Pioneer Capital

We specialise in providing funding for successful individuals who wish to complete a management buy-in and need support whilst they are searching for and negotiating an acquisition.

We do this by establishing individual search funds - a proven two-stage model for private equity investment. In the first stage, a group of professional investors back an entrepreneur to search for a target company to acquire. In the second stage, upon completing the acquisition, the entrepreneur becomes the CEO of the company. The objective is to place an excellent, motivated entrepreneur in an attractively valued company and fully align their interests with those of investors.

We back entrepreneurs who are capable of completing acquisitions in the £5-£100m range, using private individuals to fund deals at the smaller end and private equity funds for larger transactions. Target companies will typically have sustainable market positions, histories of stable cash flows and long-term opportunities for improvement and growth. The search fund model is particularly suited to buy and build strategies in fragmented sectors.

Our search funds aim to provide owners and managers attractive liquidity options, growth capital and managerial resources, through a change in ownership structure, while ensuring the company's legacy.

Our search funds provide financial support, advice and contacts to allow entrepreneurs to exclusively focus on the process of buying an independent company. We work closely with the entrepreneurs and investors in the search funds to ensure effective acquisition strategies, search techniques, management disciplines, financial strategies, and a breadth of other activities that are crucial to the success of the search process and the ultimate management and development of the acquired companies.