More than 80 SF acquisitions completed worldwide in 2024

After several weeks of compiling details on all transactions closed in 2024 (note that we likely missed some and may add a few undisclosed deals due to confidentiality reasons), we are pleased to release this initial overview.

The good news is that 2024 has been an excellent year for the SF industry, with more than 80 acquisitions recorded so far!

As usual, the USA dominates the market, with 33 deals recorded. Adding the 8 Canadian transactions, North America accounts for more than 50% of the total activity.

Europe emerges as the second most active market, largely thanks to Spain, which contributed 9 deals, followed by the UK with 6 and Italy with 4. Germany recorded only 2 transactions, but it is important to highlight that Europe’s largest-ever search fund transaction took place there. Meanwhile, only one transaction was concluded in France, and one each in Poland and the Netherlands.

The APAC region has also been quite active, with 3 deals in Australia and 8 in Japan—though in Japan, 90% of these were executed through various “accelerator” programs. Notably, pioneers have emerged in other countries such as China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and India, indicating that we can expect more diversity in the future.

Lastly, Latin America saw a total of 5 deals: 2 in Brazil and 3 in Mexico. Additionally, many new searchers have emerged in other Latin American countries over the past 18 months, suggesting that we may see more transactions in this region in 2025.

Exits: We still have too few exits globally (except in North America) to draw definitive conclusions about long-term performance. According to the latest research from IESE Business School, the most recent figures indicate an ROI of 2.0x and an IRR of 18.1%. In 2024, very few exits took place in Europe and Latin America, but two were particularly notable: Ctaima in Spain, described as the most successful SF investment in Europe to date, and Aguafría in Mexico.

Sector-wise, industrial deals have been significant this year, along with notable activity in B2B services. Education/EdTech, HVAC, IT Services, Software, Healthcare, and Beauty continue to account for a substantial share of transactions.

Below is the complete list of deals made in 2024: