Thoughts on industry specific search

August 28, 2017
by a searcher from INSEAD in Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Hi everyone,
I have recently started looking for acquisition opportunities. I am INSEAD alum###-###-#### with 15 years experience in semiconductor industry in technical and business roles. I also have a PhD in semiconductor design. Given the industry specific knowledge, I am primarily searching for opportunities in semiconductor or adjacent industries.
Industry specific search has some unique characteristics. For example, semiconductor industry has regions of excellence. Korea ( where I am currently located), Japan, China (emerging), Taiwan and the US( Texas and California mainly).
I would like to get your input on following issues:
1. Are investors usually open to fund global searches? Or they only fund the searches located in a specific region?
2. Has anyone on this forum tried industry specific, geography agnostic search. I would love to learn about their experiences.
3. I heard about LMM PE option for more focused searches. However, the feedback has been mixed. Some people believe it's a viable option for searchers with more experience. Others claim that PE is saturated and the contracts are defined in such a way that entrepreneurs has little chance of getting their desired return. Any thoughts?
Any others ideas/ pointers are welcomed.
from INSEAD in R. Dr. Eduardo de Souza Aranha - Itaim Bibi, São Paulo - SP, Brazil
from Harvard University in San Francisco, CA, USA