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Private Equity firm Ethos Partners has recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of Ethos Search Capital (ESC), its division led by Jo Cockburn and Sandy Farmer, which supports aspiring entrepreneurs in sourcing, acquiring, and growing SMEs across Europe. Since embarking on its SF investment journey, ESC has backed 33 searchers across 8 geographies (UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Ireland, and the Netherlands), including, to name a few: Anchora Transmission, Anval, Ashington Capital, Ayete Partners, Cneo Partners, Forás Capital, Kortica Capital, Matter Capital, Roxbi Capital, Sailly Transmission, Sunrise Capital, Tasman Succession, and Terra Firma Capital. Most of the searchers are sector-agnostic, but 45% focus specifically on B2B Services, Industrial Services, and Software & IT Services.
Moreover, ESC has supported 9 acquisitions with nearly €30M of equity funding. 62% of funds invested in searcher acquisitions were concentrated in the UK, 12% in France, 9% in Italy, and another 9% in Portugal, while Germany and Spain represented 4% each. Recent transactions concluded in 2024 included investments in Garner Osborne, a high-end PCB manufacturing and assembly business, and the cyber security VARs Saepio, both in the UK, and the German software company Dedicom. In 2023, other deals they participated in included TodoExtintor and Seguretat SM Alcarràs (Spain), Effisus (Portugal), Forza (UK), and JD2M (France), with the first one being Water Direct, acquired in 2022.
Sandy Farmer, Partner of ESC, commented: “It has been a privilege over the past year to have met, and had the opportunity to support, so many high-calibre entrepreneurs. We see a significant opportunity for SFs to play a meaningful role in addressing the succession challenges faced by a multitude of SMEs across Europe. We’re pleased to be able to play a part to provide capital and support for talented entrepreneurs and attractive SMEs.” Jules Carr, CEO of Ethos Partners, added: “As Ethos celebrates this milestone, we remain enthused by the SF model and optimistic about future opportunities.”
