Opening Address
European Succession Supercycle
Pierre-Paul Benoit
Bertrand de Poly
INVESTOR
SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR
General Partner · LeFonds Capital
CEO · MANTEA
Pierre-Paul is General Partner at LeFonds Capital and an active investor in entrepreneurship through acquisition. Drawing on experience supporting entrepreneurs and business owners, he brings an investor’s perspective on the judgment, resilience and leadership required to build lasting value through acquisition.
Bertrand de Poly is a serial entrepreneur and Co-founder & CEO of MANTEA, a French roll-up platform acquiring and consolidating profitable SMEs in the fragmented multi-technical maintenance market. He is also President of the HEC Paris Business Buyers Club (HEC Repreneurs), a community of more than 2,000 entrepreneurs focused on business acquisition, and a Certified Operating Partner. Over a 30-year career, he has built, financed and scaled companies in Europe and the US, raising more than $50 million and leading businesses through growth, turnaround and international expansion.
Panel One
Choosing the Right Path to Ownership
This panel explores the different models of acquisition entrepreneurship, helping aspiring searchers identify the path that best aligns with their goals, experience, and operating style.
César Ortiz Sotelo
Bruno Lucas
Guillaume de Braquilanges
Christopher Tournis Gamble
ENTREPRENEUR
SEARCHER
SEARCHER
INVESTOR
César brings experience across entrepreneurship, investment and complex industrial and infrastructure environments. His perspective adds an alternative lens on routes to ownership, particularly how entrepreneurs should weigh capital requirements, operating complexity, personal risk and long-term strategic control when choosing an acquisition model.
Bruno founded Hexagon Transmission Capital to acquire and lead a high-quality French SME for the long term. With experience spanning consulting, operations and entrepreneurship, he brings the perspective of a searcher navigating France’s succession market and evaluating how different ETA models affect control, financing and the acquisition journey.
Guillaume brings more than two decades of experience across finance, operations and organizational transformation. Through Orhata Capital Partners, he is pursuing a dual partner acquisition and long-term development of established SMEs, combining an operator’s perspective with a disciplined approach to capital allocation, ownership and business succession.
Christopher Tournis Gamble is Managing Partner and co-founder of WAD Capital Partners, the Belgian fund taking Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition institutional. WAD inverts the private equity sequence: it hires the CEO first, then acquires the company, then holds control. Fund I is cornerstoned by the European Investment Fund and targets companies within 300 kilometres of Brussels. The firm's stated ambition is 1,000 CEOs-in-Residence across Europe within seven years, run by a core team of no more than twenty. Before WAD, Christopher invested at SIMA Ventures, returning 7.5x. British and Belgian, he holds that European businesses belong in European hands.
Panel Two
Cross-Border ETA in Europe
Exploring cross-border search and transaction complexities within Europe to discuss navigating these diverse markets.
Florent Robineau
Miguel Paulo
Anna Kaukkila
Newton Campos
Daniel Perthes
SEARCHER
Florent brings the perspective of an entrepreneur pursuing acquisition in the French market, with experience evaluating both self-funded and traditional search-fund approaches. His journey highlights the practicalPam differences between local and international capital, market access, seller expectations and the realities of building an acquisition strategy in France.
SEARCHER
Miguel leads MMP Capital, a Portugal-focused search fund targeting established businesses with strong operating foundations. His background combines senior technology and transformation leadership with entrepreneurship through acquisition, giving him direct insight into succession, sourcing and the operational opportunities available within Southern European SMEs.
SEARCHER
Anna is the founder of Vire Capital, Finland's first traditional search fund and among only a handful in the Nordics. Her background combines investment banking and strategy consulting with operating experience at a local SME. Searching in a small market where the model is still unpioneered, she offers a first-hand view of educating the market from both sides of the table, from investors backing their first search fund to owners weighing an exit they had not considered.
INVESTOR
Newton is an international search-fund investor and educator whose work spans entrepreneurship, technology and cross-border investment. Through Newton Equity Partners, he backs searchers across multiple geographies and brings a broad comparative perspective on how investor expectations, search strategies and acquisition markets differ across countries.
