Searchlight Capital Partners is a

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

based in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, with $15 billion in

assets under management In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...

History

Searchlight Capital was founded in 2010 by

Eric Zinterhofer Eric Louis Zinterhofer (born August 1971) is an American private equity financier who is a founding partner of Searchlight Capital Partners. Early life Eric Zinterhofer was born in August 1971. He is the son of Dr. Louis J. M. Zinterhofer and Su ...

Oliver Haarmann Carl Ludwig Oliver Haarmann (born September 1967) is a German private equity financier, and a founding partner of Searchlight Capital Partners. Early life Oliver Haarmann was born in September 1967. He earned a bachelor's degree in history and ...

, and Erol Uzumeri, its founding partners. It has offices in New York City, London and Toronto. Searchlight Capital invests across five sectors:

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

, services, industrials,

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 ...

and consumer. In January 2012, Searchlight Capital completed the acquisition of the famed rubber

Wellington Boot A Wellington boot, often shortened to welly, and also known as a gumboot, rubber boot, or rain boot, is a type of waterproof boot made of rubber. Originally a type of leather riding boot adapted from Hessian boots, a style of military foot we ...

manufacturer

Hunter Boot Ltd Hunter Boot Limited is a British footwear manufacturing company that is known for its rubber Wellington boots. Originally established in 1856 as the North British Rubber Company, the firm is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. It also has off ...

. In April 2012, Searchlight closed its first fund Searchlight Fund I at $860m. In July 2014, Searchlight Capital acquired the Canadian meat and frozen food retail chain M&M Food Market. In June 2015, Searchlight Capital (40%) and

Liberty Global Liberty Global Ltd. is a British-Dutch-American multinational telecommunications company domiciled in Bermuda, with headquarters in London, Amsterdam and Denver. Its respective legal names are Liberty Global Holdings Limited (UK), Liberty Glo ...

(60%) jointly acquired Choice Cable TV, Puerto Rico's second-largest cable operator, for US$272.5 million. In October 2015, the company acquired a majority stake in the Canadian apparel brand

Roots Canada Roots Corporation is a publicly traded Canadian brand that sells apparel, leather bags, small leather goods, footwear, athletic wear, and home furnishings. The company was founded in 1973 in Toronto, Ontario, by Michael Budman and Don Green. In ...

, with a minority stake still held by its founders. In December 2015, Searchlight closed its second fund with $1.94 billion of commitments. In April 2018, Searchlight acquired Canadian enterprise telecommunications company

Mitel Mitel Networks Corporation is a Canadian telecommunications company. The company previously produced TDM PBX systems and applications, but after a change in ownership in 2001, now focuses almost entirely on Voice-over-IP (VoIP), unified commu ...

in an all-cash transaction of $2 billion. In July 2021, Searchlight acquired the

fixed wireless Fixed wireless is the operation of wireless communication devices or systems used to connect two fixed locations (e.g., building to building or tower to building) with a radio or other wireless link, such as laser bridge. Usually, fixed wireless ...

Internet Service Provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...

All Points Broadband. In October 2021 Searchlight acquired a minority stake of M&A insurance MGA Euclid Transactional, based in New York. In November 2020, Searchlight Capital closed Fund III at $3.4billion, beating $2.75billion target. In October 2022, Searchlight Capital bought a minority stake of Singapore shipmanager Synergy Marine Group in an undisclosed deal. In April 2023, Searchlight Capital became bidding partner of

Providence Equity Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. is a specialist private equity investment firm focused on media, communications, education, and technology investments across North America and Europe. The firm specializes in growth-oriented private equity inves ...

for its agreed takeover offer of global event organiser

Hyve Group Hyve Group Limited, formerly ITE Group, is an international organiser of exhibitions and conferences. The Group organises over 30 events and conferences each year and employs over 650 staff in 10 offices worldwide. The company's purpose is to crea ...

, with the deal completed in June 2023. In May 2023, Searchlight, together with payments company Rev Worldwide, acquired Netspend consumer business from

Global Payments Global Payments Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company that provides Financial transaction, payment technology and services to merchants, issuers and consumers. In June 2021, the company was named to the Fortune 500. The c ...

in an all-cash transaction valued at $1 billion. In July 2023, the company announced the acquisition of Gresham House, a UK-based asset manager listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

, in a £470 million deal. In June 2024, Searchlight Capital in co-operation with

Ares Management Ares Management Corporation is a global alternative investment manager operating in the credit, private equity and real estate markets. The company was founded in 1997 with additional offices across North America, Europe, and Asia. As of Sep ...

invested £500 million in a preferred equity transaction in

RSK Group RSK Group is a privately held UK-based environmental, engineering and technical services group, comprising over 175 companies employing some 10,500 people and with turnover of £1.9bn in 2024. History RSK Group was established in 1989 in Aberde ...

, a UK-based environmental, engineering and technical services group.

Notable people

(born 1971) is an American private equity financier and founding partner of Searchlight Capital. He is non-executive chairman of Charter Communications' board of directors and was its lead independent director from May 2016 to November 2023. Zinterhofer is also a former co-head of media and telecom investing at

Apollo Global Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American asset management firm that primarily invests in alternative assets. , the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including mezzanine capita ...

from 1998 to 2010. *

(born 1967) is a German private equity financer, and a founding partner of Searchlight Capital. Previously, He was a senior partner of the investment firm

KKR KKR may refer to: * KKR & Co., a global investment firm *Kolkata Knight Riders, an Indian Premier League franchise * Rheinsberg Nuclear Power Plant (), first nuclear power plant in the former East Germany * Kalkara, Malta, postal code KKR *Kir-Bala ...

for 12 years. He is chairman of the board of United Kingdom based charity

IntoUniversity IntoUniversity is a United Kingdom-based charity that aims to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve their chosen aspiration, including university, further and higher education, employment and work-based training. It provides en ...

. From 2012-2022, Haarmanserved as a member of the board of trustees of London based arts organisation

Artangel Artangel is a London-based arts organisation founded in 1985 by Roger Took. Directed since 1991 by James Lingwood and Michael Morris, it has commissioned and produced a string of notable site-specific works, plus several projects for TV, film, r ...

, and is an advisory board member of the Aspire Institute as well as a member of the board of trustees of

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. *

Ajit Pai Ajit Varadaraj Pai (; born January 10, 1973) is an American lawyer who served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2017 to 2021. He became a partner at the private-equity firm Searchlight Capital in April 2021. He bec ...

(born 1973) is an American lawyer who served as chairman of the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) from 2017 to 2021. He has been a partner at Searchlight Capital since April 2021, specialising in investments in the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors. Pai was a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division from 1998 to 2001. From 2001 until 2003 he was associate general counsel at

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

and from 2003 served as deputy chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee until 2004. From 2007 until 2011, Pai held senior roles in the U.S. Department of Justice and the FCC's Office of General Counsel. Nominated by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

, in 2012, he joined the FCC and became its chairman under President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in 2017 until January 2021. Since February 2024 Pai has been serving as an at-large trustee on the board of

America's Public Television Stations America's Public Television Stations (APTS) is a non-profit membership organization established in 1979 when the Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-t ...

(APTS).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Searchlight Capital Private equity firms of the United Kingdom Financial services companies based in London Financial services companies established in 2010 2010 establishments in England