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Belgium-based WAD Capital, one of the leading institutional search fund platforms in Europe, has announced a first close of €67.5M, with the European Investment Fund as a €25M cornerstone investor, alongside family offices, private investors, and Wallonie Entreprendre. The firm has set a €130M final target, with a portfolio goal of 25 companies by the end of 2027.
WAD Capital defines itself as an ETA Accelerator, more precisely, as an incubator enabling outstanding entrepreneurs to acquire and build exceptional businesses. Each acquisition is led by a pre-selected CEO-in-Residence who takes operational leadership from day one, backed by a structured board of five experts and a proprietary data engine that screens tens of thousands of European SMEs annually to build realistic acquisition shortlists.
“Eight acquisitions in less than a year show that our model is working and that Europe recognizes the importance of what we do,” says Steven Coppens, Managing Partner. “Hundreds of thousands of European SMEs are looking for a successor and can’t find one. With this capital, we can connect experienced CEOs with these companies faster and keep more jobs and more businesses in European hands.”
In just nine months, WAD Capital has completed eight acquisitions and has five additional transactions in progress. The average transaction size is €9M, with a sector focus on health services, energy and climate transition, and business services. The firm focuses its search on the Benelux, northern France, and western Germany. WAD Capital acquires an 80% majority stake, while the incoming CEO invests the remaining 20%. The companies acquired include HBI Tyres & Wheels (Netherlands), Kantoor Lardenoit, E-Demonstrations, Ausloos, Mignone, Alsec, Euro-M, and Jordan.
“It’s clear that our track record makes recruitment easier,” adds Alain Brossé, Managing Partner. “Especially because we’re not creating yet another SME-focused private equity fund. We are industrialising the search fund model, a model that has generated an average IRR of 35% over the past thirty years, to build one of Europe’s largest institutional platforms dedicated to entrepreneurship through acquisition.”
WAD Capital’s long-term ambition is to support 1,000 CEOs-in-Residence, comments Christopher Tournis Gamble, Managing Partner. This ambition positions WAD Capital not as a single fund, but as a durable European platform for ETA, built to scale alongside the succession needs of the continent’s 24 million SMEs.
