Technical Note | HBS Case Collection | 2012

Early Career LBOs Using the Search Fund Model

by Howard Stevenson, Michael Roberts and Jim Sharpe

Abstract

The funded search model is one alternative for individuals who, at some point in their career, want to run their own companies. This note looks at the funded search, as a means to entrepreneurship through acquision and describes the path to buy and run a business using debt and equity as a means of financing the purchase. While applicable to an early career choice, many of the process steps are applicable to unfunded searches at later stages of a career.

Keywords: Search Funds; search; leveraged buyouts; entrepreneurial finance; investor behavior; career planning; entrepreneurial management; fundraising; negotiation; Entrepreneurship; Capital Structure; Borrowing and Debt; Personal Development and Career; Private Ownership; Acquisition; Finance; Leveraged Buyouts;

Language: English

Format: Print

15 pages

Citation:

Stevenson, Howard, Michael Roberts, and Jim Sharpe. "Early Career LBOs Using the Search Fund Model." Harvard Business School Technical Note 813-119, December 2012.

Having just acquired Walker Insurance, Paul Thomson finds himself short of funds to support his original turnaround plan. He can request additional cash from his investor group, hunker down and grow at a slower rate or consider a proposal to buy his business. He has taken steps to re-virtualize the company and is challenged to build a salesforce to grow the business.

Julia and Nate Burstein were living their dream running their own business and balancing the demands between their work and family obligations while creating a company that was responsive to their employees’ and their customers’ needs. The Bursteins had joined a large multinational manufacturing company after receiving their MBAs from HBS, but soon left to join Julia's family plastics business. After the business was sold, they struck out on their own to search for a similar business. They purchased Elasto Therm, with $8 million in revenue from manufactured rubber and urethane components, with their own cash, bank financing, and the seller, partly in the form of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Initially, Nate ran the business and after a few years changed roles with Julia to stay at home with their young children for three years. The two were in charge as co-CEOs before Julia relinquished her responsibilities to be at home again. The couple significantly strengthened the organization's talent, focused on innovation, growth, and provided a learning environment for their employees. Through cost efficiencies and pricing strategies, Elasto Therm was able to achieve higher margins than their competitors and focused on low-volume, short-run orders as they continued to expand the business. The 2008 recession forced them to reexamine all aspects of the business, and it retained profitability after painful cutbacks in the organization. To continue their growth into the next decade, they are faced with the choice of acquiring other businesses or growing more organically by adding to their sales organization to achieve geographic expansion.