 | |
 Headquarters at 233 Wilshire Blvd | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private equity |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | 233 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, California U.S. |
| AUM | US$72 billion (2022) |
Number of employees | 77 (2022) |
| Subsidiaries | WhiteStar Asset Management |
| Website | clearlake |
| Footnotes / references [1][2][3][4] | |
Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is a private equity firm founded in 2006 that focuses on the technology, industrial and consumer sectors.[2][3][4][5] The firm is headquartered in Santa Monica with affiliates in Dallas, London and Dublin.[1][3][4][5] In 2022, the firm was a part of an investor consortium named BlueCo that purchased Chelsea.[3][5][6][7]
In June 2023, Clearlake Capital was ranked 14th in Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking of the largest private equity firms in the world.[8]
Background
Clearlake Capital was founded in 2006 by Steven Chang, Behdad Eghbali and José Feliciano.[2][3][4][5] The strategy was to shift between buyouts and distressed securities depending on economic conditions.[3] This allowed the firm to take advantage of the 2007–2008 financial crisis to acquire distressed securities and then sell them for a profit after recovery.[3]
In 2015, Chang left the firm leaving Eghbali and Feliciano as the remaining managing partners.[2][9]
In May 2018, Clearlake sold a minority stake of up to 20% of its shares to Dyal Capital, Petershill Partners and Landmark Partners.[10][11] The purpose of the sale was to fund the creation of a credit unit.[11]
In June 2020, Clearlake acquired a majority interest in WhiteStar Asset Management from Pine Brook Road Partners.[3][12] WhiteStar Asset Management serves as the credit platform of Clearlake.[3][12]
In recent years Clearlake has become the biggest user of "General partner-led Private-equity secondary markets".[3]. It is a technique where Clearlake will find another private equity firm to buy a large portion of one of its existing investments and then offer investors a chance to sell at a new valuation or roll their stake into a new fund that will hold the investment for a few more years.[3] It discovered this technique during the COVID-19 pandemic when it sold shares of software company Ivanti to TA Associates in August 2020 at a valuation of $2 billion that generated a large windfall gain.[3] Many investors chose to roll their holdings instead.[3] In 2021, Charlesbank Capital Partners invested in Ivanti at a valuation of $4 billion.[3]
Funds
| Fund[13] | Vintage Year | Committed Capital (US$m) |
|---|---|---|
| Clearlake Capital Partners I | N/A | N/A |
| Clearlake Capital Partners II | 2010 | 410 |
| Clearlake Capital Partners III | 2013 | 785 |
| Clearlake Capital Partners IV | 2015 | 1,380 |
| Clearlake Opportunities Partners | 2016 | 600 |
| Clearlake Capital Partners V | 2018 | 3,600 |
| Clearlake Opportunities Partners II | 2019 | 1,400 |
| Clearlake Capital Partners VI | 2020 | 7,000 |
| Clearlake Opportunities Partners III[14] | 2022 | 2,500 |
| Clearlake Capital Partners VII[15] | 2022 | 14,000 |
Notable deals
In 2014, Clearlake acquired the women's clothing company Ashley Stewart for $18 million after it had recently filed for bankruptcy.[9] After the company underwent significant restructuring including cost-cutting, Clearlake sold the company to Invus Group for more than $140 million in 2016.[9]
In 2015, Clearlake took a controlling stake in Syncsort.[16] In 2016 Clearlake, took a controlling stake in Vision Solutions.[16] In 2017, Clearlake sold both companies to Centerbridge Partners for $1.26 billion and were merged.[16][17] In 2020 the merged company rebranded to Precisely. In 2021, Clearlake and TA Associates reacquired Precisely for $3.5 billion.[16][17]
In November 2020, Clearlake announced that it would acquire Endurance International Group for around $3 billion.[18] Following the acquisition, Clearlake combined Endurance's Web Presence division with Web.com to form Newfold Digital, a global web presence and domain name registration market leader.[19]
In October 2021, the firm acquired Cornerstone OnDemand a NASDAQ listed software company for $5.2 billion and took the company private.[20][21]
On May 30, 2022, an investor consortium named BlueCo co-led by Clearlake and Todd Boehly acquired Chelsea F.C. for $3 billion.[3][5][6][7] Clearlake, which owns about 60% of Chelsea, would share joint control and equal governance of the club with Boehly.[5]
References
- ^ a b "Form ADV" (PDF). SEC.
- ^ a b c d "Clearlake Capital hits fundraising trail minus a founder | Buyouts". October 26, 2021. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Clearlake, the US buyout group behind the Chelsea bid". Financial Times. May 7, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Singh, Preeti (May 18, 2022). "Clearlake Capital Wraps Up Latest Fund With $14.1 Billion". Wall Street Journal.
- ^ a b c d e f Dowd, Kevin. "Clearlake Follows Its Chelsea Deal With A $14.1 Billion Buyout Fund". Forbes. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ a b "Wall Street Brings Its Financial Engineering to English Football". Bloomberg.com. February 17, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ a b "Consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completes acquisition of Chelsea Football Club". www.chelseafc.com. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ "PEI 300 | The Largest Private Equity Firms in the World". Private Equity International. June 1, 2023. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
- ^ a b c "The Fall and Rise of a Plus-Size Empire". Bloomberg.com. December 21, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ "Clearlake Capital sells 20% stake to 3 alternatives fund managers". Pensions & Investments. May 25, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ a b "Clearlake Attracts Minority Investment From Dyal, Goldman, Landmark". Institutional Investor. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ a b "Clearlake Capital purchases majority stake in WhiteStar Asset Management". www.spglobal.com. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ "Clearlake Capital Group | Palico". www.palico.com. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
- ^ Larin, Marvin (September 20, 2022). "Clearlake Capital closes Clearlake Opportunities Partners III with more than $2.5 billion in commitments". Clearlake Capital. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
- ^ Larin, Marvin (May 18, 2022). "Clearlake Capital closes seventh flagship private equity fund with more than $14.1 billion in commitments". Clearlake Capital. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Woodie, Alex (March 8, 2021). "Clearlake Re-Acquires Precisely In $3.5 Billion Deal". IT Jungle. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ a b "Two private equity firms take control of U.S. software company Precisely in $3.5 billion deal: source". Reuters. March 3, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ "Endurance International Group Announces Agreement to be Acquired by Clearlake Capital Group L.P. for $9.50 per Share". Clearlake.com (Press release). Clearlake Capital. November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- ^ Basch, Mark (February 11, 2021). "Web.com merges with competitor, becoming Newfold Digital". Jax Daily Record. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
- ^ "Clearlake Capital to take Cornerstone OnDemand private for $3.8 billion". Reuters. August 5, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ "In $5.2B deal, Cornerstone OnDemand goes private | TechTarget". HR Software. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
External links
This page was last edited on 3 April 2024, at 09:23