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Today’s Rundown

• New public-private market evolution

• Search fund vs independent sponsor model

• Searcher insights of partnering with NCA and acquiring two companies

• 2 deal announcements

• 10 new career opportunities

Database Overview

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Weekly Highlights

• Bloomberg published an opinion letter on the new public-private market, highlighting the evolution of PE/VC firms:

  • Private investment firms are increasingly targeting retail investors, blurring the traditional distinction between public and private markets

  • Large alternative asset managers, like KKR, are seeking growth by accessing millions of smaller investors rather than just large institutions

  • Public mutual fund managers, constrained by fee pressure in public markets, are partnering with private firms to offer higher-margin private market products

  • Capital Group and KKR have launched hybrid funds combining public equities with private assets such as buyouts and real estate, aimed at individual investors

  • The demand for access to private markets is driven by their higher return potential and the absence of low-fee indexing alternatives

  • Private equity's appeal lies in its ability to actively manage and improve underperforming businesses, justifying higher fees compared to passive public strategies

  • New structures like holding companies (e.g., Thrive Holdings) are emerging to own and operate private businesses long-term, using AI to drive operational efficiencies

  • Venture firms are adopting roll-up strategies, acquiring smaller businesses in traditional sectors and enhancing them with AI, creating a tech-enabled form of private equity

• SouthFloridaReport published an article on the key differences in deal dynamics between the search fund and independent sponsors model:

  • Search fund: capital-first, structured equity:

    • Search funds raise “search capital” upfront from a small group of investors, providing credibility and financial support for a broad, methodical deal search

    • Once a target company is found, the original investors typically have pro rata rights to fund the acquisition, forming a tightly aligned investor group around a single deal

    • Equity is structured with vesting over time, rewarding the searcher for value creation and aligning incentives with long-term investor returns, under standardized economic terms

  • Independent sponsor: deal-first, flexible capital stack:

    • Independent sponsors secure a deal under LOI before raising capital, building a bespoke capital stack (debt and equity) tailored to that transaction

    • Financing sources vary - family offices, PE firms, high-net-worth individuals - and are negotiated per deal, offering flexibility but requiring strong sponsor credibility and investor trust

    • Deal economics include negotiated fees (e.g., closing or management fees) and carried interest, with structures varying significantly by deal size, complexity, and capital partner preferences

• Searcher Dean Curran, CEO at Garner Osborne Circuits and Active-PCB Solutions, shared insights about working together with NCA and acquiring two companies:

  • Partnering with NCA enabled deal execution by providing full M&A, legal, and investor relations support, filling gaps in transaction experience and capital access

  • The first acquisition, Garner Osborne Circuits, was a classic fit: stable EBITDA, customer diversity, growth potential, and a retiring founder open to transition

  • The second acquisition, Active-PCB Solutions, was sourced pre-close of the first deal through proactive industry networking and was run in parallel

  • Despite proximity, the two businesses had no customer overlap, making them highly complementary and strategically ideal for group formation

  • Parallel deal execution required careful timing, with transaction stages staggered to manage workload and ensure post-acquisition momentum

  • Initial investors were pre-aligned to support a second equity raise; an equity gap was filled through new investors introduced by NCA’s network

  • The group was designed for synergy, not merger: shared sourcing, complementary capabilities, internal services, and joint procurement drive efficiency without integration risk

  • Top post-close priorities include ERP unification, lean process adoption, automation investment, and capturing growth without increasing headcount

  • Maintaining a live deal pipeline - even during due diligence - proved critical in securing a proprietary follow-on deal and creating outsized strategic value

Deal Announcements

• 🇪🇸 KG Capital, the search fund vehicle of Vagn Knudsen Salazar, acquired Plásticos Hernanz, a reusable cup manufacturer (link)

• 🇪🇸 SAMY Alliance, a Bridgepoint asset and global ecosystem of specialized and integrated marketing and communications solutions, acquired Intermate Group, an ECM asset a group of social media marketing agencies (link)

Career Opportunities

• [PE-Asset] CFO | MCM Medsys | Solothurn (apply)*

• [PE-Asset] Head of M&A | THRONSBERG | Hamburg (apply)*

• [PE-Asset] Head of M&A | Gambit Search | London (apply)*

• [PE-Asset] Head of M&A | Cooper Fitch | London (apply)*

• [PE] Investment Director | HF Opportunities | Frankfurt (apply)

• [PE] Investment Manager/Director | Growth Partner | London (apply)

• [PE] Investment Manager/Director | DreamQuest Recruitment | Hamburg (apply)*

• [PE] Senior Investment Associate | Talentedge Exec | London | £150-200k+ carry (apply)*

• [PE] Investment Intern | IceLake | Munich (apply)

• [PE] Private Equity Operations Intern | NGC Nachfolgekapital | Munich (apply)

_*Headhunter

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