Backing enduring businesses and entrepreneurial leaders.
We invest in searchers, operators, and buy-and-build platforms in Spain and the United States, from traditional search funds to long-term and permanent holds. Our capital base is permanent: no fund clock, no forced exits, and the option to stay as long as the business keeps compounding.
Permanent Capital
No fund clock. Decisions run on business time, not fundraising time.
Operators First
We have run companies, carried payroll, and made the hard calls. That is the seat we invest from.
Skin in the Game
Our own capital, on the board, in the room when it gets hard.
Spain & the U.S.
Native in Spanish succession and banking. Fluent in the American playbook.
When you have to sell in five years, you manage for the exit. When you never have to sell, you manage for the business. Permanent capital gives us that choice. That is the firm we built.
We invest early, structure carefully, and stay.
We invest from search through ownership and
beyond.
Our structure protects the operator, not just the deal.
The Whole Search Fund Journey
We invest across the full journey: traditional and self-funded search funds, succession-driven acquisitions, and ETA structures, with conventional exit horizons or long-term holds depending on the opportunity. What we care about doesn't change: a good business, a clean structure, and an operator we trust.
The Equity Gap, Closed
When the cap table comes up short at closing, we fill the gap: conservative leverage, seller notes, earn-outs, rollover. Structures everyone can live with for years.
Direct & Club Investing
We participate alongside family offices and aligned partners in search-style acquisitions. Minority positions, 5% to 15%, with governance agreed up front. Same homework, same standards, whatever the ticket size.
Our mandate, in numbers.
So you can tell in one read whether we fit your cap table. If we do, send the opportunity. If we do not, we would rather you knew now.
- Ticket size
- Sized to each dealEvery position is sized to the opportunity and the cap table, within our stake range. Tell us what you need and we will tell you quickly whether we fit.
- Stake
- 5% to 15% of the opportunityUsually 8% to 15%. Always above 5%, never above 15%. We are a minority investor, not a control buyer.
- Where we invest
- Equity gaps, search phase, buy-and-builds, fundsEquity gaps most often. Search capital less often, but considered. Buy-and-builds as a minority co-investor. Selectively as LP in funds.
- Governance
- Board seat in about half our positionsAdvisory committee in a couple more. The role is agreed before we commit, not after.
- Capital
- Permanent, no fund clockNo forced exits. We can stay as long as the business keeps compounding.
- Geography
- Spain first, US selectivelyIn the US we invest through partners, mainly Mosaic ETA.
- Business profile
- Sector agnostic, with preferencesRecurring or stable revenue, low customer concentration, willing sellers, often a succession.
- What we do not invest in
- Pest control, sanidad ambiental, fire protectionWe already back a platform in pest control and sanidad ambiental, so we pass on competitors. We also pass on fire protection.
We reply to every serious inquiry within 48 hours. The pages on search funds, the equity gap, buy-and-builds and co-investing go deeper on each case.
Operators who invest.
Not investors who advise.
We've run companies. We've carried payroll. We've made
hard calls.
That operational reality shapes how we structure, invest, and govern.
Operators First
We don't just provide capital: we roll up our sleeves. From day-one operational cadence to board-level governance, we support searcher-entrepreneurs as partners who have actually run SMEs. Our involvement goes far beyond writing a check.
Patient Capital
Our capital has no return date.
We make decisions on fundamentals, and the
business sets the pace.
Few Deals, On Purpose
We invest in a limited number of deals where our involvement creates real value. Quality of governance and alignment matter more than deal volume. We'd rather walk away than close a badly structured deal.
Two Markets, One Team
We grew up inside Spanish succession, banks, and boards, and we've run and backed companies in the US. Same judgment, both sides of the Atlantic.
Your operational partner
across the entire journey
From the first conversation through acquisition, ownership, and exit, we're in the trenches with you, not just on the cap table.
Fit & Focus
Clear alignment on what makes a great business, and where we do not compromise. Roles and governance are defined before momentum takes over.
