By Carl Lundberg
01 May 2026
Leading mid-tier accountancy and advisory firm Gerald Edelman is delighted to announce the return of The Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) Awards ™ for its fourth consecutive year.
Building on the momentum of the previous three years, The ETA Awards 2026 will spotlight promising and established searchers and CEOs who have executed outstanding acquisitions, addressed succession challenges in SMEs, unlocked value for sellers, driven growth in their acquired businesses, and delivered strong returns for investors.
The awards have become an established and recognised event in the financial calendar, with previous winners including Coniston Peak’s acquisition of Workpays, which since the win, has made other acquisitions, such as Orangebox in October 2025; Jim Ward and Euston Ventures’ acquisition of Hammond Chemicals Ltd and Soris Capital Partners’ acquisition of Water Direct, which has since sold a majority stake to Eurazeo.
The number and reach of search funds has increased significantly in recent years. According to IESE Business School’s 2024 study, 121 of the total 320 international search funds were either searching for an acquisition or fundraising for a planned acquisition, out of the remaining 199, 146 resulted in acquisitions by late 2023.
This reflects what Gerald Edelman has experienced, with the number of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) and Search Fund transactions on which it has advised doubling in the last 12 months, as the model becomes an increasingly popular route for aspiring entrepreneurs to acquire and operate their own businesses.
The model’s popularity in the UK and globally, reflects greater awareness through leading business schools, a wave of baby boomer owners seeking succession solutions, and increasing investor interest.
Carl Lundberg, CEO of Gerald Edelman, and Founder of the ETA Awards comments: “It has been brilliant to see the continued rise in ETA and search fund transactions over the past year and based on what we are seeing already, that growth is set to continue through 2026. At last year’s ETA awards, we saw more European applications than ever, some of which were the first search fund acquisitions in their respective countries. It’s a clear sign that the search model is continuing to gain traction.
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition and Search Funds give talented, ambitious people the opportunity to own and grow real businesses, without starting from scratch, reducing exposure to that start-up zero to one risk. We enjoy working with ambitious searchers whose entrepreneurial spirit aligns with our values, and what makes this especially rewarding is the collaborative relationships we build.”
Last year’s awards were a resounding success, bringing together 193 members of the ETA community from across Europe.
This year, we are excited to be expanding our ETA Awards offering with a series of quarterly round tables for searchers at varying points in the acquisition process. The ETA Search Fund Forum will commence in April 2026 and run through to January 2027. We are also hosting a live podcast panel before the awards begin – exclusively for ETA Awards attendees, and limited in tickets, this panel will be an opportunity for an intimate discussion and Q&A with Carl and special guests.
Carl Lundberg will once again be hosting the awards, with confirmed sponsors Marriott Harrison, Strada Partners, Quastels and JMW.
“It’s a really exciting time in the market, so I am thrilled to be hosting the ETA Awards for its fourth consecutive year.”
“The success of our previous events are testament to the fantastic community of upcoming and well-established searchers we have in the UK and the number of outstanding acquisitions that are taking place here and internationally. I’m looking forward to expanding the reach of the awards to the global ETA community, building on the momentum and celebrating even more outstanding achievements through this year’s awards.”
The ETA Awards will make its return to Landing Forty Two on Thursday 5 November. Attend or enter the awards here.
Last updated: 01.05.2026
