Disclaimer: Unless noted otherwise, views and analysis expressed here are the author's own and based on public sources. The article is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional for investment decisions.

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A fortnight ago, I attended the Independent Sponsor Forum in London, Europe’s answer to the McGuireWoods Emerging Manager Conference. The event, which attracted an audience of more than 400, was hosted by the trio of: Headway Capital Partners, Europe’s largest dedicated fund of Independent Sponsors (ISPs); Addleshaw Goddard, a law firm; and the recruitment stalwarts PER.  

No beating around the bush: the market is red-hot! 

Some numbers to back up the hype the upbeat assessment. Headway estimates that the global ISP population tripled between 2020 and 2025, to c.2,000 (30% Europe, 70% US). At the same time, global deal-by-deal transaction volumes have increased 13-fold, from $5B in 2019 to $65B in 2025. 

Underpinning this deal frenzy are 3 long-term trends:

First and foremost, a sustained influx of talent into the space, thanks in no small part to a changed perception of the ISP career path. Seen less as “failed first-time managers that do risky deals” and more as a purer, more entrepreneurial way to be an investor. 

Secondly, the flip side of Europe’s seemingly intractable demographic, macro and capital market challenges is that - at least for now and in the Lower Mid-Market - there are bargains. The upshot are MOICs in the 3-4x range - or higher. Top-notch LPs like Opera Invest consistently pump out >4x net returns (see our interview). 

And thirdly, for the time being there’s much less capital chasing after younger, hungrier Sponsors in Europe compared to the US. This is changing though with multiple US LPs setting up shop in the Old Continent.  

Speaking of which… Standing in a coffee queue, I pointed out that the splendid venue, Plaisterers' Hall, sat directly opposite Schroders’ global HQ. 

Yes, that Schroders - the venerable British financial institution (est. 1804) about to be subsumed into Nuveen, a subsidiary of TIAA, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America. 

“I wonder how long before US endowments take over this space, too”, I quipped. 

My interlocutor gave me a blank stare. He worked for a European wealth manager: a mini-Schroders. He didn’t know much about US LPs. He didn’t see the Americans as competition either, for they tend to focus on the “rookies”: Sponsors under the age of 45.   

I glanced around. Probably half the attendees fell in the rookie category. A reader came by to say hi. Like me, he’s 40. Ex-PE. Working on his second platform. We chatted briefly, before he disappeared into a meeting with a US Family Office. Another reader.    

For a while, I stood in the middle of the room with a cup of lukewarm coffee in hand, watching throngs stream back into the main hall. Discovering the Independent Sponsor community has been my biggest fortune professionally.

Read on to find out why:   

Need to get up to speed on the Independent Sponsor concept? Then head here first: Private Equity professionals are leaving in droves to set up “Independent Sponsors”. What are these - and should you start one?. 

Tempted to embark on your own HoldCo / Rollup / Independent Sponsor journey? Then join the June ‘26 Cohort of our Rollup Bootcamp to compress 6-12 months of exploration into 6 weeks of execution. We’re down to the last 5 seats. More information + application link.

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As Headway put it, the European ISP market has only really come of age in the last 10 years, as the challenges facing the PE industry became apparent: 

There’s a catch though: there isn’t a European ISP market in a conventional sense. The “market” actually consists of 3 segments, each with distinct demographic and deal dynamics. Let’s go over each one.  

Firstly, there are grizzled (45+ y.o.) PE veterans who have spun out to take advantage of their lifelong relationships with family businesses that otherwise won't sell to PE. This is prime Headway territory. 

And, to be fair, who wouldn't want to underwrite FIG specialists rolling up Italian insurance brokerages (Brera / GBSAPRI, which we covered here) or Chiltern Capital, whose Steer Automotive transaction is the lore of the London mid-market PE community? 

Further reading: 6 years, 400x equity value to $500M+. The incredible story of Steer Automotive, Britain’s collision repair colossus

One notch below in the European LP pecking order you will find folks in their mid-to-late 30s well versed in the mid-market buyout game. 

Think Nick Manning and Denis Piffaretti from Empower. Guy Ellis from Broadfield. Andreas Bruzelius from Aspira. Manuel Leussink from Riverdam. Julian von Martius from Arbor. I can go on and on!

Given a shorter track record, these teams tend to tread a narrower path, focusing on LP-friendly industries like business services. For Broadfield, accounting and HVAC. For Arbor, accounting. For Riverdam, Managed Service Providers. For Empower, technical services. Typical equity checks are in the €15-30M range.     

Further reading: 

The Rollup of Tomorrow Vol 1. Empower Technical Services: building the "Comfort Systems of the UK"

The Rollup of Tomorrow Vol 11. Aspira Partners: The journey from an employee to a Fund GP - in 5 years & with an Independent Sponsor adventure in between

Note: these mid-career Sponsors increasingly compete for operator talent against PE firms’ Entrepreneur-In-Residence programmes, such as Strada Partners’ LV8. Some of these would-be EIRs are feeling confident enough to become ISP themselves.     

Which brings us to the third, and final category: folks in their late 20s/early 30s. On their 1st or 2nd platform and/or from non-conventional backgrounds (read: non PE - investment banking, corporates, VC etc.). In this category I would include Charles-Henry Beglin from Simago (France) and Alex Albedj from Safe Life (Sweden) when they were just getting started. Simago was backed by Entrepreneur Invest and Safe Life by Byggmästaren - names virtually unknown outside of their home markets.  

Further reading:

<3 years, a €525M exit, 10x sponsor MOIC. We X-rayed Simago, the radiology rollup that galvanised the French rollup mania

6 years, 100x growth & a $600M exit: Safe Life’s heartstopping quest to build The Defibrillator Empire

Newer entrants include Antilop Group from Sweden and Arcola from Benelux. Arcola’s Benoit Lammens struck out on his own after 3 years at Barclays and another 4 at IK Partners.     

Segments 2 and 3 = RollUpEurope ICP. I love speaking to the readers. On a weekly basis, I have between 10 and 20 conversations with existing and aspiring Independent Sponsors (and the people that’ll end up working for them). 

And you know what I’m hearing? That US LPs are out in force. 

As one European LP put it, “The bar to become an ISP is higher in Europe vs. the US…don't bother if you don't have a PE background”. 

Suffice to say that not all conference participants shared this sentiment. Two categories in particular are doubling down on younger Sponsors: placement agents and US LPs. What’s in it for them? 

In short: building goodwill with an eye on the big prize. For placement agents, this means trading off threadbare deal-by-deal economics today against juicy blind pool (fund) placement fees tomorrow. And for the LPs? A practical way of “underwriting the manager before the deal”.

Conversely, if you’re a GP in your mid-50s and have no interest in raising a blind pool, you’re less appealing for these two groups.      

This logic is evident from the evolution of the McGuireWoods Independent Sponsor Conference, the flagship gathering in the US. The first conference was held in 2017. 6 years later, the fund segment was spun off into a dedicated event: the Emerging Manager Conference. In 2026, that conference was divided into two separate events: one for buyout-focused GPs and one for everyone else (growth equity, private credit, venture etc.).

The McGuireWoods Independent Sponsor Conference has been a roaring success. In 2017, 300 people turned up. By 2025, that figure had ballooned to 1,600. Throw in the concurrent boom in search funds, and the picture is clear: the US Lower Mid-Market has become fiercely competitive. In Europe, it’s early days still.

Below, we highlight 17 US LPs that are actively allocating to serial acquirers on both sides of the Atlantic: