Last publication: October 13, 2022 | Updated January 19, 2023

Search funds continue to go global

IESE’s 2022 study of international search funds – covering those outside the United States and Canada – observed 211 first-time funds from 34 countries on five continents.
International search-fund activity reached new peaks last year, with 44 new funds formed and 23 acquisitions made.
For the searchers, who tend to recent MBA graduates, the four most popular sectors for acquisition-hunting were technology, healthcare, transportation and logistics, and manufacturing.
Last year, nine new search funds were formed in countries that had never been home to a search fund before.

By Peter Kelly, Sara Heston
2022 | Case No. E807 | Length 31 pgs.

Entrepreneurship:
The 2022 Search Fund Study reports on the financial returns and key qualities of search funds formed in the United States and Canada since 1984. This report updates the previous 2020 study with data through December 31, 2021.

Learning Objective:
This study provides data to support the search fund community including current searchers, CEOs, investors and entrepreneurs evaluating whether they want to pursue a search fund.