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Cabiedes Capital is undoubtedly one of the most active global players in the SF landscape. Since its first foray into the sector—supporting the acquisition of Repli by Ariol Capital in 2014—they have participated in over 235 search funds worldwide, completed 70 acquisitions, and realized 12 exits.
The family office, founded by Luis and José Cabiedes, was strengthened last year with the addition of a new branch of the family and the consequent incorporation of Iñigo Barbed into the team as General Partner. Their vision remains unchanged: fully “skin in the game,” investing their own capital, and maintaining a long-term perspective. They plan to continue backing around 30 searchers per year, investing €5–6M annually across roughly a dozen acquisitions, with an average ticket size of €400-500k. Statistically, they have supported the acquisition efforts of 60% of the searchers they back.
2025 perfectly illustrates their intense activity. They supported more than 30 searchers worldwide, including 6 in Italy (Albatross Partners, B2R Italian Investments, Columbus Capital, Nostos Capital, Vitis Capital, and Vulturnus), 5 in the UK (Castelnau Capital, Fairmile Partners, MACI Search Capital, Norte Partners, and Shorefox Partners), 4 in Brazil (Segundo Ato Investimentos, Vesper Capital, Batis Capital and Ibiacy Capital), and others across Portugal, Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Chile, India, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore. They noted that, recently, they have observed exceptionally talented searchers emerging in Brazil and India.
Additionally, they participated in 11 acquisitions, including Samu (France), ABC Empilhadeiras (Brazil), New Roglass (Italy), EZS Identtechnik and SOS Software Service (Germany), AlpinEnergie (Austria), JCE (Portugal), and 4 in Spain (GSE Composystem, Manufacturas Deportivas, Alonso Luz y Gas, and Nextclima). Focusing on small acquisitions, José explained that they are increasingly targeting more capital-efficient businesses. Contrary to broader sector trends, they have been acquiring at progressively lower multiples compared to the previous year, with an average across their last 12 transactions of 4.75x EBITDA and approximately 3.11x equity-to-cash-flow.
One of the most remarkable developments for them in 2025 was the high number of exits they completed—7 in total: Water Direct (UK), GHS (France), TeclenaJuncor (Portugal), and four in Spain (Anek, Logiscenter, Mapex, and CropSalsa). Considering the five previous exits they had already completed, Cabiedes Capital is likely among the SF investors with the most substantial track record to demonstrate the performance of the asset class. Following this dozen exits, they achieved a gross MOIC of 5x (over 4x net), with a median IRR above 35%.
According to Iñigo, these excellent results are the product of strong diversification in their portfolio—both geographically and across industries. Among the four typical levers to create value (leverage, multiple expansion, and organic or inorganic growth), in their case, for industrial companies, the right capital structure (around 55% leverage) is the most important lever, followed by multiple expansion which emphasizes maintaining price discipline at entry. After that, 60–70% of growth has been driven inorganically through bolt-on acquisitions.
