Kingsbridge Business Brokers Review

Kingsbridge Business Brokers, also referred to as KBS or Kingsbridge Brokers, is a Houston, Texas-based M&A brokerage firm that works with privately held companies valued between $1 million and $250 million.

Founded by Josh Tolley, a serial entrepreneur who has started, bought, and sold businesses over a 25-year career, the firm positions itself as an alternative to the franchise-model brokerages that dominate much of the industry. Whether that pitch holds up under scrutiny is worth examining carefully before anyone hands over the keys to their business.

The company is headquartered at 1334 Brittmoore Rd, Houston, TX 77043, and can be reached at (833) 865-4647. Josh Tolley built Kingsbridge as a subsidiary of Tolley & Co after working with more than two dozen business brokers and concluding that none of them had the creative deal-structuring skills needed to properly represent a seller.

 That frustration became the founding philosophy: fewer listings, more attention per client, and a process that goes beyond simply posting a business on a listing site and waiting.

Kingsbridge is connected to Purple Monkey Garage, which the company describes as a "sports agency for businesses" that operates as a full business growth department. Both entities sit under the Tolley & Co family of businesses, which gives Kingsbridge clients access to a broader set of resources than most standalone brokerages can offer.

The firm handles deals on both sides of the table, buyers and sellers, with separate service tracks for each.

The Defined Asset Brokerage offering is the most unusual item on that list and arguably the one that most distinguishes Kingsbridge from competitors.

Instead of only brokering business sales, the firm structures deals like shared-resource agreements (trading surplus equipment for access to staff), competitor prepayment for excess capacity, and minority ownership arrangements that unlock new distribution channels. These are transaction types that most brokerage firms never touch.

Kingsbridge uses three established methodologies to price a business: the income approach, the market approach, and the asset-based approach. Each method is applied based on the business type and industry context, and the firm factors in local market trends alongside broader financial data.

This is standard practice across the industry, but Kingsbridge claims its edge comes from combining valuation accuracy with pre-sale positioning, working to increase a business's value before it ever hits the market.

The company points to one specific example: a business that was listed with a competing broker at $8 million without finding a buyer. After Kingsbridge took the listing, the firm sold it for $20 million.

That's a striking data point, though it's drawn from the company's own marketing materials and doesn't come with independent verification.

Client feedback pulled from Google reviews and LinkedIn testimonials paints a fairly consistent picture. A recurring theme is support through the complexity of the acquisition process, lending institutions, attorneys, timelines, and the general anxiety that comes with buying or selling a business for the first time.

One client described the experience after closing on their first business: "From selecting the right business to closing on the business by the end of September 2023. They are very skillful in navigating the various twists and turns associated with this process."

Another review noted: "My wife and I were completely new to business acquisition and he never failed to ensure we understood every option and step along the way."

The broker named most frequently in positive reviews is Michael Carvajal, who appears to have developed a reputation for patience and clear communication with first-time buyers.

Negative patterns in client feedback, where they exist, tend to center on a feeling of limited visibility during the process. Because Kingsbridge operates with significant autonomy over deal structure and buyer targeting, some clients report feeling disconnected from key decisions.

The firm's response, based on its own published materials, is that maintaining confidentiality and using a curated approach requires limiting the seller's direct involvement.

Most business brokerages operate one of two ways: franchise locations that follow a standardized system, or independent shops that try to maximize listing volume with limited staff per deal. Kingsbridge rejects both models outright.

A few concrete differences:

• Volume vs. depth: Kingsbridge openly states it does not try to take on hundreds of listings. The trade-off is fewer clients and more resources applied to each one.
• Post-sale support: Most brokers exit once a deal closes. Kingsbridge offers continued access to Tolley & Co resources, including business growth services through Purple Monkey Garage.
• Off-market sourcing: Rather than combing through public listings for buyers, the firm proactively identifies and approaches buyers who match the seller's ideal profile before a listing goes public.
• Deal creativity: The Defined Asset Brokerage framework is genuinely uncommon at the brokerage level. Joint ventures, shared-resource arrangements, and capacity agreements require a different skill set than standard M&A work.

Whether that translates into materially better outcomes depends heavily on the specific business, industry, and seller goals.

Kingsbridge does not publish its commission structure or fee schedule publicly, which is fairly typical for M&A brokerages in this size range. Commissions in business brokerage typically run between 8% and 12% for smaller deals, with the percentage decreasing as business value increases. Prospective clients would need to contact the firm directly for specifics.

The firm's stated 100% sell-rate through mid-2022 is a bold claim. It's worth asking how that rate is defined, whether it includes businesses that were withdrawn from the market, re-priced significantly, or structured with seller financing that made them more accessible to buyers.

What works in their favor:

• Genuine post-sale support through a connected ecosystem of companies
• Proactive, off-market buyer sourcing
• A founder with hands-on operating experience across multiple businesses
• Strong client reviews citing clear communication and deal navigation
• Defined Asset Brokerage for non-traditional revenue and growth deals

What to consider carefully:

• Sellers who want to stay closely involved in the process may feel sidelined
• Fee structure requires a direct conversation, no public pricing
• The firm's primary geographic footprint is Houston and Dallas, which may limit local network reach for businesses in other regions
• Bold claims like the 100% sell-rate and the $8M-to-$20M deal jump come from the firm's own marketing

What size businesses does Kingsbridge work with?

Kingsbridge focuses on privately held companies valued between $1 million and $250 million. Both buyers and sellers in that range are served, though the firm's approach differs for each. Buyers receive off-market deal sourcing, while sellers get full positioning, valuation, and buyer-targeting services.

Does Kingsbridge only operate in Texas?

The firm is headquartered in Houston and maintains a strong presence in Dallas and surrounding Texas markets. However, its services are not exclusively regional, the firm markets itself to clients nationally and references a broad buyer network that extends beyond local markets.

What happens after a deal closes?

This is where Kingsbridge differentiates itself most clearly from traditional brokers. Through its connection to Tolley & Co and Purple Monkey Garage, clients can access ongoing business support services including growth consulting, bookkeeping (MoneyWorks), and strategic advisory, services most brokerage firms don't offer at all once a transaction is complete.

Conclusion

Kingsbridge Business Brokers offers a more integrated, longer-horizon approach to business brokerage than most firms in its market segment, particularly for sellers who want a broker that thinks beyond the closing table.

The tradeoff is less seller control over the process and a pricing structure that requires a direct conversation to understand.