G1near-FT50
Zettel, L., & Nows, D. (2026)
Journal of Small Business Management, online first
Qualitative study of acquisition entrepreneurs' goals and motivations in the growth phase. Extrinsic growth goals do not crowd out intrinsic motivation; they connect venture development tasks to new intrinsic goals, and acquirers are motivated to use growth to benefit employees. States that "the practitioner-focused ETA literature and theory-driven entrepreneurship literature offer limited insight". Sample size, country and funding model are not in the abstract (the full text is paywalled). This is the only article in the target journal set whose title or abstract uses "entrepreneurship through acquisition".
Sourcedoi:10.1080/00472778.2026.26738630 citations (OpenAlex)
G2other
Hoffmann, A., Kanbach, D. K., & Stubner, S. (2024)
Management Review Quarterly, 74(4), 1981-2012
Scoping review; 102 studies met inclusion criteria (full text read). Finds extensive research on LBOs and family-external succession but "evidence specifically on ETA is still lacking", and "knowledge about the entrepreneurial intent that makes ETA unique is absent from the evidence base". Names self-funded, sponsored, incubated and crowd-funded searches as alternative models. Offers a definition, models and a process archetype.
Sourcedoi:10.1007/s11301-023-00352-619 citations (OpenAlex)
G3other
Hunt, R. A., & Fund, B. (2012)
Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, 16(1), 29-56
Conceptual reassessment arguing ETA has been wrongly treated as a niche of small-company LBOs and framed only through agency theory. Offers a model based on entrepreneurial intent and novel financing, with testable propositions set beside search fund data. Identifies "the paucity of data related to entrepreneurial acquisitions" as the binding constraint.
Sourcedoi:10.57229/2373-1761.100522 citations (OpenAlex)
G4other
Ener, H., & Dávila, A. (2023)
European Management Journal, 41(4), 488-498
Tracks first-time search fund entrepreneurs in four European countries. Importing the US model created novel challenges in investor-entrepreneur (principal-agent) relations and in the search process; proposes a Europe-specific playbook. (Abstract source: EconPapers/RePEc.)
Sourcedoi:10.1016/j.emj.2022.12.0138 citations (OpenAlex)
G5other
Bauer, D., Reif, T., & Junge, S. (2026)
European Management Journal, 44(2), 344-359
21 semi-structured interviews with searchers, investors and target CEOs. Argues search funds are a novel entry mode into entrepreneurship and that searchers are a hybrid of internal and external succession candidates ("a family business without kinship"), potentially the second-best option after internal succession.
Sourcedoi:10.1016/j.emj.2025.02.0071 citations (OpenAlex)
G6other
Pöschl, A., & Mai, I. M. Q. (2025)
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 31(7), 1805-1837
26 interviews with search fund entrepreneurs from 16 nascent markets. Two-stage fundraising: local informal investors give initial funding and credibility, which attracts formal international search fund investors. Calls for quantitative tests of generalisability.
Sourcedoi:10.1108/ijebr-09-2024-09492 citations (OpenAlex)
G7other
Pöschl, A., & Mai, I. M. Q. (2026)
Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 43(1), 269-301
Six Asian search funds plus three investor interviews; signalling theory. Entrepreneurs educate local investors on the model and reassure international investors through local endorsements and financial commitments.
Sourcedoi:10.1007/s10490-025-10022-80 citations (OpenAlex)
G8other
Pöschl, A., & Mai, I. M. Q. (2026)
Entrepreneurship Research Journal, 16(2), 431-473
25 search fund entrepreneurs in 15 countries and 12 investors. Informal investors provide "testimonial legitimacy" that substitutes for institutional validation; positions the search fund as "a person-centric empirical category within the broader private equity landscape".
Sourcedoi:10.1515/erj-2024-04620 citations (OpenAlex)
G9other
Pöschl, A., & Freiling, J. (2026)
Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 14(1), 113-131
Interviews with twelve PE firms in Germany, Austria and Switzerland plus eight experts. Finds intensifying competition between ETA entrepreneurs and small-cap PE for small targets, alongside willingness of PE to co-invest if it keeps majority ownership.
Sourcedoi:10.15678/eber.2026.1401070 citations (OpenAlex)
G10other
Freiling, J., & Oestreich, M. (2022)
Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 10(2), 81-96
Eight cases from German-speaking countries. Low adoption is attributed to scepticism, the acquisition criteria catalogue, competition from private market investors and well-established financing alternatives.
Sourcedoi:10.15678/eber.2022.10020512 citations (OpenAlex)
G11other
Biegajło, M. (2022)
Central European Management Journal, 30(4)
Single case of the first search fund acquisition of a Polish family business. Crossref lists a second, unnamed author field; authorship beyond Biegajło is UNVERIFIED.
Sourcedoi:10.7206/cemj.2658-0845.894 citations (OpenAlex)
G12other
Hoffmann, A., Kanbach, D. K., & Kraus, S. (2025)
Journal of Enterprising Communities, 19(2), 410-429
19 interviews with website owners on business models and selling motives; frames web-based SMEs as an ETA target class.
Sourcedoi:10.1108/jec-08-2024-01441 citations (OpenAlex)