Heartwood Partners built its pitch around an unfashionable idea in buyouts: use less debt, leave managers with meaningful ownership, and give operating teams room to grow. In a market trained to chase leverage, restraint has become the product.
In Rye, New York, a former Blackstone dealmaker built a private equity firm around a contrarian bet: the least glamorous companies in America - the ones that make labels, insulation, and water pumps - are where the returns hide.