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Bietou Capital’s managing partners, Thys Visser and Theuns Lategan, have been part-time investors in the SF space since 2017. After years of tracking and participating in the ecosystem, they formalized their involvement by restructuring and launching a new Bietou Capital, a private investment firm committed to becoming a leading partner in the global SF industry.
“Succession issues allow investors to acquire high-quality SMEs with established revenue channels, strong margins, and free cash flow-generating models, typically at valuations that offer both downside protection and significant upside potential. These businesses are typically overlooked: too large for most individual buyers, yet too small for private equity. This allows investors to purchase dependable cash flow streams at low single digit multiples. We’re drawn to this diversified, risk-adjusted return profile.”
Their first SF investment was Voke (Agasus) in Brazil in 2018. Since then, they’ve supported numerous searchers across South America, Europe, and Asia Pacific (Australia and New Zealand).
Bietou Capital is structured as an investment holding company, backed by permanent capital. This enables a genuinely long-term investment approach, unconstrained by fixed fund cycles or predefined exit timelines. They invest their own capital in every deal and only commit when conviction is high and valuations are fair, even if it means passing on good opportunities. “We believe capital compounds best when invested over extended periods. Traditional fund structures often prioritize short-term gains over sustainable value creation.”
Their goal is to be a permanent shareholder in a portfolio of globally diversified private companies with defendable business models. “Building a pipeline of high-quality global opportunities is challenging, and this is where the search fund model excels. We partner with talented entrepreneurs to take over and improve already profitable businesses in need of succession. These entrepreneurs typically operate in their home countries, where they have deep networks, cultural fluency, and access to local capital and guidance. They also benefit from the international pool of capital and expertise. The model aligns incentives well, and our return profile reflects that.”
This evergreen strategy allows flexibility: partnering with searchers, bridging equity gaps, pursuing long-term holds, and participating in secondaries. They typically commit half or a full unit in each fund, with an average ticket of around $500k, though they can deploy larger sums and are enthusiastic about bolt-on and build-up strategies.
While sector agnostic, they favour traditional businesses where capital can remain deployed long term to maximize compounding. They target free cash flow-generating companies with recurring revenues, strong profitability, and consistent demand, with alignment between investor and searcher as the top priority. Diversification, including exposure to emerging markets, is also key.
Their objective is to continue backing around a dozen searchers per year, adding strategic value through active board participation where possible. SFs backed in the past 9 months include Lynx Trail Capital (Poland), SMEVentures 6 & 8 (Australia), Tilo Capital (USA), Longview Owners (New Zealand), Netherwood Capital Partners (Argentina), Vesper Capital (Brazil), Condor Ventures (Chile), and Colca Capital Fund III (Peru).
