Sale, MBO, minority stake: what 2026 deals teach business owners

By the Big4PM team · Published 13 November 2026 · 3 min read

In brief. In 2026, a family sold the group it had controlled for generations, two founders chose two different exits in the same deal, a management team bought out its founder, and IPOs were withdrawn in the Gulf. Each case illustrates a decision our clients face.

Schroders: a family chooses a full exit

On 12 February 2026, UK asset manager Schroders agreed to be bought by Nuveen of the US for £9.9bn, or 612 pence per share including dividends, a 34% premium. The founding family, which held about 42% of the shares, decided to sell its stake.

Lesson: an exit is first a family governance decision. When price, sector context and the generations' expectations align, a controlling family may prefer a full exit to a partial one. That decision must be prepared between branches before an offer arrives.

Shelly Group: two founders, two ways out

On 24 September 2026, Schneider Electric announced an agreement to buy Bulgaria's Shelly Group at €70 per share in cash, about €1.2bn and a 27% premium to the price before rumours. The two founders together hold about 57%. One tenders his shares and reinvests part of the proceeds alongside the buyer. The other sells in two tranches, the second subject to merger control. The offer requires 95% of the shares; closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027.

Lesson: in one deal, each shareholder can have a different horizon. Reinvestment aligns the founder who stays with the buyer; regulatory approvals set the timetable. Both points are negotiated well before signing (preparing a sale).

Oryx Energies: management buys out the founder

In October 2026, chief executive Moussa Diao and fellow executive Hervé Bouvet bought a majority stake in Oryx Energies, a fuel distributor active across Africa, from its founder Jean-Claude Gandur. The deal values the group at about $1bn. Afreximbank part-financed the buy-out with a $975m facility.

Lesson: when there is no family successor, the management team can be the best buyer, provided financing is found. In Africa, development banks play that role. The mechanism is a management or owner buy-out.

Barquín & Otxoa and Haricaman: majority or minority

In Spain, in August 2026, transport group Paulo Duarte, backed by ICG, took a majority stake in Barquín & Otxoa, a family business founded in 2003; the founder keeps a minority stake, and the brand and teams are retained. The same month, Unigrains Iberia became a minority shareholder in Haricaman, a family maker of flours and breadcrumbs, to fund two new plants.

Lesson: selling the majority while keeping a share, or opening a minority to fund growth, answer two different questions: 'I want to secure my wealth' or 'I want to grow without losing control' (taking cash out without selling).

Gulf: when the listing window closes

In the first half of 2026, seven IPOs raised $1.19bn in the Gulf. With the war in the region, several plans were put on hold: Mutlaq Al-Ghowairi Contracting withdrew its IPO and AlDyar AlArabiya halted its offering. Analysts see a pause rather than a reversal.

Lesson: an IPO depends on a market window the owner does not control. Preparing a private route in parallel, a sale or an investor, avoids being stuck when the window closes (SPAC mergers).

This article is general information. It is not investment, legal or tax advice. The rules quoted must be checked by your advisers before any decision.