January 10, 2025
The Sterling Group, a Houston-based middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Tangent Technologies (“Tangent” or “the Company”), has appointed Kevin Potthoff as Chief Executive Officer. Tangent is a leading manufacturer of high-density polyethylene (“HDPE”) synthetic lumber used for outdoor living, site amenities, structural applications, and marine decking.
Kevin has over twenty-five years of sales, operational, and leadership experience in engineered materials and building products manufacturing. Prior to joining Tangent, Kevin was CEO of Allura Fiber Cement Products, where he previously held roles as General Manager and Vice President of Sales. Prior to Allura, Kevin held sales roles at CertainTeed Corporation, James 5Hardie Building Products, and Louisiana Pacific Corporation. Throughout his career, Kevin has established a reputation for strategic vision and for transforming manufacturing businesses through operational optimization, revenue growth, and customer experience enhancement.
Guy De Feo, Tangent’s retiring founder and CEO, noted, “We took time to search for the right leader to move the company forward and who has the experience and is passionate about what we do with a high desire to win – I have no doubt that, under Kevin’s leadership, we will achieve even greater heights.” John Griffin, Partner at The Sterling Group, added “We are thrilled to welcome Kevin to Tangent – he brings extensive engineered materials experience that will help drive continued innovation and scaling of our synthetic lumber products.”
ABOUT TANGENT TECHNOLOGIES
Headquartered in Aurora, Illinois, Tangent is a leading manufacturer of synthetic lumber used for outdoor living, site amenities, structural applications, and marine decking. In recent years, synthetic lumber has become a leading substitute for traditional fabrication materials in outdoor living products and other applications given its durability and aesthetics. Tangent uses a combination of post-consumer and post-industrial recycled waste streams as primary raw materials.
ABOUT THE STERLING GROUP
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 73 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $25 billion. Sterling currently has $9.2 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
September 12, 2024
West Star Aviation is proud to announce the completion of its newest hangar at the East Alton facility. In addition, West Star Aviation Academy (WSAA), established in January 2024 by West Star Aviation in partnership with Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC), proudly celebrated the graduation of its inaugural class of 23 students. Over the past several years, West Star has made meaningful investments to expand its facilities and its team to support significant growth and excellent customer service.
The new hangar, officially named Hangar 67, adds 75,700 square feet of space, including 40,000 square feet of dedicated hangar space and 35,700 square feet of support space for the company’s advanced modification capabilities. In addition to providing a significant increase in available hangar space, the expansion enhances West Star’s capacity for interior, avionics, and sheet metal services, while enabling the implementation of cutting-edge production technologies, including a new state-of-the-art design center. With the completion of the new hangar, West Star’s network encompasses 1.5 million square feet of hangar space across the US.
West Star Aviation Academy represents the company’s innovative approach to addressing the Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) shortage. WSAA stands out as the only aviation program of its kind, where individuals are carefully screened, interviewed, and hired into a full-time, paid position. Participants are required to complete a customized Part 147 Airframe maintenance curriculum in a dedicated West Star classroom and learning hangar during their first 7.5 months of employment. Unlike other programs that demand balancing full-time work with night classes or learning on the job, WSAA enables apprentices to fully focus on developing the skills and knowledge essential for a successful aviation career. As a result, graduates are exceptionally prepared to join operations with hands-on experience working with West Star’s aircraft, systems, manuals, and procedures. West Star is pleased to announce the second class of students has recently started at the company with expected graduation in spring 2025.
About West Star Aviation
With more than 77 years of industry experience, West Star Aviation stands as a leading independent Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) provider. Employing over 3,000 professionals, West Star offers comprehensive services from our strategically located full-service facilities in East Alton, IL; Grand Junction, CO; Chattanooga, TN; Millville, NJ; Perryville, MO; and Statesville, NC, as well as satellite locations in Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Chicago, and West Palm Beach. The company’s extensive capabilities encompass maintenance, paint, interior, and avionics services, supported by the largest Aircraft On Ground (AOG) network in the country, ensuring prompt and reliable mobile repair services nationwide.
