Search Fund Statistics 2026: Time to Acquisition, Deal Size, and Returns

Last updated: October 7, 2026

According to the Stanford GSB 2026 Search Fund Study, 58% of concluded US and Canadian search funds have acquired a company, against 48% of funds launched in 2021-24. Across 381 acquisitions, the median deal closed 20 months after the search began, and companies bought in 2024-25 sold for a median 6.2x EBITDA. Counting every fund, including the ones that never bought anything, investors earned an aggregate 33.9% IRR and 4.75x ROI as of December 31, 2025.

The Stanford study (Case E-967, dated June 30, 2026) tracks 862 core search funds launched since 1984, which the authors put at 99% of known search funds in the US and Canada, with data through December 31, 2025. Stanford cuts its data three ways: all funds, year of fund launch and year of acquisition. The median purchase price is $13.5M across all acquisitions and $16.0M for 2024-25, so each number below names its sample.

Search fund statistics at a glance

What percentage of search funds acquire a company?

The long-run answer is 58%. Stanford's denominator is concluded searches, so funds still searching are left out (Figure C, n=654).

For recent launches the rate is lower. Among funds launched in 2021-24 that ended in either an acquisition or a closure, 48% acquired. The figure will move, because the 2023-24 cohort was 42% concluded when the study closed.

Stanford attributes the decline to two factors: less-favorable market conditions, including increased competition, and a wider range of preparedness among searchers as the model grew more popular. Using the MBA program as a proxy for preparedness, the authors estimate that market conditions account for about half the drop.

Acquisition rates peaked among searchers who started in 2007-10, during the Great Financial Crisis, when they averaged 86%.

Stanford found three factors correlated with acquiring in the 2021-24 cohort:

1. Early LOI. Searchers who signed an LOI in the first six months acquired at 74%, and those who signed within 12 months at 65%. The cohort rate was 48%.
2. A partner. Partnered searches closed a deal 58% of the time, against 43% for solo searchers.
3. Work experience. More than two years of post-graduation experience went with a 55% rate; one year or less, 40%.

Outside the US and Canada the rate is higher: of 503 known international core search funds, 72% of the concluded ones (220) had acquired by December 31, 2025.

How long does it take a search fund to find a deal?

The median is 20 months from the start of the search to deal close, across 381 acquisitions. The spread is wide:

Source: Stanford GSB 2026 Search Fund Study, Exhibit 4, all acquisitions, n=381. Maximum: 79 months.

Exhibit 4 also groups recent acquisitions by two-year period. The median search took 17 months for companies acquired in 2020-21, 20 months in 2022-23 and 21 months in 2024-25. The shortest median in the exhibit is 14 months, in 2008-09.

Searchers who acquired in 2024-25 signed 2.5 LOIs on average, and they signed the first about seven months into the search. Asked why LOIs fell through, 79% of respondents cited "discovery in due diligence", 45% cited valuation differences with the seller and 40% cited lack of investor support.

How big are search fund acquisitions?

Stanford's Exhibit 4 gives these medians for companies acquired in 2024-25:

• Purchase price: $16.0M, the second-highest on record
• Revenue at purchase: $8.1M
• EBITDA at purchase: $2.5M
• EBITDA margin: 25.0%
• Purchase price / EBITDA: 6.2x, down from 7.3x in 2020-21 and 7.0x in 2022-23
• Purchase price / revenue: 2.0x
• Employees: 30

Across every acquisition with price data (n=318), the median purchase price is $13.5M. 38% of those deals priced above $16M and 10% under $5M. The all-acquisition medians for EBITDA and multiple are $2.0M and 6.3x.

Services were again the most popular industry, followed by software. Most searchers (52%) buy a company in the same state or region where they search.

IESE's International Search Funds 2024 study, with data through December 31, 2023, puts the median international acquisition at a $11.7 million purchase price and 5.7x EBITDA. Both sit below Stanford's all-acquisition medians, though IESE's median revenue ($7.8 million) and headcount (50) run higher.

What returns do search funds generate?

As of December 31, 2025, all US and Canadian search funds generated an aggregate 33.9% IRR and 4.75x ROI. That figure counts funds that closed without an acquisition, companies still operating and exits at a gain or a loss. Since the 2024 study, IRR slipped from 35.1% and ROI rose from 4.5x, which Stanford ties to CEOs holding companies longer.

Funds that acquired and exited earned 39.3% IRR and 5.98x ROI, a slight decline from the prior report. Add the unsuccessful searches back in and exited returns fall to 35.3% IRR and 5.61x.

