According to INSEAD and Vlerick Business School professor, Hans Vanoorbeek, knowing what kind of vehicle you’re operating is vital to the success of mergers and acquisitions. “In private equity, you're either riding a motorbike or manoeuvring a truck – two very different vehicles requiring very different skills.”
For Hans Vanoorbeek, this isn’t just an analogy. It’s how he explains the reality of working at different ends of the private equity spectrum: from small-cap SME deals to mega-fund transactions involving institutional machinery. And in today’s market, understanding what kind of vehicle you’re operating has never been more important.
Vanoorbeek has sat on all sides of the table: as an investor using his own capital; as a senior advisor at firms like Alpha and Chequers Capital; as a Partner at BC Partners or on the board of billion-euro holdings; and as a professor at INSEAD and Vlerick Business School. He brings not only decades of deal experience but also a rare perspective on how fund size shapes career paths, investment strategies and even personal trade-offs.
“Your job is completely different depending on whether you’re working with 50 million euros or 5 billion euros”, he says. “And so is your lifestyle.”
The vehicle defines your career
“There are three types of vehicles”, says Vanoorbeek. “A motorbike represents small-cap funds investing in SMEs. You deal directly with founders, so it gets emotional. Sometimes they cry during negotiations.” Thus, the human factor is key. As Vanoorbeek explains, it’s all about micro (company) analysis.
These are environments where junior team members often have significant influence early on, as the teams are very small; they’re not just running models but negotiating terms with owners who may be handing over their life’s work.
“At that level”, he says, “you’re close to everything: sourcing the deal, meeting sellers directly… you see all sides.” The exposure can be invaluable for learning fast – but also comes with unpredictability.
At the other end are what he calls trucks: large global funds such as KKR or Blackstone (with almost 5,000 employees) where structures resemble multinational corporates or even military organisations.
“As a junior, you don’t speak with company owners”, he says plainly. “You don’t do deal sourcing either. You sit at your cubicle doing your part inside an enormous machine.” Here, macro analysis is key, while the human factor is less important.
Career progression here involves moving through clearly defined ranks across associate roles and regional teams before having much strategic input into acquisitions themselves.
Sitting between these extremes are mid-market firms – “the cars” – which often require professionals to blend both skillsets depending on deal context and firm culture.
“But whichever one you choose”, he adds quickly, “it’s not just about technical expertise – it affects your entire life structure.”
In smaller firms, there can be faster upward mobility if founding partners step back or succession plans create space for leadership growth early in one’s career. At larger funds, those opportunities come later but may carry greater financial upside through carried interest over time… assuming one reaches those upper echelons eventually.
Financial reward isn’t always clear-cut either: “You could make more money climbing fast through a small fund than sitting six levels below a partner at a large one”, Vanoorbeek notes cautiously.
The key is being honest about what kind of environment suits both ambition and temperament, because each demands something quite different from its people.
Specialisation isn't strategy anymore; it's survival
Understanding which vehicle you're operating matters more than ever because generalist investing is steadily falling out of favour across mature European markets like Belgium.
“What you see now”, says Vanoorbeek, “is that most successful funds have picked their sector battles.” Firms such as Waterland (with dedicated teams focused on sustainability, ageing population, outsourcing or leisure) or consumer-focused players like Vendis Capital exemplify this shift towards thematic depth over breadth.
Even previously broad-based investors like Gimv have narrowed their focus into verticals such as Smart Industries or Sustainable Cities to sharpen positioning during competitive processes when speaking with sellers who expect deep industry knowledge from potential buyers.
“When you walk into that room having done multiple deals in their industry... it changes everything", he explains simply. "You speak their language – understand the industry and its dynamics.”
This matters especially when competing against family offices increasingly active in direct deals alongside traditional PE sponsors: "They may bring similar capital", says Vanoorbeek, "but specialisation builds trust."
He sees this trend accelerating rather than plateauing, given investor scrutiny around value creation plans post-close, coupled with increased awareness among entrepreneurs about exit options available to them beyond legacy fund names alone.
In short? Specialising helps get meetings... but knowing how to execute within that niche wins deals outright.
Belgium's PE sophistication holds wider lessons
While many look to London or Frankfurt for cues around European market trends, Vanoorbeek believes Belgium offers its own instructive case study for navigating maturity under constraint.
“It’s extremely competitive here”, he notes. “After the UK, Netherlands and Scandinavia, I’d place Belgium right behind them.”
Despite lacking household-name multinationals like Siemens, the country has developed sophisticated private equity infrastructure rooted partly in long-standing public investment holdings such as GIMV, GBL, Sofina, Brederode, and Ackermans & van Haaren.
“The presence of these groups ensures steady LP engagement across fund sizes – from venture through buyout – and creates real momentum around professionalism.”
But another major driver has been the explosion in family office activity. “In ’96 there were almost none. Now? There’s basically one every few streets.” These offices (often formed after liquidity events) are increasingly deploying capital into direct investments directly or via club deals, funds-of-funds, and co-investment platforms.