April 22, 2024
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), an operationally focused, industrial middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce the closing of Sterling Group Partners VI, LP (together with its parallel fund, “Fund VI”). Fund VI exceeded its target of $2.75 billion and was significantly oversubscribed at its hard cap of $3.5 billion. Sterling’s previous fund closed in June 2020 with $2.0 billion of limited partner commitments.
The majority of Fund VI’s capital was committed by returning investors. Sterling welcomes several new investors that expand the firm’s Limited Partner base in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. “Sterling has a four-decade track record of value creation across the economic cycle,” added Franny Jones, Partner, Investor Relations. “The secular tailwinds underpinning today’s industrial middle market, when combined with our proven Seven Lever value creation strategy, present tremendous opportunities for Fund VI.”
Consistent with Sterling’s successful history over four decades, Fund VI will primarily target corporate carve-outs and family businesses in the industrial sector. The firm emphasizes its operational approach in partnership with management teams to grow and improve its portfolio companies. Sterling’s partner group, including Greg Elliott, Brian Henry, Scott MacLaren, Brad Staller, Kent Wallace, Jim Apple, Franny Jones and Jud Morrison have a collective 100-plus years working at Sterling.
Evercore Private Funds Group acted as the exclusive global placement agent, and Kirkland and Ellis, LLP served as fund counsel.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 71 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $24 billion. Sterling currently has $9.4 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
April 08, 2024
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), a Houston-based, operationally focused middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that the Firm has been ranked #12 out of over 632 middle market private equity firms globally in the 2023 HEC-Dow Jones Middle Market Buyout Performance ranking.
Sterling has been partnering with management teams to grow and build winning businesses in the industrial sector for over forty years. “Sterling is honored to be ranked among the top performing private equity firms worldwide,” said Brian Henry, Partner at The Sterling Group. “This recognition by HEC-Dow Jones attests to the strength of our hands-on operational approach and intensive application of our Seven Levers methodology, driving strong results for our portfolio companies and our investors.” For more information, including the full ranking, criteria and methodology, please view the full report here.
The 2023 HEC Paris – DowJones Middle Market Buyout Performance Ranking seeks to answer the question: “Which firm(s) in the Middle Market Buyout segment generated the best performance for their investors over the past years?” The ranking analyzed performance data from 632 PE firms and the 1241 funds they raised between 2010 and 2019 with an aggregate equity volume of $2.18 trillion. The HEC-DowJones Ranking draws on private equity fund performance data provided by Preqin and data reported directly to HEC-DowJones.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 67 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $22.0 billion. Sterling currently has over $5.9 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
HEC Paris and Dow Jones (“HEC-Dow Jones”) released the 2023 HEC Paris-DowJones Middle Market Buyout Performance Ranking (the “Report”) on March 6, 2024. The Report is based on information sourced from Preqin and data reported directly by certain participants in the rankings described in the Report. The Sterling Group provided certain information to HEC-Dow Jones in connection with the preparation of the Report, which addresses certain middle-market buyout fund sponsors and fund vintage years of 2010-2019. The Report ultimately represents the opinion of HEC-Dow Jones and not of The Sterling Group. Neither HEC-Dow Jones nor The Sterling Group has independently verified or assessed the information provided by other parties in connection with the preparation of the Report. In addition, the methodology used by HEC-Dow Jones is subject to inherent limitations due to the confidential nature of the private equity industry, different vintage years, strategies or investment objectives of private equity firms and different performance measures used by such firms. The Sterling Group pays an annual subscription fee to Preqin for access to certain data but did not compensate Preqin or HEC-Dow Jones to be considered for, or ultimately receive, any ranking described in the Report. There can be no assurance that other providers or surveys would reach the same conclusion as the foregoing. The Sterling Group makes no representations or warranties as to accuracy, completeness or reliability of information contained in the Report. Information relating to the Report and its methodology is available here.
