buy-and-build
(22)
ClearCourse Bought the Software Behind Britain’s Small Businesses - Then Put Payments Inside It
The quiet systems running a marina, a garage or a golf club are hard to replace and easy to overlook. ClearCourse has spent eight years buying those niche operators, joining their workflows to payments, and betting that useful beats fashionable.
The Guy Buying Up America's Water Guys
Peter Brooks left the Marines, studied water policy at Harvard, and decided the least glamorous corner of American infrastructure was the best place to build something that lasts. His pitch to the family businesses that keep the water running: sell to us and we will never sell you.
Percheron’s $8 Billion Bet on the People Who Keep America Running
Percheron Capital is turning fragmented, hands-on trades into scaled service platforms. Its unusual tool kit pairs high-velocity M&A with engineers who build AI alongside the frontline.
Greater Sum Ventures Built a Private Equity Machine With No Fund Clock
The Knoxville firm turned one church-software roll-up into a repeatable playbook for buying, combining and operating unglamorous but essential software - without the forced exit date of a conventional fund.
The Water Roll-Up That Lets Local Names Stay Local
H2O Care Partners is buying the plumbing behind better tap water - then leaving the trusted name on the truck. Its wager is that national resources and local reputations can occupy the same house.
The Healthcare Buyout Firm That Counts Minutes in the Waiting Room
Regal Healthcare Capital Partners has raised nearly $1.3 billion by treating healthcare’s unglamorous details - staffing, scheduling, dashboards and provider incentives - as the machinery of growth.
The Home-Service Rollup That Lets Local Operators Keep the Keys
Legacy Service Partners is building national scale behind local HVAC, plumbing and electrical brands. Its wager is that shared systems and patient capital can travel farther when the name on the service van stays familiar.
The Firm That Buys Boring Businesses and Sends an Operator to Run Them
Liberty Partners backs the people who buy small companies and stay to run them. In healthcare, B2B services and financial services, its bet is that owners who fix boilers and read board decks build more durable businesses than spreadsheets alone.
The Roofing Roll-Up That Wants the Local Name to Stay on the Truck
Stonegrove is buying good roofing companies without sanding off the names customers already trust. Its wager is that local reputation and national purchasing power can share the same ladder.
PSG’s $30 Billion Bet: Build 100 Software Specialists, Not One Unicorn
The Boston growth-equity firm has turned narrow software focus into a very large machine - pairing capital with operators, acquisitions and an AI push across more than 165 platform investments.
The Firm Buying Back America's Factory Floor - Then Handing It to the Workers
Two brothers watched private equity buy their father's factory and shut it down. Their answer was to build a manufacturing group that ends with the employees owning the whole thing.
The Firm That Rolls Up Its Sleeves Before It Signs the Check
Vertica Capital Partners buys the mission-critical software most investors ignore - and then treats the board seat like a day job.
The Private Equity Firm That Grew Out of a Turnaround Shop
Born from one of the world's best-known restructuring firms, A&M Capital bets that operators, not just financiers, make the better owners of mid-sized companies.
The Private-Equity Firm That Hires the CEO Before It Buys the Company
Alpine Investors built an $18.5 billion private-equity firm around an unusual wager: in a business obsessed with deals, the scarce asset is the person who can lead what comes next.
The Family Office That Would Rather Run the Company Than Just Fund It
Rudy Larsen skipped college, started a lawn-care crew in 2006, and turned it into a Utah family office that now buys, builds, and runs a portfolio of service and tech companies. The pitch is unusual for money managers: they would rather be in the truck than in the boardroom.
Meet the Chicago Firm Quietly Buying the Software That Runs Your Company
Thoma Bravo has spent two decades turning enterprise software into private equity's most repeatable playbook - roughly $180 billion in assets, more than 580 companies acquired, and a cybersecurity portfolio most governments would envy.
Sila Services
Sila Services is assembling a regional home-repair network without sanding the names off the trucks. Its bet is that the best way to scale HVAC, plumbing and electrical work is to keep local trust out front - and put recruiting, technology and capital behind it.
Alloy Roofing
Alloy Roofing is buying a national footprint without painting over the names on the trucks. Its wager is that local trust and centralized muscle can share the same roof.
Audax Group
Audax Group turned the unglamorous work of joining smaller businesses into an institutional playbook. More than 1,500 add-ons later, the Boston firm now spans control equity, private credit and bespoke mid-hold capital.
Peloton Capital Management
Peloton Capital Management is betting that the best middle-market businesses need a longer runway, not a faster flip. Its founder-first model has turned patient capital into an 11-company portfolio across healthcare, financial and consumer services.
Curb Home Services
Curb Home Services is assembling roofing, siding and solar contractors without sanding off their local identities. Its wager is that the best home-services platform will be almost invisible to the homeowner - and indispensable to the operator.
Nick Miller
Nick Miller is the founder and CEO of Universe, an Atlanta-based holding company that buys and builds vertical software businesses. He first built Gather, a hospitality SaaS platform for private events that grew from a 200-square-foot closet to a company acquired by Vista Equity Partners and later merged into Tripleseat. With Universe he now owns and operates Goldie, an all-in-one business tool for solopreneurs, and Equilab, a training community for equestrians, applying lessons from one exit to a portfolio of purpose-built software for overlooked markets.