As mentioned above, there are multiple formulas for success as a serial acquirer. In our conversation with the management of a private Belgian (and partially Dutch) serial acquirer, the aforementioned elements came to the fore. It isn’t pure copycat behavior, but unsurprisingly, you gain a significant advantage by studying the winners who have already made it. You could call it a form of “shameless cloning” with its own unique accents. What they did allude to is that they explicitly seek targets that exhibit solid organic growth in both revenue and EBITA, and moreover, in real terms. The reasoning is that simple nominal growth can mislead you, and that it becomes more difficult to protect profitability during tougher times. Nominal growth can be misleading.