Clearlake turned a distressed-debt strategy into a $90 billion machine by fixing unglamorous companies - then bought a Premier League club to prove the point.
It bought Lids for less than half what it last sold for, rescued Claire's from liquidation, and calls itself a mini-Berkshire. Ames Watson would rather own a brand for thirty years than sell it in five.
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.