One concept to bind them: An exploration of the search fund phenomenon

Using established theories, this study examines the private equity model of search funds with the aim of enhancing our understanding of this phenomenon and elucidating the factors contributing to its current success. Despite the rapidly growing importance of search funds in practice, research about the model remains limited. We draw on 21 semi-structured interviews with searchers, investors, and target firm CEOs to contribute to this emerging field of research. Our results include a detailed overview of the search fund process, offering unique insights into key milestones and critical activities that determines a successful search fund process. Furthermore, using entrepreneurial opportunity literature, we argue and verify that search funds represent a novel entry mode into entrepreneurship, and hence, searchers can be seen as entrepreneurs. In addition, using family firm succession literature, we compare search funds to internal and external alternatives in the succession process. Based on their unique configurations, searchers can be seen as hybrid alternatives that combine positive aspects of internal and external succession candidates. This combination creates a family business without kinship that has the potential to be the second-best option for family firms after the internal succession. The study holds valuable contributions to research on entrepreneurship and family businesses as well as for practitioners involved in the search fund model.