A long-term successor for your Canadian business.

Granite Tide Partners is a search fund led by Ethan Kowalski and Anjali Sandhu, two engineers based in Toronto and Vancouver. We are looking to buy one well-run company from an owner who is ready to step back, then move to its community and lead it ourselves for many years.

Get in touch

About us

Most buyers who call business owners want to fold a company into a larger group, cut costs, and sell it again in a few years. We are different. We are buying one company, and once we buy it, running it becomes our full-time job and its community becomes our home.

A search fund works like this. A group of investors pays for our search: our salaries, travel and legal costs while we look. When we find the right company, the same investors have the first right to fund the purchase, together with a Canadian bank or other senior lender. We confirm that funding before we ask an owner to sign a letter of intent.

After the sale, one of us becomes CEO and the other President and CFO, depending on which of us fits the day-to-day work best. Our investors are experienced search fund investors from Canada and the United States, several of them former searchers who now run the companies they bought. They are patient, and there is no fixed date by which the company has to be sold.

Our team

We met in 2022 on opposite sides of the same deal. Ethan was advising the founder of a BC concrete testing lab on its sale, and Anjali's firm was the buyer. The deal closed, we stayed in touch, and over the next three years we found we both wanted to run a company ourselves. We raised our fund in spring 2026 and have searched full-time since June.

Ethan Kowalski

Co-founder · Toronto, Ontario

Ethan grew up in Sudbury, where his grandfather ran a 14-person machine shop that served the local mines for 31 years. When his grandfather retired, no one was lined up to take it over, and the shop closed. That stayed with him.

Ethan started as a process engineer at an automotive parts plant in southwestern Ontario and worked up to production manager, responsible for a stamping line and a team of 22. After an MBA, he spent six years at a Toronto M&A firm advising founders on selling their companies, and worked on 19 completed sales.

He lives in Toronto with his wife and their two kids, aged 6 and 3. On weekends you will usually find them at the family cottage near Parry Sound.

2019–2025 Vice President, mid-market M&A advisory, Toronto
2018–2019 MBA, Ivey Business School
2013–2018 Process engineer, then production manager, automotive parts
2013 BASc Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo

Anjali Sandhu

Co-founder · Vancouver, British Columbia

Anjali grew up in Abbotsford. Her parents started a refrigerated trucking company with one truck in 1989 and grew it to 40 drivers. In 2018 they sold it to a family-run carrier in the Fraser Valley who kept every driver. She saw what a good handover looks like, and how much it meant to her parents.

She spent seven years at a BC geotechnical and materials testing firm, first as a field engineer and then as operations manager for 45 technicians across four Lower Mainland offices. She then joined a Vancouver private equity firm investing in industrial service companies, where she worked on 12 acquisitions and sat on two company boards.

She lives in Vancouver with her husband and spends as much time as she can hiking the North Shore and at her parents' place in Abbotsford.

2019–2025 Principal, mid-market private equity, Vancouver
2012–2019 Field engineer, then operations manager, materials testing
2012 BASc Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia
Designations P.Eng. (Engineers and Geoscientists BC), CFA

What we look for

These are guidelines, not hard rules. If your company is close on most of them, we would still like to hear from you. All figures are in Canadian dollars.

Size

$1.5M to $5M in annual EBITDA (profit)
$5M to $40M in revenue (a guide only)
Margins of 10% or more
20 to 150 employees

Business

10+ years in business and consistently profitable
Business customers who come back year after year
No single customer above about 25% of sales
An experienced team that runs the day-to-day
Owner looking to retire or step back

Industries we know best

Testing, inspection and calibration
Building services, such as fire protection and HVAC service
Engineering services, such as surveying and environmental consulting
Specialized manufacturing and repair
Industrial distribution

Location: Ontario and British Columbia first, but we will look at strong companies anywhere in English-speaking Canada. Not a fit: restaurants, retail, real estate, oil and gas exploration, and companies that are losing money. If we are not the right buyer, we will say so on the first call.

For business owners

Selling a company you built is a big decision. Here is what you can expect from us.

Your team stays

We don't buy companies to cut staff. Our plan depends on your people staying, and we tell them so in person on the day the sale is announced.

Your name stays

The company keeps its name, phone number and address. Customers deal with the same people they know.

You choose your transition

Most owners stay on for 6 to 12 months after the sale, paid at a fair rate. Some stay longer as an advisor.

Flexible terms

We aim to pay most of the price in cash at closing. If it suits you, you can also keep a share of the company, or take part of the price over time through a vendor note.

Taxes

We are open to buying shares instead of assets, which may let you use your lifetime capital gains exemption. Please check with your own accountant. We are happy to walk them through our proposal.

No fees to you

We pay our own lawyers and accountants and never charge an owner a fee. If you work with a broker, we are glad to go through them.

How the process works

A first conversation. A relaxed 30 to 45 minute call or coffee. No documents or numbers needed. Week 1
Confidentiality and a first look. We sign an NDA, then review three years of financial statements. Weeks 2 to 4
Visit and price range. We visit you and send a short letter with our valuation range and how we got there. Weeks 4 to 8
Letter of intent. Price, structure and your role after the sale, with a 75 to 90 day exclusivity period. Weeks 8 to 12
Due diligence. Accountants and lawyers confirm the details. We keep requests in one list and work around your busy season. Weeks 12 to 22
Closing. You are paid at closing, and together we tell your team and key customers. Weeks 22 to 26

Typically 4 to 6 months from first call to closing. You can stop at any point.

Common questions

Will anyone find out we are talking?

No. Every conversation is confidential, and we never contact your employees, customers or suppliers without your permission.

I'm a few years away from selling. Should I still call?

Yes. Many owners talk to us early to understand their options. Some of the best handovers we have seen were planned over two or three years, and we are happy to stay in touch with no pressure.

How do you work out what my company is worth?

We start with the company's normal yearly profit, adjusted for one-off items and the owner's own pay, and apply a multiple. The multiple goes up with things like loyal repeat customers and a team that doesn't depend on the owner. We show you our working, line by line.

Can you actually pay for a business this size?

Yes. Our investors have the first right to fund the equity, and we work with Canadian lenders for the rest. We confirm both before asking you to sign a letter of intent.

You both live in big cities. Will you really move?

Yes. Running the business in person is the whole point, and our families signed up for it before we started. Many of the best companies are in smaller cities and towns.

Have you bought a company before?

Not for ourselves. This is our one purchase. Professionally, we have worked on more than 30 completed sales of owner-run companies, Ethan on the seller's side and Anjali on the buyer's, so we know the process from both ends.

Get in touch

Call or email either of us directly. You will reach one of us, not an assistant, and we reply to every message within two business days.

hello@granitetidepartners.com

Ethan Kowalski · Toronto

(416) 555-0142

Anjali Sandhu · Vancouver

(604) 555-0187