LOI to Due Diligence
Deep analysis of real risks: revenue quality, margin durability, customer concentration, working capital traps, and key-person dependencies.
Financing & Structuring
Cap table design built for durability, not just closing. Equity gap solutions, seller notes, rollover, and bank financing structured to support the operator.
Post-Closing Cadence
Establishing a clear operational rhythm: monthly KPIs, cash discipline, team priorities, and first operational improvements.
Active Ownership & Exit
Continuous board-level involvement. We support strategic decisions, operational scaling, and capital allocation, and bring transactional expertise when it's time.
Companies we've built alongside operators
Different sectors, same test: a durable business, run well, owned by people who act like owners.
SM Agro
Farmland across Spain, run like the business it is: professional operations, disciplined costs, and ownership measured in decades.
Torrelaguna
A real estate platform spanning short-term rental hospitality and industrial assets across Spain. Managed with modern tools, owned for the long haul.
Pentatel
Turnkey audiovisual production for corporate and institutional clients across Spain. Recurring mandates and clients who come back year after year.
Itegra
Digital claims platform for Spanish sports federations. Purpose-built to streamline injury reporting and policy administration for federated athletes, from first notice to close.
Cartondis
Industrial corrugated packaging with four decades of operational history. Three production plants across Spain and a customer base built on reliability and repeat business.
Essential Services Platform
A buy-and-build platform consolidating a highly recurring, essential-services industry across the Iberian market.
Mosaic ETA
Through Mosaic ETA, we back underrepresented searchers across the US acquiring industrial and services businesses. Our operator-first thesis, applied to the American market.
Want to join us?
We're always glad to meet searchers, operators, and founders who care about lasting businesses in Spain and the US.
Say hello →Operators first.
Investors second.
Our team combines executive management, M&A expertise, and operational discipline, with the proximity and commitment of a partner, not a fund.
Manolo Moreno
Manolo knows the other side of the table. He has led PE-backed companies in the US, within the Alpine Investors ecosystem, and has been a founder and CEO in Spain. He built Santa Marta to be the partner he would have wanted in those seats: patient, straightforward, and invested alongside the people doing the work. MBA, UCLA Anderson.
He bets on people, keeps structures simple, and would rather be useful than impressive.
Santiago Prieto
Twenty years of M&A and more than fifty closed deals across industries.
Partner at Socios Corporate Finance, advising buy-side and sell-side mandates for SMEs and mid-market
companies in Spain.
He has seen every way a deal can fall apart, and most of the ways to save one.
That judgment runs through our diligence and our structures.
Inmaculada Hernández
Finance and operations leadership across hospitality and healthcare: budgets,
controls, reporting, and the processes that keep a company running well.
She keeps Santa Marta
itself running with the same discipline we ask of the companies we back.
Strategic judgment
on the cap table
Not a fund. Not a capital pool.
A partner who
has done the job and stays.
Patient Capital, No Exit Pressure
No fund lifecycle behind us. Decisions follow the business, not a distribution calendar.
Operational Focus & Structuring
Deep experience in cap table design, financing coordination, and post-closing operational cadence. We add value beyond capital, especially when structure and closing execution are critical.
Clear Governance Judgment
Visibility and decision rights that function under pressure. We invest in minority positions of 5% to 15%, with a clear view on governance that protects all stakeholders.
Aligned Partners We Work With
Searchers and sponsors. Family offices. Accelerators and platforms. Long-term investors who would rather build a relationship than rush a transaction. Early conversations welcome.
Common questions
from searchers & partners
A search fund is an investment vehicle where an entrepreneur (the searcher) raises capital to find, acquire, and operate a single privately held company, typically an SME with stable cash flows and growth potential. The model originated at Stanford and Harvard and is now growing rapidly in Spain.
Unlike traditional PE, search funds are led by a single operator-entrepreneur who will run the company day-to-day after acquisition. There's no portfolio of dozens of companies. The searcher is fully dedicated to one business, which creates deep alignment between capital and management.
