Martell Capital Partners
At a Glance
The clearest published statement anywhere here that a firm pays for the search itself, which is the question a searcher with no savings asks first.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Investment terms, not fees. No fee is charged to a searcher; what the firm publishes about its own side is in the row.
- Best For
- A searcher in any of the three models, particularly outside the United States, who needs a backer that funds the search itself rather than only the deal.
- Track Record
- Forty-six searchers backed since inception, thirty-seven companies acquired, six board seats and three realized exits. Its own per-country cards add to thirty-nine and thirty-six, so the page disagrees with itself.
- Lane
- Traditional, Self-Funded
- Funds
- The search phase and the deal
- Based
- Coral Gables, Florida.
- Invests
- Seven countries published on its portfolio filters: Brazil, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- Buys
- An enterprise value range that describes the asset class rather than this firm. It sits under a heading for investors and answers what a search fund acquisition typically costs, with a categorical verb. Reading it as a target would put the field's average under one firm's name.
- Before A First Call
- A form whose own selector asks whether the searcher wants funding for a traditional search, equity for a gap or a deal already under letter of intent. That is a routing question rather than a condition, and it is unusually useful because it publishes the three shapes the firm expects.
- First-Time Operators
- A profile and not a bar: it names drive, resourcefulness, work ethic, business acumen and the ability to build trust with sellers and employees, adding that ideal candidates also show leadership and adaptability. No requirement to have run anything.
- How Long The Search Runs
- No length on the search and nothing about what happens if it ends without a deal, on the pages this review read. Ask what the clock is before you sign anything.
- Published Terms
- No check size, stake or fee on the pages this review read. Most firms on this shelf publish none, so ask early rather than late.
- What A Searcher Gets
- Not published on the pages this review read. It is the figure a searcher most wants and most of this shelf does not print it, so ask before the first call rather than after.
- Roadmap Stages
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search
Pros and Cons
Pros
- States that it funds operational expenses during the search phase, which most backers leave implied
- Publishes a portfolio broken down by country across seven countries
- Its intake form asks which of traditional funding, equity gap or a deal under letter of intent the searcher needs
Cons
- Its own per-country figures add to fewer searchers and companies than its headline counts
- Its address and its prose disagree about which city it is in
- The enterprise value range on its site describes what search fund acquisitions cost generally, not what this firm targets
What Searchers Say
Named as a backer on the rosters of five separate searchers. Its own home page links a second backer on this shelf as a strategic partner, which is how that firm was found.
How to Approach
Firms do not publish a term sheet you can prepare against, so this is how traditional (investor-backed) search capital comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A first conversation on your background and why search, before any deal.
- A deep dive on your plan: industries, criteria, and how you will source.
- Backing for the search itself, then a fresh underwrite when you bring a live deal.
- A board seat and governance once you close.
What It Weighs
- Whether you will finish a two-year search, not only start one.
- The quality of your thesis and target criteria.
- How you will behave on a cap table over a long hold.
How to Prepare
- Bring a sourcing thesis, not a blank slate. Buyer Profile Builder
- Know which firms lead versus follow, and on what terms. Investors
- Make your operator case on one page. Buyer Profile Builder