IESE vs Stanford: Two 2026 Search Fund Studies Side by Side
Stanford and IESE 2026 search fund studies disagree on acquisition rates and returns, but agree on what matters: speed to a first LOI and a second searcher.
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Showing 7 posts with tag: market-trends
LOI Prices vs. Closing Multiples: The Gap Is in the Tails
Two years of LOI prices on deals presented to us (n=272) against Axial's closed-deal multiples: the medians match, the tails don't.
Search Fund Return Dispersion: Headline Aggregates Mislead
Understand search fund return dispersion, how exclusions change an aggregate, and what loss figures leave unresolved. Check evidence before drawing conclusions.
Q2 2025 Closed Deals: 5 Takeaways from 584 SMB Acquisitions
TTM multiples slid to 3.3x in Q2 2025 — a 12-quarter low. Five takeaways from Search Fund Ventures' analysis of 584 SMB closed deals.
SMB Purchase Multiples 2015–2025: A Decade of Data
Average SMB acquisition multiples fell to 4.3x EBITDA in 2025, down from a 6.7x peak in 2017. What 10 years of data tells us about the lower middle market.
Why Top VCs Are Buying Small Businesses (And What It Means for Valuations)
Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed, and General Catalyst are pivoting to small business buy-and-build strategies. Here's why venture capital is entering the SMB market and what investors need to watch for as valuation conventions change.
The Silver Tsunami: Why 2026 Is the Best Time to Invest in Small Businesses
10M+ baby boomer business owners are retiring, creating unprecedented deal flow. Here's why smart investors are positioning now for the SMB acquisition wave.