July 27, 2023
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), a Houston-based, operationally focused middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that the Firm is partnering with Ownership Works to continue its long history of sharing economics with portfolio companies. Ownership Works is a nonprofit organization that partners with companies and investors to implement broadbased employee ownership programs.
Sterling believes the pace of progress dramatically increases when Sterling and employees are economically aligned and when employees can participate in a successful investment outcome. Since 1982, Sterling has been widely sharing equity and/or options with employees of portfolio companies. Sterling’s founder, Gordon Cain, wrote a book called “Everyone Wins” detailing his and Sterling’s philosophy on sharing economics, and these principles are still carried by the firm today.
“Over four decades investing in the industrial sector, we have learned that employees are more engaged and more impactful when they have ownership. This “Everybody Wins” philosophy of partnering with our portfolio company employees to create long term value is a founding principle of our firm. We are thrilled to continue sharing economics with portfolio company employees in partnership with Ownership Works to drive better investment outcomes and generate wealth for employees and their families,” said Brad Staller, a Partner at The Sterling Group.
Ownership Works, a new nonprofit organization with a mission to create $20 billion in wealth for workers by 2030, announced 15 new Founding Partners. Building on an unprecedented initial cohort of partners in 2022, this new cohort brings the organization’s groundbreaking consortium to a total of over 75 leaders from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Collectively, these firms and individuals are committed to improving financial outcomes for businesses and workers through broad-based employee ownership.
Ownership Works’ Founding Partners include investors, banks, professional services firms, pension funds, labor advocates, nonprofits, and public companies. These partners support the nonprofit’s mission in various ways, including pro bono subject matter expertise and charitable contributions. Of Ownership Works’ investor partners, 23 private equity firms have made industry-leading commitments to provide all full-time employees within at least three of their portfolio companies with a pathway to participate in broad-based employee ownership programs.
“We’re thrilled to see the business community continuing to rally behind broad-based employee ownership. Since our public launch in 2022, 66 companies have implemented shared ownership programs, reaching over 95,000 employees, and over $350 million has been paid out to workers,” said Anna-Lisa Miller, Executive Director of Ownership Works. “With this second cohort of Founding Partners, Ownership Works takes another considerable step forward in our mission to make shared ownership the new norm within corporate America, allowing all workers to benefit from the value they help create.”
As part of Ownership Works’ second cohort of Founding Partners, four leaders and advisors have joined Ownership Works’ Pension Fund Leadership Council, lending their time and expertise to help establish shared ownership as a leading investment strategy that generates both strong financial returns and significant social benefit.
Ownership Works’ new Founding Partners and Pension Fund Leadership Council members include:
Institutional Partners
· Advent International
· Aksia
· AlixPartners
· Ardian
· Building Industry Partners
· Frontenac
· KPMG
· Neuberger Berman
· Prudential Foundation
· The Riverside Company
· The Sterling Group
Pension Fund Leadership Councilmembers
· Scott Hart, Partner & CEO, StepStone Group
· Mike Krems, Partner, Private Equity Portfolio Strategies, Aksia
· Polina Sims, Managing Director, Head of Investment Strategy, Sustainability and Asset Management, Investment Management Corporation of Ontario
· Elizabeth Traxler, Managing Director, Neuberger Berman
Recent Impact¹
Ownership Works has made significant progress since its founding in 2021, recently releasing its first Impact Report. The report includes an overview of the number of shared ownership programs implemented, and the amount of wealth shared, to date. Progress includes:
Programmatic Progress
· 66 companies with board-approved shared ownership plans
· 95K+ employees impacted by shared ownership
Wealth Shared
· $359M – Wealth shared through broad-based employee ownership programs²
· $127M – Wealth shared with low- and moderate-income workers³
· $153M – Wealth shared with workers of color⁴
· $101,710 – Average payout to low- and moderate-income workers⁵
To learn more about the partners that have joined Ownership Works in the movement to establish broad-based employee ownership as the new norm at work, please visit ownershipworks.org/partners/.
