South Africa · Evergreen Investment Company

We buy &
transition exceptional
founder-led businesses.

Succession Partners acquires profitable, founder-led businesses at a pivotal moment — and transforms them into professionally run, high-yielding assets with a clear path to succession, growth, and long-term value.

Your legacy preserved.

Our Approach Talk to Us →

Our Thesis

There are tens of thousands of well-established, profitable, founder-led businesses across South Africa generating substantial cash flows — with no succession plan and no credible buyer. We exist to serve that gap.

3–5×
EBITDA multiple valuation
20–30%
Target cash yield on invested capital from day one
R5–10M
Target distributable cash earnings per business
Evergreen
No fund life. No forced exits. Long-term compounding.

The Opportunity

South Africa's most overlooked businesses.

The South African economy is built on the backs of founders who have spent decades building substantial, cash-generating businesses in manufacturing, trade, and services. Most have no succession plan. Their owners need a credible exit — but they're too small for institutional private equity and too complex for uninformed buyers.

These businesses fall into a structural gap. They're profitable, resilient, and deeply embedded in their markets — yet they are systematically undervalued and underserved by the capital markets.

Succession Partners was built to step into this gap — as disciplined investors, genuine operators, and long-term stewards of South Africa's best small businesses.

70%+
of SA business owners have no formal succession plan in place
3–5×
EBITDA — typical entry multiple for businesses in our target range
R0
institutional capital focused on this size of SA business at this depth
2×–3×
cash earnings growth target through our value-add framework over 5 years

Our Approach

Two tracks.
One philosophy.

Depending on the business and the opportunity, we operate across two complementary strategic tracks — each anchored in the same commitment to long-term value creation, operational excellence, and redemptive stewardship.

Track One
01

Transform & Transition

For founder-dependent businesses with untapped potential, we take a stake early and embed our value-add framework — removing founder dependency, installing successor leadership, professionalising operations, and growing distributable earnings over 3–5 years. The goal: a transferable asset commanding a premium valuation, held for yield or exited to a strategic buyer.

  • Acquire significant influence stake via vendor finance or equity
  • Embed financial discipline, governance, and operating systems
  • Identify and develop successor management team
  • Grow revenue 1.5–2× through operational and commercial improvement
  • Path to full control and exit at a higher valuation multiple
Track Two
02

Buy, Hold & Compound

For well-run, cashflow-strong businesses that are already structured, we acquire majority or full control, preserve what makes them great, and hold them indefinitely — reinvesting free cash flow across a growing portfolio of exceptional South African businesses. No forced exits. No fund life. Pure compounding.

  • Full or majority buyout at 3–5× EBITDA
  • Preserve culture, people, and operating model
  • Reinvest free cashflow to drive compounding returns
  • Build a portfolio of 10–20+ high-yield businesses over time
  • Evergreen structure — always exit-ready, never forced to sell

Value-Add Framework

How we build better businesses.

Across both tracks, our value-add framework is the engine of transformation. It addresses the four areas that most commonly limit founder-led businesses from reaching their full potential.

01

Financial & Operational Discipline

Best-practice financial controls, cashflow planning, working capital optimisation, tax and legal structure review, automation of recurring processes, and capital structure improvement.

02

Governance & Management

Traction framework, clear accountability, measurable KPIs, management remuneration aligned with free cash flow growth, role clarity, and an operating rhythm that works without the founder in the room.

03

Human Capital & Culture

Shift to autonomy, purpose, and drive. Employee benefits and risk mitigation, succession planning, leadership development, and building a culture that outlasts the founder and attracts the next generation of talent.

04

Marketing & Growth

Brand positioning, sales strategy review, new revenue channels, and building a recurring, replicable revenue model with genuine market fit and a defensible competitive moat.

Investment Criteria

The businesses we look for.

We focus on profitable, founder-led South African businesses with a well-established offering, strong cashflow track record, and a clear value-unlock thesis.

Sectors of interest

Illustrative — we follow cashflows, not themes. These are areas where we see structural opportunity in South Africa.

Manufacturing & Fabrication

Stainless steel Glass & aluminium Industrial ventilation Process automation Niche fabrication CNC machining

Trade & Installation

Garage doors & access Electrical contracting Plumbing & HVAC Roofing Construction

Business Services

Facilities management Waste management Fleet & logistics Security services Industrial cleaning

Other

Agri-services Healthcare services Distribution Niche retail
"Commercial, not impact — but always redemptive.
Profit with integrity."

Our Philosophy

We are not an impact fund. We hold ourselves to rigorous commercial standards and expect outstanding, risk-adjusted returns. That is non-negotiable.

But we believe that how you build a business matters as much as what you build. The most durable returns come from businesses where people are treated fairly, customers are served with integrity, and communities are strengthened — not extracted.

We call this operating commercially and redemptively. It's not a constraint on returns — it's the foundation of them.

How We Work

From first conversation
to long-term partnership.

Step 01

Discovery

We start by understanding your business deeply — your cashflows, your team, your customers, and what a successful next chapter looks like for you personally.

Step 02

Assessment

We assess through the lens of a long-term owner — identifying value drivers, key risks, and the gap between where the business is and what it's truly capable of.

Step 03

Partnership

We get to work alongside you. We implement our value-add framework, strengthen the team, and build the business into a high-yielding, transferable asset.

Step 04

Transition

When the time is right, we manage the transition — to new management, to our portfolio, or to a strategic buyer — ensuring a dignified, well-rewarded exit for the founder.

The Team

Operators and investors.
Partners in the trenches.

Both founders bring deep, hands-on private equity and operational experience — and a shared conviction that South Africa's best small businesses deserve better stewards.

Lucas Odendaal
Lucas Odendaal
Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Lucas brings close to a decade of hands-on, relational private equity experience at Mergon — one of South Africa's most respected long-term investment companies. His experience spans a full operational turnaround of a multi-million rand manufacturing business, a wide range of corporate finance and funding transactions, and full exit experience across multiple portfolio companies.

Lucas is the kind of investor who gets in the trenches. He understands the mechanics of manufacturing, the dynamics of founder-led teams, and what it takes to build a business that outlasts its founder.

CA(SA) Mergon Group PE · Turnarounds Exit Experience
Christoph Oellermann
Christoph Oellermann
Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Christoph holds a Bachelor of Law and a Bachelor of Accounting from Stellenbosch University. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant after completing his articles at PwC Stellenbosch, where he gained exposure to a wide range of businesses — from owner-managed SMEs to listed corporates.

He brings three years of private equity experience at Mergon, where he was involved in implementing a R1bn BEE transaction, bank negotiations, portfolio management, and assisting with significant exits. Christoph is actively implementing the Succession Partners model in the firm's initial investment — a manufacturing and process optimisation business — having secured a 20% stake via vendor finance while driving meaningful operational improvements from the inside.

CA(SA) Mergon Group FactorySmart Active Operator

Get In Touch

Let's talk about your business.

Whether you're a founder considering your options, an investor looking for co-investment opportunities, or an industry expert interested in collaborating — we'd love to hear from you.

General Enquiries
info@successionpartners.co.za
Lucas Odendaal
lucas@successionpartners.co.za WhatsApp: 083 570 9006
Christoph Oellermann
christoph@successionpartners.co.za WhatsApp: 082 397 7067
Location
South Africa — serving businesses nationwide
Website
www.successionpartners.co.za