Fractional Corporate Development
A senior M&A director in your team. Without the full-time hire.
One to five days a week. On-site, hybrid, or remote. For corporates and PE-backed platforms in the lower middle and middle market, and for founder-led companies, in industrial services, IT/MSP, and manufacturing.
Use cases
When teams bring in eightM.
Corporate Development / M&A director
Integrated deal support for an existing team.
eightM works as part of your team across sourcing, outreach, valuation, process, and close. Outreach goes out in your name and brand voice, and reporting runs on your cadence.
European corporate entering the US
A Corp Dev function on the ground in the US.
eightM runs the market-entry acquisition from target mapping to close. Cross-border M&A
PE firm with a new platform
Build the add-on engine before the permanent hire.
You have a thesis and a capital plan, but nobody to run the pipeline. eightM sets up and runs the M&A function: buy-box, target universe, outreach, qualification, LOIs. It runs until a permanent Corp Dev hire or team is in place. Then the system is handed over.
Founder-led company
The CEO is the Corp Dev function today.
When the CEO, CFO, or a business-unit leader runs deals on the side, acquisitions stay opportunistic. eightM brings dedicated deal management and turns it into a managed pipeline.
One of these sounds familiar?
Scope
What the role covers.
The work a Corporate Development / M&A director does, scoped to the days you need.
- M&A strategy and acquisition thesis
- Buy-box definition and target screening
- Deal origination and pipeline management
- IOI, LOI, and transaction structure
- Valuation
- Board and PE sponsor reporting
- Due diligence management
- Integration planning and post-merger communication
- Transaction management through to close
Engagement format
How it works.
Time
1 to 5 days per week
Scaled up or down with deal activity.
Location
On-site, hybrid, or remote
Embedded in your team, in your systems.
Deal size
Typically $20M to $100M
Add-on and platform acquisitions in the lower middle and middle market.
How an engagement starts
- Discovery call, proposal, engagement letter We agree scope, days per week, and what success looks like.
- Kick-off workshop, then a 60-day pilot or scoped engagement Buy-box and disqualifiers confirmed in the first session.
- Run the Corporate Development function Pipeline, outreach, qualification, and deal process, with weekly reporting.
- Close deals and measure growth Then extend, scale down, or hand over to your permanent team.
Want to scope it?
60-day pilot
Build, run, optimize.
A defined start that shows conversion in your target universe before you commit to a longer retainer.
- Confirm buy-box and disqualifiers
- Map the target universe
- Set messaging and channels
- Stand up the KPI dashboard
- Launch outreach
- Qualify responses and book calls
- Weekly pipeline reviews
- Progress NDAs and next steps
- Focus on the segments that convert
- Refine scripts and scoring
- Document the playbook
- Plan the following quarters
How progress is measured
Activity New targets added, contacts reached, response rates, qualified calls booked
Quality Fit-score distribution, share disqualified early, NDA progression
Momentum Opportunities in active dialogue, IOI- and LOI-ready targets
Control Weekly reporting, clean pipeline stages, stakeholder alignment
Fit
Fractional is the better default when…
- You expect a handful of add-ons a year, not a constant flow.
- You need deal capacity now, not after a multi-month search.
- There is no Corp Dev function yet for a director-level hire to plug into.
- The board or sponsor wants to test the function before committing headcount.
- You want to keep the system: the playbook, target universe, and pipeline stay with you.
Need deal capacity this quarter?
On a short call we can establish your situation, the days per week it would take, and whether a pilot makes sense.