In some cases. The most important thing is defining the role early to maintain a clean cap table and clear governance. We're flexible on position but rigid on structure.
Yes, less often than equity gaps, but we consider it with the right searcher or team. The same mandate applies: a position between 5% and 15% of the opportunity, governance agreed up front, and permanent capital with no fund clock. Early alignment is often the best predictor of long-term success.
Yes, and it is what we do most often. When the cap table comes up short at closing we take a position between 5% and 15% of the opportunity, usually 8% to 15%, with each ticket sized to the deal. We bridge the gap to close the acquisition and preserve the right structure.
We look for SMEs with recurring or stable revenue, defensible market positions, low customer concentration, and willing sellers, typically in business succession scenarios. Industries vary: we focus on business quality, not sector labels. Two exceptions: we do not invest in pest control or sanidad ambiental, where we already back a platform, nor in fire protection.
We help establish the first 100-day operational cadence, set up KPI dashboards, support hiring decisions, and provide board-level guidance on strategy and cash management. We've operated SMEs ourselves and bring practical, day-to-day knowledge, not just theory.
Yes. Spain has one of the fastest-growing search fund ecosystems in Europe. The wave of business succession (thousands of SME owners retiring without successors) creates a natural pipeline for searcher-led acquisitions. Top business schools like IESE and IE are producing searchers every year.
Competitive processes where speed replaces discipline. Aggressive leverage. Unclear governance. If the fundamentals do not hold, we walk away.
Use the contact form below or email us directly at manolo@gsantamarta.com (gsantamarta.com is our mail domain; the website is gruposantamarta.com). We respond to every serious inquiry within 48 hours. Early conversations are welcome, even before you have a target.
We size each ticket to the deal and the cap table, for 5% to 15% of the opportunity, usually 8% to 15%. We take a board seat in about half of our positions and sit on the advisory committee in a couple more. Spain first; the US selectively, through partners such as Mosaic ETA.
A one-page teaser or short deck, your CV or the team behind the platform, the cap table and round size with the ticket you are asking from us, your timeline to close, and whether a data room exists. With that, we reply within 48 hours with a yes, a no, or the questions we need answered first. See what to send.
Practical thinking for
searchers & long-term
investors
Lessons and playbooks from the front lines of search fund investing in Spain and beyond.
Top Search Fund Investors in Spain
Search Funds in Spain: A Practical Guide
IESE International Search Fund Study 2026: What the Numbers Say
Why Most Roll-Ups Fail (and What the Disciplined Few Do Differently)
Search Funds in the US vs Spain: One Model, Two Playbooks
What No Fund Clock Changes for a Searcher
What to send, and what happens next.
If the basics are in the first email, one read is enough for us to triage. You get a real answer, not a holding reply.
What to include
- A one-page teaser or a short deck. The business, revenue and EBITDA, and why it is for sale.
- Who you are. Searcher CV, or the team behind the platform or the fund.
- Cap table and round size. Total equity, what is committed, what is open, and the ticket you are asking from us.
- Timeline. Where you are (search, LOI, due diligence, closing) and the date you need an answer by.
- Materials. Whether a data room exists and when we can get access.
What happens next
- Within 48 hours. Manolo replies with whether it fits our mandate and what we need next.
- First call. The business, the structure, and the role you want us to play on the cap table and the board.
- Decision. If it fits, we move to the materials and to the rest of the cap table. If it does not, we tell you why.
Or email a teaser to manolo@gsantamarta.com. gsantamarta.com is our mail domain; the website is gruposantamarta.com.
Write to us. A person answers.
If you are building or acquiring an enduring company, we should speak.
Prefer email? manolo@gsantamarta.com. gsantamarta.com is our mail domain; the website is gruposantamarta.com. Serious inquiries get a reply within 48 hours.
Calle Núñez de Balboa 116, 28006 Madrid, España