I'm currently exploring the various search fund models and I'm curious to know how different people have gone about structuring their deals with investors (if applicable) after a self-funded search. Would anyone be willing to share what they've seen or what they personally worked out for their acquisition?
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Searchfunder is an online community and toolkit for searchfunds. Over 80% of those involved in searchfunds maintain a Searchfunder.com account to help them network, problem solve challenges, and keep up with the industry.
We maintain partnerships with database providers that make searching more effective, efficient and affordable along with features that help searchers find deals and investors and vice versa.
We maintain partnerships with database providers that make searching more effective, efficient and affordable along with features that help searchers find deals and investors and vice versa.
- If you're talking to institutional investors (Funds of search funds, serial investors in search funds), you'll get the same investment structure as a searcher in terms of hurdle IRRs, equity tranches etc, but you will allowed to bill all costs of your search (hence the importance of rigorous accounting and data collection); this means that you won't have had the searcher salary,
- If you're talking to a wider audience, you will still have a tough negotiation for the equity tranches (typically closer to a traditional PE-backed management package + preferred conditions for buying-out a significant share of the company); the important point here is that whatever the practices, all options are on the table if you have the right opportunity: great ones are very rare.