33 PortCos in 6 Years
Robert Graham, based in Dallas, graduated from HBS in 2018 and acquired his first company the year after as a self-funded searcher using SBA7a financing. After a turbulent start, this healthcare platform exploded to $30m of EBITDA and now "hemorrhages cash." That early breakout win became the engine behind SIG Partners, recently named a Top 20 independent sponsor by Axial, which has since assembled an extraordinary 33 platforms in just 6 years.
Robert serves as CEO of Pillar Health Group and is a Founding Partner at SIG Partners, operating out of the Old Parkland campus in Dallas. SIG has built a sizable presence online, approaching 10,000 followers on LinkedIn. They're well connected with SBA7a lenders, HNWis, brokers & intermediaries, and specialist vendors, giving him leverage across financing, execution, and repeatable deal flow. Years of consistency have produced durable relationships with SBA7a lenders, HNW investors, brokers & intermediaries, and specialist vendors who trust SIG's ability to close.
Pillar Health Group began with 3 small home-care, home-health, and hospice acquisitions in 2019. The early period was turbulent, but the business soon entered a breakout phase, ending 2024 at roughly $19m of adjusted EBITDA on close to $80m of revenue. Projections point toward nearly $30m of EBITDA in 2026, supported by ~$127m of revenue. About 40% of all growth has been organic, while the remainder has come through acquisitions. The organic push has centered on expanding scale and revenue, not tightening costs, drive pricing, or extracting efficiencies.
SIG Partners mirrors these principles. The firm employs a 5-person sourcing team and a dedicated post-closing growth leader. Pricing is a major lever across most SIG companies, and the firm deliberately favors "boring" businesses with stable demand and commercial headroom. The average acquisition is ~$2.5m of EBITDA; SIG closed nine such deals in 2024. Execution frameworks include EOS and double-the-business strategy planning. SIG has shifted from supporting first-time searchers to pairing mid-career operators with high-quality platforms, targeting a portfolio-level return near 30% IRR.
Robert argues forcefully for the value of SBA-enabled liquidity in the American small-business ecosystem. Default rates remain low (~3%), and he claims borrowers can reset their financial lives through well-structured bankruptcy protections. Leverage, liquidity, and second-chance mechanisms are far more constrained in Europe, which Robert uses to explain that the US better enables entrepreneurship, continuity of ownership, and the transfer of long-standing businesses to capable new stewards.
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