Retail access tools have expanded, too. With Belgian platforms like Integra Partners, Quaestor or Top Tier Access facilitating entry points once reserved for institutions, Vanoorbeek believes sophisticated retail investors will play growing roles in shaping GP behaviour via aggregation mechanisms rarely available ten years ago.
Government-backed financing continues to support mid-sized businesses regionally, too. PMV (a Flemish government initiative) offers equity or mezzanine funding designed specifically for owner transitions without diluting control outright. “I received a 5 million euros mezz loan myself from PMV when acquiring Matco Chemicals", he shares, a business now generating roughly 100 million euros turnover annually, selling carpet and artificial grass coating chemicals across Europe & North Africa.
Carve-outs remain relatively limited due to Belgium's SME-heavy corporate base, but where they happen, Vanoorbeek sees real impact: “We’ve seen strong platform creation out of a Solvay or Umicore division. CVC built Devos & Lemmens [a sauces business] off carved assets too.”
Cultural nuances matter inside transactions, too. In particular, the way managers have an appetite for an equity investment alongside a sponsor or the way sponsors reward management. “For example, in France, management is offered very competitive incentive packages compared to most other European countries, while in Germany, managers often hesitate far longer before reinvesting personally post-sale.”
“Each country operates within similar frameworks, but motivations vary quietly behind closed doors."
AI will reshape workflows – but won’t replace humans
Among students and practitioners alike, Hans Vanoorbeek sees rising enthusiasm (and mild anxiety) around artificial intelligence tools entering mainstream transaction use cases. Nowhere was this clearer than during his recent class exercise analysing acquisition strategy via the case method:
“One student ran everything through ChatGPT, including valuation multiples, strategy analysis, a DCF model...the whole thing, “he recalls. “And honestly? I was flabbergasted by how good it was."
The output included structured SWOT analyses, relevant benchmarking data, and even thoughtful commentary around pricing assumptions. But crucially, it still got some things wrong: “They forgot something important – the small company discount. It massively inflated valuation compared against public comps. That nuance matters."
It underscored his broader view: “AI can accelerate certain workflows dramatically, from comp sets modelling, to NDA or SPA flagging, to closing book automation, but human judgement remains essential throughout: "You still need someone asking, ‘Wait, does this price actually make sense given size and industry?’”
Where AI shines already, is freeing up analyst capacity away from repetitive spreadsheet tasks toward higher-impact thinking: "What used to take juniors two days? Now takes seconds." That speed doesn’t reduce total workload, though. Vanoorbeek laughs, “If you're anything like me, it just means chasing more opportunities."
And while AI won’t replace people anytime soon, it will make underperformance harder to hide: "There's no excuse anymore not knowing basic comps if software does half that work instantly."
Still, digital adoption depends entirely upon quality implementation. Slick tools fail fast without proper onboarding support, and clients won't tolerate poor UX amid high-stakes negotiations: “If you invite someone onto clunky software, you’ve already lost credibility before showing any expertise."
Platforms must feel intuitive – not bolted together – to earn trust among founders experiencing digital due diligence flows perhaps for the first time under emotionally intense conditions: “Design isn’t cosmetic, it determines whether people engage fully, or disengage entirely."
Work-life balance remains elusive – for good reason
For younger professionals expecting balanced schedules, practice poses harsh realities. Vanoorbeek offers no illusions: "When you are working on a live deal, your hobbies disappear. Not even your partner gets priority. The deal dominates everything until it's signed." He acknowledges generational shifts toward wellbeing and flexibility, but cautions against assuming they translate cleanly into transactional timelines: “This isn't yoga class scheduling. You need full attention when stakes go high."
Adrenaline helps mitigate fatigue during crunch periods. And yes, AI removes tedium, but deadlines remain fixed externally: "No algorithm negotiates SPAs. No chatbot closes cultural gaps between buyer-seller dynamics. That work stays deeply human, for now."
What really separates great investors?
Asked what differentiates top-tier professionals today, Vanoorbeek doesn’t mention modelling proficiency, investment analysis or brand pedigrees: “Hiring great people, that's everything. If someone could master hiring consistently, they’d be richer than Elon Musk. Better to do a deal with strong management in a challenging industry than to do a deal with weak management in a thriving industry.”
He stresses talent selection trumps nearly every other operational lever, and yet remains the least understood aspect inside many shops: “Most failures I’ve seen came down not to strategy errors, but poor personnel judgement made early, and left uncorrected too long.”
Ultimately, whether steering motorbikes, cars, or trucks, the route forward depends less upon horsepower…and more upon who sits beside you, navigating turns ahead.
Hans Vanoorbeek is a managing partner and co-founder of BV Capital Partners, the private equity firm he founded in 2003. In addition, he is also a director at Aquasourca, the private equity fund of the Luxembourg-based Defforey family, and a senior advisor at Chequers Capital, a mid-sized French private equity firm.
Previously, he was active in private equity in London, where he spent eight years as a partner at BC Partners and as an Associate Director at IK Investment Partners. He is also a shareholder and board member of various companies.
As an Adjunct Professor, Hans supports Vlerick in its activities related to entrepreneurial buyouts. He is actively involved as a partner in the steering committee of the Centre for Mergers, Acquisitions & Buyouts.