INVESTOR
Daniel invests in search funds and acquisition entrepreneurs across Europe, with particular exposure to Germany and the DACH region. His work provides direct insight into succession dynamics, seller psychology, valuation differences and the importance of local knowledge when applying the ETA model across fragmented European markets.
Panel Three
Deal Killers: From LOI to Closing
A deep dive into the transaction phase, examining common pitfalls that can derail a deal between the Letter of Intent and the final closing.
Juan Cuesta
INVESTOR
Jaume Argerich
INVESTOR
Ruben Tros
ADVISER
Miguel Indekeu
INVESTOR
Juan brings decades of private-equity and lower-middle-market investment experience. Today he works closely with searchers through the acquisition lifecycle, giving him a practical investor’s view of diligence, financing, negotiation and the issues that determine whether a transaction should be restructured, repriced or abandoned.
Jaume is a General Partner at Inveready and also brings search-fund investment experience through Aniol Family Office. His perspective combines investment underwriting with close engagement alongside searchers and management teams, providing practical insight into diligence, risk allocation, financing and the issues that determine whether a transaction should be restructured, repriced or abandoned.
Ruben is a corporate and M&A partner at Stek advising private-equity firms, companies, investors and acquisition entrepreneurs. He brings direct transaction experience across diligence, negotiation, documentation and closing, as well as first-hand knowledge of the legal structures supporting the growing European search-fund ecosystem.
Miguel brings extensive experience across investment banking, M&A and private investing, with particular exposure to technology and software transactions. His background advising founders, management teams and investors gives him a transaction-focused perspective on diligence, financing, valuation and the issues that can materially alter a deal after LOI.
Panel Four
The First 100 Days as CEO
Operators share their experiences during the critical post-acquisition period, discussing leadership transitions, cultural integration, and strategic quick wins.
Joachim de Belgique
OPERATOR & INVESTOR
Guy-Louis de le Vingne
OPERATOR
Adrian Carniol
OPERATOR & INVESTOR
Marc Bartomeus
OPERATOR & INVESTOR
Adrian combines investing experience with substantial operating leadership, including previous CEO and senior executive roles. At Novadvice, he works with acquisition entrepreneurs and portfolio companies on leadership and value creation, bringing a particular focus on founder transition, organizational trust and the decisions that begin before the transaction even closes.
Marc has experienced the post-acquisition transition firsthand. After completing Spain’s first search-fund journey, he spent six years leading the acquired company and grew it through both organic initiatives and acquisitions. Today, as an investor and board member, he also sees how early operating decisions influence long-term outcomes across multiple businesses.
Joachim founded Innesto Partners after building experience across European growth companies, including as CEO of a Belgian industrial group. He brings the perspective of an operator-investor working through the first 100 days of ownership, balancing founder legacy, team culture and the early strategic choices that shape long-term value creation.
Guy-Louis is CEO of Nex-Volta, the platform holding MIGNONE, a Belgian electrical and construction company he acquired as a CEO in Residence at WAD Capital. MIGNONE holds Class 7 certifications in electricity and construction, serving public-sector and commercial clients on complex renovation and energy-efficiency projects; the operating base for a thesis focused on the electrification of buildings and the wider Energy Transition. Before WAD, he spent more than a decade leading and transforming European ventures, including as CEO of MyMove, and completed the INSEAD programme. Now leading Nex-Volta through the post-acquisition transition, he brings the perspective of a first-time CEO working through founder handover, team trust and the early operating decisions that shape long-term outcomes.
Closing Address
Future of ETA
Cécile de Lisle
Simon Bores Llanos
Executive Director
HEC Paris Family Business Center
INVESTOR
Cécile de Lisle is Executive Director of the HEC Paris Family Business Center, where she leads the Center’s work on family ownership, governance, succession and long-term value creation. Her work bridges academic research and practice, examining how family businesses contribute to resilient economies, responsible ownership and intergenerational continuity. She also represents the Center in research, public-policy and business discussions on the future of family enterprise.
Simon is an investor, lawyer and family-business owner who co-founded Istria Capital, an early European investor in search funds. With exposure to search-backed businesses across numerous countries, he brings a comparative perspective on how ETA varies across legal systems, capital markets, cultures and local succession environments.
Co-Founder · Istria Capital