M&A Zing (Ep. 17) – Partnered Search, Proven Playbook – Andrew Napier & Evani Mannur

Season 1, Episode 17,   Jun 12, 04:50 PM

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Two Cambridge Judge MBA alumni, one finance expert and one serial entrepreneur, join forces to form 22 Capital Partners and hunt for a UK business to buy. They break down their investment thesis, how they are courting investors, the first-hundred-days operating plan and why a partnered search gives them an edge. If you are raising a fund or thinking about ETA, this conversation is a masterclass in preparation and mindset.

Today’s guests are Andrew Napier and Evani Mannur, founding partners of the brand-new UK search fund 22 Capital Partners. Andrew brings a deep finance and transformation background, while Evani is a serial entrepreneur who has already bought and scaled companies with her own capital. We talk about why they chose “entrepreneurship through acquisition,” what they learned on Cambridge Judge’s MBA, how they are raising their search capital, the digital-transformation playbook they plan to use post-acquisition and the realities of partnering versus going solo.

Timestamps
[00:00] Intro and welcome
[00:20] Who are Andrew and Evani?
[01:10] Why ETA beats a ground-up start-up for them
[04:30] How a Cambridge Judge MBA elective sparked the fund
[10:05] Their investment thesis: manufacturing, infrastructure services and FMCG
[15:00] Digital transformation as a value-creation lever
[22:00] Inside the fundraising tour and the UK investor climate
[30:15] First hundred days: divide-and-conquer operating plan
[36:30] Biggest challenges and how they stay resilient
[41:10]Advice for would-be searchers: start, keep going, know it’s all-consuming
[42:30 ] Links, resources and closing

Guests
• Andrew Napier – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-p-napier/
• Evani Mannur – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanimannur/
• 22 Capital Partners – https://twentytwocapitalpartners.co.uk/

Free resources mentioned
• Stanford Search Fund Primer (PDF)
• Cambridge Judge MBA information – https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk
• BizCrunch community – https://www.bizcrunch.co/community

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