How to create sell-side longlists

A sell-side longlist is an essential tool for identifying potential buyers of a company. With our AI-powered search, you can identify not only strategic buyers but also financial investors such as private equity firms and family offices, based on how closely their past transactions and business activities match the company being sold. The following guide takes you step by step through the process of creating a longlist, from entering the company data and filtering the results to the final export.

Getting started

Once you have logged in to the ProxDeal terminal, you can start the sell-side process either via the ‘Create sell-side longlist’ tile on the dashboard or directly from the left-hand sidebar under ‘AI research’.

The AI research workflow is split into three clearly separated steps: prompt, filter and export. If a previous run was interrupted, you can pick up where you left off, as your progress is saved automatically. You can reset the entire form at any time using the ‘Restart’ button at the top.

Step 1: Prompt

In the first step, you can choose from three search modes, depending on your M&A use case. For a sell-side search, select the ‘Acquirers’ mode so that the AI identifies suitable buyers for a specific mandate.

This is where you describe the company to be sold. We recommend entering its website: not only does this deliver the best results, it also keeps the effort to a minimum, as a single click on the ‘Autofill’ button pulls the company data into the description. Alternatively, you can write the description entirely by hand or dictate it using the microphone function.

The prompt is the heart of the search, as a detailed and precise description of the relevant products and services delivers the best results. You can also add specific keywords or details to an autofilled description to make the search even more accurate.

Clicking ‘Start research’ launches the AI search and automatically takes you to the next step.

Step 2: Filters and results review

In the second step, the filter bar appears on the left and the list of matching buyer companies on the right. You can refine the list further using three structured filter sections: ‘Basic’, ‘Financial’ and ‘Location’.

Basic filters

Keyword search, inclusion criteria (positive search): Here you can enter keywords that should appear in the company description or on the website. You can add a list of keywords and choose whether all of the terms must match or whether at least one of them is enough.

Exclusion keywords (negative search): In this field, you can define keywords that must not appear in the results. Companies associated with these keywords are excluded automatically.

Online presence: You can filter specifically to show only companies with a website or only companies without one.

Match score: A slider lets you set a minimum match score, so that only companies that reach a certain level of business fit are displayed.

Core business: A drop-down menu lets you specify the business model more precisely.

Legal form: Common legal forms can also be selected from a drop-down menu.

Financial filters

The ‘Financial’ tab offers both statistically modelled estimates and primary data from annual financial statements. For a targeted selection, you can set minimum and maximum values for the following metrics:

• Number of employees
• Revenue
• EBIT and EBIT margin
• Total assets
• Net profit for the year
• Net retained profit
• Cash balance
• Equity ratio and debt ratio
• Debt

Location filters

The ‘Location’ section offers several geographical filters. The country selection lets you narrow the search down to Germany, Austria and/or Switzerland. You can also restrict it to specific regions using the federal state (or canton) filter.

The radius search offers a further way to sharpen your geographical focus. You enter a location and use a slider to set the desired search radius between 0 and 500 kilometres in order to identify nearby companies. An integrated map visualises the selected area.

Selecting, deselecting and sorting

Active filters are shown as bubbles above the results and can be removed at any time by clicking the X icon. The number of results and of selected companies is always visible.

In the results table, a blue marker in the left-hand column shows whether a particular company matches the current filter settings. Right next to it, you can manually select or deselect buyers using a checkbox.

By default, the list is sorted by match score, with the closest business fit at the top. Clicking a column header opens a menu with further options that let you customise the table, for example to sort by other metrics.

Step 3: Save and generate

Once you are happy with your selection, complete the process using the ‘Save as longlist’ button at the top right.

A pop-up window opens with the final order summary, where you need to give your research a title. Optionally, you can add up to five tags to group related longlists across projects.

You can also have AI-generated outreach emails and letters created together with the longlist, ready for you to use when you contact buyers later on. This option can also be activated at any time afterwards.

Clicking ‘Generate longlist’ submits the order and starts processing.

Viewing and exporting the longlist

You can now see the processing status in the longlist overview. Clicking ‘refresh’ checks the current progress.

Once the data enrichment is complete, the status changes to ‘Delivered’ and you can open the longlist.

Use the ‘XLSX download’ or ‘CSV’ button to export the list in the format you need.

You now also have access to features such as ‘Financial investors (DACH)’, ‘Similar transactions’ (past deals in Europe) and ‘Letter/email outreach’, allowing you to run further analyses or approach buyers in a targeted way.

Right next to each longlist, there is also an icon for enrichment with Hunter.io contact details, as well as the option of integrating the data into your own tools, such as your CRM, via the ProxDeal API.

Managing longlists in the overview

The longlist overview offers a filter function that lets you filter by title, type (sell-side, buy-side, succession cases) or project tag. This way, you can keep track of everything, even when running many mandates in parallel.

The three-dot menu next to each longlist takes you to the detail view, where you can view and edit the original search input, the order details, and the longlist’s tags and title. This is also where you will find direct access to customer support and the option to permanently remove the longlist from your account.

Benefits

ProxDeal lets you build a comprehensive, precisely matched longlist in just a few minutes, because each search is customised and context-based. There are no off-the-shelf lists – instead, you get a bespoke selection of relevant companies, as every longlist is built from scratch and tailored to your specific inputs and descriptions.

The combination of three filter sections, flexible sorting options and the meaningful match score lets you fine-tune the longlist precisely, so that the most relevant companies are visible at a glance in a clear layout with all the key details. This not only makes it easier to compare results but also pinpoints the best-fitting buyers, so that you can then launch targeted outreach.

Book your free demo now and see all the benefits for yourself.