About Ownership Works
Ownership Works is a nonprofit organization on a mission to increase prosperity through shared ownership at work. The organization partners with business leaders and investors to provide all employees with the opportunity to become owners at work and participate in the success they help create. To learn more, please visit ownershipworks.org.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 65 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $14.0 billion. Sterling currently has over $5.9 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss. In connection with Sterling’s collaboration with Ownership Works, Sterling has made and will continue to make financial contributions to Ownership Works to support the organization’s charitable activities.
¹ This information was provided by Ownership Works as of July 21, 2023 and has not been independently verified by Sterling.
² Sum of total payouts (dividends and exits) to all employees excluding the top five highest payout recipients at companies where data has been provided.
³ Sum of total payouts (dividends and exits) to all employees with incomes less than or equal to $113,675 (i.e., 250% of 2021 U.S. median individual earnings, as based on U.S. Census data: “Earnings Summary Measures by Selected Characteristics: 2020 and 2021.”)
⁴ From companies where employee-level data has been provided and based on total payout data with no exclusions or thresholds.
⁵ Based on available employee-level data for U.S. workers for exit payouts, and assuming employee-level income data shared with O.W. is total annual compensation.
March 29, 2023
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), a Houston-based, operationally focused middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that the Firm has been ranked #8 out of over 563 middle market private equity firms globally in the 2022 HEC-DowJones Middle Market Buyout Performance ranking.
Sterling has been partnering with management teams to grow and build winning businesses in the industrial sector for over forty years. “The Sterling team shares a passion for building great industrial businesses through investments in the Seven Levers, and we believe this passion has driven strong results,” said Brian Henry, Partner at The Sterling Group. “We are grateful to our investors for their continued support, and to our management teams for driving initiatives and growth at our portfolio companies.” For more information, including the full ranking, criteria and methodology, please view the full report here.
The 2022 HEC Paris – DowJones Middle Market Buyout Performance Ranking seeks to answer the question: “Which firm(s) in the Middle Market Buyout segment generated the best performance for their investors over the past years?” The ranking analyzed performance data from 563 PE firms and the 2021 funds they raised between 2009 and 2018 with an aggregate equity volume of $1.51 trillion. The HEC-DowJones Ranking draws on private equity fund performance data provided by Preqin and data reported directly to HEC-DowJones.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 64 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $14.0 billion. Sterling currently has over $5.1 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
HEC Paris and Dow Jones (“HEC-Dow Jones”) released the 2022 HEC Paris-DowJones Middle Market Buyout Performance Ranking (the “Report”) on March 5, 2023. The Report is based on information sourced from Preqin and data reported directly by certain participants in the rankings described in the Report. The Sterling Group provided certain information to HEC-Dow Jones in connection with the preparation of the Report, which addresses certain middle-market buyout fund sponsors and fund vintage years of 2009-2018. The Report ultimately represents the opinion of HEC-Dow Jones and not of The Sterling Group. Neither HEC-Dow Jones nor The Sterling Group has independently verified or assessed the information provided by other parties in connection with the preparation of the Report. In addition, the methodology used by HEC-Dow Jones is subject to inherent limitations due to the confidential nature of the private equity industry, different vintage years, strategies or investment objectives of private equity firms and different performance measures used by such firms. The Sterling Group pays an annual subscription fee to Preqin for access to certain data but did not compensate Preqin or HEC-Dow Jones to be considered for, or ultimately receive, any ranking described in the Report. There can be no assurance that other providers or surveys would reach the same conclusion as the foregoing. The Sterling Group makes no representations or warranties as to accuracy, completeness or reliability of information contained in the Report. Information relating to the Report and its methodology is available here.
