We buy good businesses and keep the momentum your team built.
SEL Group LLC makes majority investments in established Chicagoland businesses and holds them for the long term. We buy to hold, and the people who made the business work stay at the center of it.
What we look for
We keep our criteria simple and we're upfront about them. If your business fits, a conversation with us will be worth your time.
EBITDA range
Established, consistently profitable businesses. We buy things that already work and keep them working.
Ownership position
We acquire a majority stake. Owners who want to stay involved can retain meaningful equity; owners ready to step away can transition on a timeline that works.
Hold period
We're patient capital. We hold for the long term, which means decisions get made for where the business is going, not for the next exit.
Geography
We invest close to home. Being local means we know the market, we show up in person, and we're accountable to the same community you are.
The kinds of businesses we buy
We focus on two areas where businesses earn their place in a community and keep earning it year after year.
Essential services
The quiet businesses their customers can't skip, whether that customer is a company or a homeowner. Recurring, relationship-driven work where the service is essential, the revenue is steady, and the team's know-how keeps customers coming back. If your customers would notice within a week if you disappeared, we should talk.
Youth enrichment
The programs families build their weeks around. Businesses that teach, coach, and develop kids, run by instructors and staff that parents trust. We understand what makes these businesses special, and our first commitment is keeping that intact.
Sound like your business?
If most of this sounds like you, we'd love to talk, even if your industry isn't one we've bought in before.
A straightforward process
Selling a business you spent years building shouldn't feel like an ambush. Here's what working with us looks like.
A conversation
Confidential, no obligation. We learn about your business and you learn how we operate.
A fair offer
Clear valuation, clean terms, no games. We tell you exactly how we got to our number.
A smooth close
We move at your pace, keep it quiet until you're ready, and the offer we make is the offer we close on.
A long partnership
Your team stays, your customers stay, and the business keeps its momentum, with more resources behind it.
"The business you built runs on people. Our job is to keep that going, not reinvent it."
The managers, instructors, and staff who made your business worth buying are the reason we're buying it. We add support behind the scenes, in the back office and the marketing, and leave the work your team is great at in their hands.
Hi, I'm Danielle.
I started SEL Group LLC to buy good businesses and hold them for the long term. Over my career I've sat on nearly every side of a business: auditing them at EY, working on mergers and acquisitions at KPMG, earning my MBA at Chicago Booth, and building and running teams as an operator.
I also run Numeriq Advisors, where I work with small and mid-size businesses on putting practical AI workflows to work. That mix means I understand how a business actually runs, day to day, not just how it reads on paper.
When you sell to SEL Group LLC, you work with me directly. We have committed capital from investors and entrepreneurs behind us, which means we can move when the fit is right. We're patient capital, here for the long term, so how healthy your business is years from now matters more to us than any quick return.
Thinking about what's next for your business?
Whether you're ready to sell or just starting to think about it, we're happy to talk, confidentially and without any pressure.
Start a conversation