Berkshire Partners LLC is an American

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm based in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. It has invested in over 100 middle market companies since 1986 through nine investment funds with aggregate capital commitments of more than $16 billion. Berkshire has developed specific industry experience in several areas including

consumer products A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike an intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good. Whe ...

and

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

business services Corporate services or business services are activities which combine or consolidate certain Business, enterprise-wide needed support services, provided based on specialized knowledge, best practices, and technology to serve internal (and sometimes ...

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

, industrials and

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

. The firm has invested over $50 million to $500 million of equity capital in each portfolio company. Berkshire Partners typically makes equity investments of $50 million to $500 million in companies with enterprise values between $100 million and $1.5 billion. The firm seeks to partner with management teams to help grow their businesses and create long-term value.

History

Berkshire Partners was founded by Bradley M. Bloom, J. Christopher Clifford, Carl Ferenbach, Richard K. Lubin and Russell L. Epker in 1984. The firm traces its roots back to Boston's Thomas H. Lee Partners, a large-cap private equity firm founded a decade earlier. Since its founding in 1984, Berkshire has raised nine

private equity fund A private equity fund (abbreviated as PE fund) is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity (and to a lesser extent debt) securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity. ...

s with total investor commitments of more than $16.0 billion since inception. *Berkshire Fund I (1984) – $59 million *Berkshire Fund II (1986) – $125 million *Berkshire Fund III (1992) – $168 million *Berkshire Fund IV (1996) – $387 million *Berkshire Fund V (1998) – $985 million *Berkshire Fund VI (2002) – $1.7 billion *Berkshire Fund VII (2006) – $3.1 billion *Berkshire Fund VIII (2011) – $4.5 billion *Berkshire Fund IX (2016) – $5.5 billion *Berkshire Fund X (2021) – $5.8 billion *Berkshire Fund XI (2024) – $7.8 billion

Portfolio

Since its inception in 1984, Berkshire Partners has invested in over 100 companies and developed specific industry experience in several areas including consumer products and retail, business services, communications, industrials and healthcare.

References

External links

* {{private equity firms Private equity firms of the United States Companies based in Boston American companies established in 1984