November 28, 2022
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), a Houston-based, operationally focused middle market private equity firm, is delighted to announce that it has been named to Inc.’s fourth annual Founder-Friendly Investors list. Inc.’s list honors the private equity and venture capital firms with the best track record of success backing entrepreneurs, and this is the fourth consecutive year Sterling has been included on the list.
“We are committed to building long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs and founders to support their business goals and help accelerate their growth plans,” said Jim Apple, a Managing Director at The Sterling Group. “Our recognition on this list speaks to the level of trust we have built with families and founders in the industrial sector over the past four decades.”
Approximately 75% of Sterling platform investments in the last six years have involved partnerships with family or entrepreneur owned or operated businesses. Over the past forty years, Sterling has collaborated with numerous entrepreneur owners, working closely with management to drive fundamental improvement at each platform company.
Inc.’s 2022 List of Founder-Friendly Investors recognizes 184 firms that entrepreneurs can trust and collaborate with while receiving the financial support they need to help accelerate growth. All 184 have a successful track record of remaining actively involved in the businesses after their investment. To see the complete list, go to: https://www.inc.com/founder-friendly-investors/2022.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 63 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $14.0 billion. Sterling currently has over $5.7 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
Any subjective views or opinions expressed herein should not be construed as absolute statements and are subject to change without notice to you. No representation, express or implied, is given regarding the accuracy of the information contained herein. Any forward-looking statements included herein are based on The Sterling Group’s current opinions, assumptions, expectations, beliefs, intentions, regarding future events, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and are provided for informational purposes only.
The Sterling Group paid a fee to be considered for this list, which was issued on October 4th, 2022 and covers the period of April 2021 to April 2022. This list is based on an analysis of information gathered by Inc. Magazine using its own methodologies and criteria, which analysis relies in part on certain subjective determinations and is subject to inherent limitations.
November 11, 2021
The Sterling Group (“Sterling”), a Houston-based, operationally focused middle market private equity firm, has been named to Inc.’s third annual Founder-Friendly Investors list. This list honors the private equity and venture capital firms with the best track record of success backing entrepreneurs.
“Sterling appreciates the magnitude of the decision a family-led or entrepreneur-led business undertakes when forming a partnership with private equity. Across the industrial sector, we bring a unique approach helping families navigate a once-in-a-lifetime event,” said Jim Apple, a Managing Director at The Sterling Group. “Our inclusion on this list points to forty years of crafting the right solution for each situation.”
Approximately 75% of Sterling platform investments in the last five years have involved partnerships with family or entrepreneur owned or operated businesses. Over the past forty years, Sterling has collaborated with numerous entrepreneur owners, working closely with management to drive fundamental improvement at each platform company.
Inc.’s 2021 List of Founder-Friendly Investors recognizes 146 firms that entrepreneurs can trust and collaborate with while receiving the financial support they need to help accelerate growth. All 146 have a successful track record of remaining actively involved in the businesses after their investment. To see the complete list, go to: http://www.inc.com/private-equity.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit investment firm that targets investments in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies at initial formation range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 61 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $14.0 billion. Sterling currently has over $5.0 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
October 19, 2020
Transaction Will Enhance Capabilities to Serve Professional Contractors with Broader Product & Service Offerings and Expanded Reach
White Cap Supply Holdings, LLC (“White Cap”) and Construction Supply Group (“CSG”) announce today the successful separation of White Cap from HD Supply and its combination with CSG. The combined transaction, valued at approximately $4 billion and including investments by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (“CD&R”) and The Sterling Group funds, creates the leading North American distributor of a diverse mix of concrete accessories and specialty construction and safety products by revenues with more than $4 billion annually.
Following the transaction, CD&R funds hold a 65 percent ownership interest in the combined company, and the prior shareholders of CSG, led by The Sterling Group, hold a 35 percent interest.
