us. No one at your company, and none of your customers or suppliers, will be contacted without your explicit permission at every stage.

How is the acquisition funded?

Through committed capital from a group of investors who back searches of this kind, alongside Matt's own money in the transaction. The financing is arranged before we ever shake hands.

It begins with one conversation.

Whether you are ready to begin, thinking about a transition some years from now, or an advisor with a client who might be — every message is read personally and answered within a day.

matt@deephavenlegacy.com

Phone

952-237-8400