LenderHawk analysis. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Search Funded: The ETA Podcast.
Rafael Dufour describes launching a solo search fund in France after years in industrial SMEs, and why his operating background became a major fundraising asset. He explains the French market’s unique owner psychology, smaller target window, and how cultural credibility often matters more than PE-style branding when approaching sellers.
Aspiring searchers considering a European or non-U.S. search who want a realistic view of fundraising, owner outreach, and the emotional discipline required to keep searching.
In France, operating credibility with SMEs can matter more than a finance or consulting pedigree when raising a search fund.
A solo search can fit a narrow national market better than a partnered search when the viable target universe is limited.
Searchers in small markets need to broaden their thesis enough to avoid exhausting the opportunity set in a few weeks.
Owners of traditional industrial SMEs often respond better to an individual operator story than to a PE-flavored fund identity.
The search process becomes materially better after a few months because email testing, pitch refinement, and criteria calibration compound quickly.
A searcher has to stay willing to walk away from a live deal, because emotional attachment can bias judgment toward buying the wrong company.
In France, proprietary search opportunities concentrate roughly between €1M and €2M EBITDA, while larger deals are more likely to be brokered or sold through bank channels.
Rising debt costs and a shrinking pool of financed buyers are changing the competitive landscape for ETA in France.
Rafael Dufour spent about three years at ArcelorMittal in steel, followed by about eight years running SMEs before starting his search.
He outlined the operating background that shaped his search-fund candidacy.
One SME he managed had roughly €20 million in sales and 100 employees.
He used this job to show hands-on general management experience.
Another business in niche non-woven textiles grew from about €60 million to €90 million in sales and from 150 to 220 employees.
He cited this as evidence of scaling experience inside an SME.
His search capital raise took about two months, from September to November.
He described the fundraising timeline as relatively fast and smooth.
He said the French owner market has shifted from about 10% of business owners being over 65 a decade ago to about 25% today.
He used this demographic change to explain succession-driven supply in France.
He estimated that about 16% of buyers in France are funds, while about 80% are strategic buyers.
He contrasted buyer types to show why price competition is difficult.
He said the common buyer-to-company ratio in France used to be around six-to-one but has come down recently.
He attributed the decline partly to fewer financed ETA-style buyers.
He noted that debt financing costs have roughly doubled.
He used higher borrowing costs as part of the current French market backdrop.
Lead with your operating credibility rather than your fund structure when approaching traditional SME owners in France.
Why: Owners in that market often distrust finance-flavored branding and respond better to an individual operator narrative.
Avoid over-narrowing your industry filter in a small market.
Why: A highly specific thesis can exhaust the workable target universe almost immediately.
Keep testing outreach language, especially subject lines and pitch wording.
Why: Small copy changes can materially improve response rates over time.
Use the search to pressure-test whether you can endure the emotional swings of ETA before assuming you are ready to buy.
Why: The process requires sustained resilience, not just analytical ability.
Stay willing to abandon a deal if the owner’s behavior does not consistently signal commitment.
Why: Delays, missed documents, and weak responsiveness often reveal that a seller is not truly ready.
Talk regularly with other searchers and a few investor-friends during the search.
Why: Peer support helps stabilize the emotional volatility of long negotiations and repeated setbacks.
Rafael found that calling himself a fund or using capital-heavy branding could backfire with traditional French business owners. He shifted toward presenting himself as an operator buying a business, which fit the cultural expectation of a personal succession story rather than a financial transaction.
Lesson: In some markets, the messenger and framing matter as much as the economics.
He described how a promising deal can start to dominate attention so completely that other opportunities look worse by comparison. As the process drags on, that attachment can create a bias toward forcing a bad fit through diligence.
Lesson: A disciplined searcher needs an explicit process for countering deal attachment.
Rafael said searchers in France are still small enough to share live deal thoughts without fear of being undercut by peers. That collaboration gives solo searchers a partial substitute for having a partner.
Lesson: In a small market, peer trust can materially reduce the loneliness of a solo search.