Published on Wealth Solutions Report | Authored by Jeff Berman
Alaris Acquisitions on Tuesday announced the release of the Alaris Lens Application, an AI-driven matchmaking platform for buyers and sellers that the Charlotte, North Carolina-based wealth management sell-side M&A consultancy said was developed to meet the needs of RIAs.
Lens offers users “fast and accurate matches, transforming the way M&A transactions are made in wealth management,” Alaris said in a news release.
Getting the best deal or outcome in an M&A transaction is not just about numbers, according to the firm. Although the “largest upfront valuation, the highest cash offer or the strongest post-acquisition growth incentives are common considerations, they typically focus only on price and terms,” Alaris pointed out.
Alaris, which means “matchmaker” in Latin, analyzes various points of alignment between companies, including cultural fit, initial valuation and post-acquisition economics for the seller, the firm said.
The traditional approach tends to overlook the cultural fit of firms, according to Alaris. Because most sellers remain involved after an acquisition, “ensuring cultural alignment is essential for a successful partnership,” Alaris said.
Lens uses an AI-based algorithm to “analyze hundreds of objective data points to generate a compatibility score that matches RIAs with potential buyers,” according to the firm.
“By reducing time and expense – while expanding access to a broader pool of potential buyers – Lens streamlines the M&A process,” Alaris noted.
Although it wasn’t developed directly in response to something clients had been asking for, Allen Darby, CEO and Founder of Alaris, told WSR that Lens “addresses common frustrations we hear from sellers,” adding, “Many struggle with understanding who the buyers are, how the process works and how to vet potential partners.”
Lens “solves these challenges,” he said, pointing out that, although “past attempts at marketplaces allowed sellers to simply list their practices for sale, that’s not what Lens is.”
He explained, “Traditional marketplaces provide a basic listing with no real matching. Lens, on the other hand, is a dynamic, two-way screening tool that evaluates compatibility between buyers and sellers. Developing this required us to first gather extensive buyer data – a process that took four years and thousands of hours.”
M&A advisors also tend to have “very limited data on the buyers outside of how they might structure a transaction,” Darby said. “This forces them to use the only tool available to find a buyer for their client: the blind financial auction.”
Alaris “saw the opportunity to combine today’s technology with our knowledge of the buyers, accrued and compiled over years and thousands of hours,” Darby added.
Alaris has been using Lens “internally for about 6 months,” he told WSR, noting it first became available in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Darby said, “The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Buyers are impressed by how advanced Lens is compared to other sell-side advisor data—it provides a far more detailed and personalized view of prospective sellers. For sellers, the reaction is often ‘Wow, this is amazing,’ as there’s nothing else like it. Knowing they are being screened against such a large buyer pool at once is eye-opening.”
Lens “leverages AI to create contextual, reason-based matches, something that hasn’t been possible until now,” he told WSR.
“With its user-friendly, AI-powered matchmaking platform, Alaris Lens offers a centralized, efficient and cost-effective alternative to legacy approaches,” the firm said.
It would be “utterly absurd” to invite 50 or more buyers into the process, according to Darby. He noted, “With that many potential buyers involved, it becomes impossible to devote the necessary time to truly connect with your future partner and reach a place of genuine cultural alignment. Unsurprisingly, buyers have a strong disdain for the auction process. Rather than helping them assess whether the seller aligns with their business model, it relies on tactics like scarcity, time pressure and fear to drive up valuations.”
However, by inviting just buyers with substantial, if not “optimal compatibility,” to the seller, Lens “creates a more focused competitive process, allowing sellers to spend more time with prospective buyers and confirm a cultural fit,” Darby said.
https://wealthsolutionsreport.com/2025/03/12/alaris-introduces-ai-driven-ma-matchmaking-solution-for-advisors/
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