A few funds carry the aggregate; in Stanford's words, search funds "follow the power law". Remove funds that returned 10x or more and ROI drops to 2.8x, with IRR at 27%. Remove the top 10% of funds by ROI and you get 2.1x and 20%. Of the concluded funds that acquired, 74% reported some gain in value.

On Stanford's public market equivalent, where 1.0 equals the S&P 500, search funds scored 2.88 and exited companies 3.59.

IESE reports lower international returns: 2.0x ROI and 18.1% IRR as of December 31, 2023, with the median fund returning 1.4x post-acquisition and the top fund 31.4x. IESE attributes much of the gap with the US to timing, since 62% of international acquisitions were made since 2020 and have had little time to grow.

What does this data mean for search fund sourcing?

In the 2021-24 cohort, searchers who signed an LOI inside six months acquired at 74%, 26 points above the cohort's 48%, which Stanford reports as a correlation. IESE saw a similar pattern outside the US and Canada, though its authors say the sample is too small to establish statistical significance: successful searchers signed their first LOI in month 7 on average, against month 9 for searchers who closed their fund without a deal.

An LOI needs a pipeline of owners behind it, and IESE measured that funnel. Pre-acquisition, the average international searcher "explored over three thousand businesses during the exploration phase, engaged in personal conversations with 159 owners, and signed approximately four LOIs." Those searchers ranked proprietary search, which IESE describes as "typically involving direct contact with business owners," as their predominant source of deal flow.

Set those numbers against your buy box:

1. Count the universe in month one. A buy box of a few hundred companies would force you to reach a large share of them to match IESE's 159 owner conversations. Widen the box or the geography before you start.
2. Front-load owner conversations. An LOI by month six means the owner conversations behind it start in the first months of the search.
3. Keep the pipeline full while you diligence. Stanford's respondents named due diligence discoveries more than any other reason an LOI failed. IESE's advice: "keeping one's pipeline active in parallel is pivotal."
4. Budget past the median. Half of all acquisitions (33% plus 17%) closed 21 months or more into the search. Plan capital for that case.

Our search fund deal sourcing playbook covers list density and outreach cadence. For the list itself, see how to build an M&A target list.

Axia runs that front end of the search for acquirers. We build the target universe from a published directory of 200+ named sources across 11 families, verify owner contacts through a waterfall of 20+ data providers, and put U.S.-based callers we selected and trained on the phone with owners. Our callers don't discuss price or what a business might be worth; you have that conversation.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of search funds acquire a company?

According to the Stanford GSB 2026 Search Fund Study, 58% of concluded US and Canadian search funds launched since 1984 acquired a company. For funds launched in 2021-24 that had concluded, the rate was 48%. Outside the US and Canada, the same study reports that 72% of concluded searches had acquired as of December 31, 2025.

How long does it take a search fund to find a deal?

The Stanford 2026 study reports a median of 20 months from the start of the search to deal close across 381 acquisitions. For companies acquired in 2024-25, the median search length was 21 months. Of all acquisitions, 51% closed within 20 months and 17% took 31 months or longer.

What size company does a search fund buy?

For acquisitions in 2024-25, the Stanford 2026 study reports a median purchase price of $16.0M, revenue of $8.1M, EBITDA of $2.5M, a 25% EBITDA margin, 30 employees and a 6.2x EBITDA multiple. Across all acquisitions with price data, the median purchase price is $13.5M.

What returns do search funds generate?

As of December 31, 2025, all US and Canadian search funds produced an aggregate 33.9% IRR and 4.75x ROI, including searches that ended without an acquisition. Excluding funds that returned 10x or more, the figures fall to 2.8x ROI and 27% IRR. IESE's 2024 international study reported 2.0x ROI and 18.1% IRR for funds outside the US and Canada, with data through December 31, 2023.

Does signing an LOI early improve a searcher's odds?

Early LOIs go with higher acquisition rates. In the Stanford 2026 study, searchers from the 2021-24 cohort who signed an LOI within six months acquired at a 74% rate, and those who signed within 12 months acquired at 65%, against 48% for the cohort overall.

Sources

• Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2026 Search Fund Study: Selected Observations (Case E-967, June 30, 2026; free PDF download)
• IESE Business School, International Search Funds 2024: Selected Observations (ST-658-E, September 2024)

If you're searching and want more owner conversations in the first six months, bring us your buy box.