Private Equity Intern, Buyside M&A

Overview

• Location: Remote (candidates based in the United States)
• Job type: Internship, part-time
• Hours: 10 to 12 hours per week
• Duration: 3 months
• Pay: Unpaid internship. Weekly performance-based bonuses are available, but not guaranteed.

This internship is a hands-on introduction to lower-middle-market M&A. You’ll work on real situations and learn deal fundamentals by understanding what business owners want, how buyers and sellers think, and how a transaction is put together. You begin by having conversations with founders and owners and, as early as week four, may move into supporting live deals.

Responsibilities

• Start conversations with business owners and executives to learn about their businesses and goals (outbound outreach is part of the role)
• Gather context on owner motivation and what a good outcome looks like for them
• Support lower-middle-market deal structuring based on what you learn
• Assess fit, feasibility, and deal readiness
• Help prepare conversation notes, next steps, and negotiation plans
• Learn earnouts, seller financing, rollover equity, and reps and warranties
• Observe how valuation gaps are handled and how structure negotiations are approached

Compensation & Benefits

• Unpaid, part-time internship: 10 to 12 hours per week for 3 months
• Weekly performance-based bonuses are available (not guaranteed)
• Interns who make the deal team and manage deal flow can earn up to 20% of success fees
• A potential bonus pool of $50K+ has been built by several interns (performance-based and not guaranteed)

Progression

• After one month of strong performance, interns may work with the deal and research teams
• Preference is to hire full-time team members from this program
• Three interns converted to full-time roles in 2025

Qualifications

• Fluent in English
• Clear, thoughtful communicator
• Curious about how deals really get done
• Interested in taking on responsibility early and learning by doing
• Enjoys structured conversation more than spreadsheet-heavy analysis