The Business Times
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BRUNCH

‘Search funds’ to buy SMEs spring up in the Asia-Pacific, but will they succeed?

Australia and Japan lead in successful acquisitions, while search funds are emerging elsewhere

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Paige Lim

Paige Lim

Published Fri, Jan 9, 2026 · 02:00 PM
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    • Apac is perceived as the next frontier for search fund growth, with observers citing its favourable demographics: baby-boomer business owners approaching retirement without successors.
    • Apac is perceived as the next frontier for search fund growth, with observers citing its favourable demographics: baby-boomer business owners approaching retirement without successors. GRAPHIC: TEOH YI CHIE, BT; ADOBE STOCK

    [SINGAPORE] After a 15-year career ranging from engineering to investment banking, Pete Seligman left the corporate world – and went looking for a company to buy. In 2013, he and a friend founded buyout vehicle Alpin Group to acquire, operate and grow small businesses in Australia.

    “When we said we were going to buy a small business in Sydney, everyone thought we were a bit strange,” he tells The Business Times. “It was a very unusual thing to do at that time.”

    Over the next four years, the duo acquired five businesses in succession, eventually exiting two and selling partial stakes in the rest by 2020.

    BrunchAseanAsean BusinessAsia-PacificSouth-east AsiaAustraliaJapanSMEssuccession planningSingapore SMEsPrivate equityEntrepreneurshipInsead

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