C R O S O I A D S S R O
IESE Dean Franz Heukamp, with Professor Rob Johnson, conference co-organizer.
2nd INTERNATIONAL SEARCH FUND CONFERENCE
DON’T START A COMPANY; BUY ONE AND HELP IT GROW For the second time, IESE brings together the pioneers of the search fund, an innovative model that attracts entrepreneurs and investors from around the world.
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JANUARY-MARCH 2017 / No. 144
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ESE’s Barcelona campus hosted the 2nd International Search Fund Conference, which convened key players from Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia to discuss one of the hottest investment and growth systems around the globe. Through this event and its close collaboration with Stanford University, IESE stands out as a major epicenter of this new model.
BUT WHAT IS A SEARCH FUND?
It’s essentially a system whereby an entrepreneur – l often a young, recent MBA grad – wants to grow an existing company rather than start one from scratch. To achieve this, he or she needs the trust of a group of investors who will finance and guide the search process and will eventually fund the purchase of the selected company. In the conference’s opening session, “The Basics of Search Funds,” the panel analyzed some of the key steps in the process. Blake Winchell, managing director of Partner Ventures and Fremont Ventures in Silicon Valley explains, “It’s essential to look for stable companies that generate income to pay for debt and enable growth.” Jürgen Rilling (MBA ’99), owner and managing director of investment and consulting group Mirablau, emphasized that “the investor group should be heterogeneous and its members should be highly committed to collaboration.” Jon Herzog, a partner in Goodwin Procter’s Private Equity and Technology Companies Group, argued, “The deal is like writing a book with several co-authors; their relationships, concerns and emotions will be reflected.” From the perspective of the searchers, Kilian Lamprecht, managing director of Frankfurt-based Succession Associates, highlighted the importance of “connecting with other searchers, since sometimes it’s a very lonely process.” Guy Solomon, managing director of Tel-Aviv based Trail Mark Partners, also participated in the conference, held October 27-28. He stressed that being the first searcher in a given market provides a definite advantage.
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