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Today’s Rundown

• How to build highly successful search funds

• How to build high-impact search fund boards

• Search funds as hybrid succession models

• 4 deal announcements (1 search fund exit)

• 12 career opportunities

Weekly Highlights

• In his podcast, David Weisburd interviewed Robert Cherun on launching his own search fund to building and exiting a highly successful business:

  • 15 years ago, starting a search fund required seeking out wealthy individuals for funding, making it a niche and risky endeavor; today, the industry is much more professionalized and institutionalized, making fund raising and acquiring a business easier

  • Search funds are growing rapidly with $3 billion invested to date; $700 million (25% of total investments) was invested in just the last two years

  • The difference between raising capital to fund a startup vs. raising capital for a search fund to purchase an existing business is the risk profile

    • For the startup you are betting twice (on the idea and the person) while for the search fund you are mainly betting once (only on the person because the business is already worth something and is speaking for itself)

  • Ideal CEO has rather a builder profile than a visionary profile while Robert has a bias towards “likeable and fair” CEOs

  • Returns with co-CEOs are better than with single CEOs mainly due to complementary skill set and greater horsepower

• Ibrahim Abdel Rahim, Managing Partner at search fund investors Moonbase Capital, shared his view on how to build high-impact search fund boards:

  • Boards provide mentorship, strategic guidance, and leadership support beyond financial oversight and a diverse mix of investors, operators, and industry experts strengthens decision-making

  • As companies grow, boards should shift focus from capital protection to value creation

  • Engaged boards contribute beyond meetings through mentorship, networking, and strategic input

  • Independent directors provide industry expertise and mediate investor-CEO conflicts

  • Meetings should focus on solving challenges, not just reviewing past performance

  • Strong boards support CEO development in decision-making, hiring, and resilience

  • Great boards prioritize sustainable success over short-term financial gains

• Dustin Bauer, Tobias Reif, and Sebastian Junge published their paper on one concept to bind them: an exploration of the search fund phenomenon:

  • Many target firms in search fund acquisitions are family businesses with aging owners who lack internal successors

  • The study finds that searchers exhibit characteristics of both internal and external successors:

    • Like internal successors, they maintain company values and relationships

    • Like external successors, they bring professional expertise and growth potential

  • Search funds offer a hybrid succession model, making them an attractive alternative for family businesses facing leadership transitions

  • Sellers are often more willing to sell to searchers than to private equity firms due to shared values, long-term commitment, and trust-based relationships

  • Successful acquisitions of searchers depend on a combination of financial incentives and socioemotional factors

Deal Announcements

• 🇪🇸 Everfield, a buy and build platform focused on vertical market and specialist software companies, acquired Vozitel, an asset acquired by search fund Syna Capital and provider of all-in-one service for contact centers (link)

• 🇩🇪 Kripp & Stanjek Unternehmensnachfolge, a search fund led by Gaudenz Kripp and Cassian Stanjek, acquired EZS Group, a provider of labels and marking solutions (link)

• 🇩🇪 Altamount Software, a GRC buy and build platform of CHAPTERS GROUP, acquired Verkehrsautomatisierung Berlin, a provider of system solutions for public transportation (link)

• 🇩🇪 JTL Software, a Hg asset and ERP software provider, acquired Dealavo, price analysis tools (link)

Career Opportunities

• [PE-Asset] CFO | CorpFin Search | Frankfurt (apply)*

• [PE-Asset] Corporate Development Director | CorpFin Search | Zurich (apply)*

• [PE-Asset] Group Finance Director | Altus Partners | London (apply)*

• [PE-Asset] Head of Finance | Fishing Base | Remote (apply)

• [PE-Asset] M&A Manager | CorpFin Search | London (apply)*

• [PE-Asset] M&A Manager | CorpFin Search | Hamburg (apply)*

• [PE-Asset] M&A Associate | PER | London (apply)*

• [PE] Investment Manager / Director | CorpFin Search | Hamburg (apply)*

• [PE] Investment Analyst / Associate | capiton | Berlin (apply)

• [PE] Investment Analyst / Associate | Tim Wagner Personalberatung | Berlin (apply)

• [PE] Investment Analyst | CorpFin Search | Frankfurt (apply)*

• [PE] Investment Working Student | Marathon Software | Stockholm (apply)

_*Headhunter

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