SME Succession & Search Fund Insights
What we're building, thinking, and exploring. Stay updated with our latest releases and thoughts.
How Search Funds Generate Returns for Investors
The 2024 Stanford GSB Search Fund Study records a 35.1% aggregate IRR across 681 funds since 1984. Here is what drives those returns, where the international data diverges, and how WAD Capital's cohort structure addresses the gap.
What Makes WAD Capital Different from Standard Private Equity?
WAD Capital operates as private equity in Belgium where standard buyout funds do not go: profitable SMEs with no succession plan. Here is how the model works and what it produces for sellers, operators, and investors.
We Bought Three Belgian Companies in 90 Days. Here Is What We Learned.
WAD Capital closed three Belgian SME acquisitions in 90 days. Christopher Tournis Gamble on what worked, what was hard, and what the sellers taught the team.
The First 90 Days: Managing People When You Take Over an SME
Taking over an acquired SME is as much a human challenge as an operational one. A practical guide for CEOs-in-Residence on managing the people dynamics of the first 90 days post-acquisition.
Selling Your Business in Belgium: What Retiring Founders Actually Need to Know
A plain-language guide to the five exit options available to retiring Belgian SME owners, with an honest assessment of what each route means for your business, your people, and your legacy.
What Female Entrepreneurs Should Know About the European SME Succession Crisis
Female entrepreneurs are almost absent from European ETA. WAD Capital's Cohort 2026 is open to women executives ready to acquire and lead a profitable SME.
Why We Replaced ESG With CARE-PROFIT: What Changed and Why It Matters for Your SME
ESG frameworks were built for listed companies. WAD Capital designed CARE-PROFIT for Belgian SMEs facing succession. Here is what changed and why it matters.
Is Your Business Ready for Succession? What the Process Actually Looks Like
Most SME owners start succession planning too late and sell to the wrong buyer. Here is what a structured SME succession process looks like, and how WAD Capital approaches it differently.
Why Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Takes 20 Months? (and How to Cut That in Half)
According to Stanford GSB, the median acquisition takes 20 months. Learn why solo searchers struggle with infrastructure and how WAD Capital’s CEO-in-Residence program accelerates the path to ownership in 9–15 months.
What Makes a Successful CEO-in-Residence at WAD Capital?
WAD Capital selects ~10 CEOs per cohort from 500+ candidates. Learn what separates successful CEOs-in-Residence across the search, acquisition, and leadership phases.
The European Succession Crisis in Numbers: What the Data Actually Shows
690,000 European SMEs face ownership transfers annually. A 3-to-1 successor gap widening since 2012. The European succession crisis in hard numbers, and what it means for the Benelux and beyond.