Partners Group expands growth equity strategy, building on its long track record of investing in fast-growing companies Dienstag, 19. November 2024 - 07:00

• The expanded strategy will primarily focus on healthcare and technology
• Partners Group has deployed around USD 2.5 billion in growth equity to-date
• The firm has launched a dedicated growth evergreen fund in the US

Partners Group, one of the largest firms in the global private markets industry, has expanded its growth equity strategy (“the Strategy”), building on its long track record of investing in fast-growing companies. The expanded strategy will target companies in high-growth industries, particularly within the technology and healthcare sectors globally.

Partners Group will apply its thematic sourcing approach, which already tracks transformative growth trends across different sectors, to identify more growth-stage companies within the Strategy’s focus areas. The firm will also further leverage its extensive existing network amongst top growth investment managers, established through its Private Equity Partnership Investments business, to source opportunities.

Under the Strategy, Partners Group targets both growth buyouts, which typically include companies with scaled revenues and early profitability, and minority stakes in less mature companies with a path to profitability. To fall within scope, target companies need to have a differentiated offering, a strong product-market fit, and a resilient business model. Partners Group made its first growth investment in 2013 and has to-date deployed around USD 2.5 billion in the space. So far this year, the firm has made the following investments[1]:

• Akur8 (France), a machine learning-powered insurance pricing and reserving platform, where Partners Group invested in a USD 120 million series C fundraising.
• FairJourney Biologics (Portugal), a leading antibody discovery Contract Research Organization, where Partners Group acquired a majority stake.
• Neara (Australia), a provider of cloud-native infrastructure modelling software, where Partners Group invested in a USD 31 million series C fundraising.
• Sword Health (US), an AI-based musculoskeletal therapy solutions specialist, where Partners Group invested in a USD 130 million share sale.

Partners Group invests in growth equity investments through eligible existing private equity products and has recently launched a new evergreen fund in the US that is primarily focused on growth investments. Partners Group plans to launch other dedicated growth equity investment programs in the future.

Partners Group's growth equity team is integrated within its Private Equity business, which has over 200 investment professionals globally, reflecting the strong synergies the Strategy has with the firm's wider platform. The Private Equity business has a Health & Life Vertical team and a Technology Vertical team, both of which are supported by in-house research capabilities that guide the sourcing of investment opportunities.  

Todd Miller, Partner, Head Private Equity Health & Life Vertical and Head Growth Equity, Partners Group, says: "With our integrated global investment platform and research-based thematic sourcing approach, we are well-positioned to invest across the entire valuation spectrum, from early-stage growth to buyout opportunities. Through our thematic research, we are uncovering more and more attractive growth opportunities across our focus areas in the healthcare and technology sectors. We expect this to continue as the cycle turns and investors come to terms with the new valuation paradigm. The expansion of our growth strategy will bring our current growth investing activities together and provide a platform from which to build on this momentum into the future."

[1] Refers to the four investments that Partners Group has made under its growth strategy in 2024 YTD.