CSG and White Cap have highly complementary product offerings and geographic footprints, aligned cultures and strong talent focused on providing exceptional customer service to professional contractors. John Stegeman, CEO of White Cap, and Alan Sollenberger, President of White Cap, will lead the combined business.
“Both White Cap and CSG share the same vision of continuous growth with the goal to relentlessly improve customer service,” said John Stegeman. “By joining together, our platform allows expansion of our product and service offerings across more than 400 locations in 46 U.S. States and 8 Canadian Provinces. Our goal is to provide even greater value for our customers and enhance our ability to serve with excellence. This is an incredibly exciting time for our associates, customers, and suppliers.”
The combined strength of White Cap and CSG will include:
An outside sales force of over 850 associates with significant industry experience
More than 1,000 inside and counter sales associates to deliver on our promise of two-hour ready will call at our locations
Nearly 2,000 delivery vehicles to enable our same day or next day service to job sites
A comprehensive offering of 400,000+ products from more than 4,500 suppliers
“Both businesses have incredible histories of exceptional customer service,” said Alan Sollenberger. “As we join together, we will continue to build on our vast experiences and stronger future by investing in focused local growth initiatives with the support of our national platform.”
“Our goal with this transformational combination is to bring to life the many benefits of our combination for our customers,” said John Stegeman.
About White Cap
White Cap serves as a one-stop shop providing concrete accessories and chemicals, tools and equipment, building materials and fasteners, erosion and waterproofing and safety products to professional contractors by meeting their distinct and customized supply needs in non-residential, residential and infrastructure end markets. White Cap operates 268 branches with approximately 5,300 employees and offers more than 400,000 SKUs to 200,000 customers. For more information, visit www.whitecap.com.
About Construction Supply Group
CSG is a leader in the distribution of specialty construction materials, accessories and tools, primarily for professional concrete and masonry contractors in the United States and Canada. With over 132 branches and approximately 2,000 employees, CSG offers over 60,000 SKUs to over 65,000 customers. For more information, visit www.constructionsupplygroup.com.
About Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Founded in 1978, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is a private investment firm. Since inception, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $30 billion in 95 companies with an aggregate transaction value of more than $150 billion. The Firm has offices in New York and London. For more information, visit www.cdr-inc.com.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity investment firm that targets controlling interests in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 57 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $14.0 billion. Currently, Sterling has over $4.0 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
June 15, 2020
The Sterling Group, an operationally focused middle market private equity firm, announced the closing of Sterling Group Partners V, LP (together with its parallel fund, “Fund V”). Fund V was oversubscribed and closed at its $2.0 billion hard cap in approximately four months.
The majority of Fund V’s capital was committed by returning investors. Sterling welcomes several new investors that expand the firm’s Limited Partner base in the United States, the Middle East and Asia. “The Sterling team is grateful for the continued support of our long term investing partners, particularly in the midst of an extremely difficult market environment,” said Franny Jones, Managing Director, Investor Relations. “The demand for Fund V is a result of Sterling’s hands-on, operational approach to transforming industrial businesses and our firm-wide commitment to continuous improvement in all aspects of our business.”
Consistent with Sterling’s successful history over four decades, Fund V will primarily target corporate carve-outs and family businesses. The firm emphasizes its operational approach in partnership with management teams to grow and improve its portfolio companies. Sterling’s partner group, including Greg Elliott, John Hawkins, Brian Henry, Scott MacLaren, Gary Rosenthal, Brad Staller, and Kent Wallace, have a collective 100-plus years working at Sterling.
Sterling’s previous fund closed in 2015 with $1.25 billion of investor commitments. Kirkland and Ellis served as legal counsel for Fund V. Sterling did not utilize a placement agent.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group targets controlling interests in basic manufacturing, distribution and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of its initial platform companies range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 56 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $14 billion. Currently, Sterling has over $4 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
The Sterling Group is an operationally focused middle market private equity firm that builds winning businesses for customers, employees and investors.
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