Market note · 2 April 2026 · 5 min read
Search funds in the UK: who is buying, at what size, and why
A short structural note on UK search-fund activity in 2026: deal sizes, sector concentration, and how their mandates read on the register.
Search funds, small pools of investor capital raised to acquire a single UK business, have become one of the most active buyer types on the register. The population is small, the mandates are specific, and the searchers themselves are typically operators-in-waiting rather than institutional investors.
Deal size and structure
Most UK search mandates target businesses with £1m–£5m of EBITDA. Deal structures usually combine equity from the searcher's investor group with senior debt sized against sustainable cash flow. Vendor rollover and earn-outs are common but rarely dominant.
Sector concentration
Search funds have been notably active in B2B services, specialist distribution, healthcare services, education services and vertical software. These sectors share recurring revenue, resilient margins and manageable operational complexity, a fit with the searcher's intent to run the business post-completion.
How search mandates read on the register
Search-fund mandates on the register are among the most explicit: they specify sector, minimum EBITDA, geography, ownership succession and the searcher's own background. Owners considering a private sale to an operator-buyer often find these among the easier mandates to assess.