MidOcean Partners is a New York-based alternative asset management firm that specializes in mid-sized private equity and alternative leveraged investments. The firm, founded in February 2003, is based in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

. MidOcean was originally formed by the managers of DB Capital Partners to acquire Deutsche Bank's late stage private equity investments in the United States and Europe in one of the largest private equity secondary transactions completed to date.

History

MidOcean Partners was formed through a management spinout transaction. A group of investors provided capital to the managers of DB Capital Partners, led by MidOcean

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Ted Virtue, to acquire the portfolio of

private equity investments In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a typ ...

they had managed at Deutsche Bank. Among the investors in the transaction were NIB Capital Private Equity (today AlpInvest Partners),

HarbourVest Partners HarbourVest Partners is a private equity fund of funds and one of the largest private equity investment managers globally. The firm invests in all types of private equity funds, including venture capital and leveraged buyout funds, and also dire ...

, Paul Capital Partners,

Coller Capital Coller Capital is one of the largest global investors in the private equity secondary market ("secondaries"). It was founded in 1990 by the UK-based investor and philanthropist Jeremy Coller. History Coller Capital completed its first notabl ...

, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and CPP Investment Board, with investments from Northwestern Mutual, The Yucaipa Companies and Presidential Life. The management spinout of MidOcean, at the time valued at €1.5 billion (over $1.8 billion) was then and is still one of the largest transactions completed in the

private equity secondary market In finance, the private-equity secondary market (also often called private-equity secondaries or secondaries) refers to the buying and selling of pre-existing investor commitments to private-equity and other alternative investment funds. Given t ...

. In June 2022, MidOcean Partners acquired Pragmatic Institute, a product management training company. The spinout of MidOcean came at the same time as the spinouts of private equity groups from other leading investment banks including: JPMorgan Chase ( CCMP Capital),

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...

(

Court Square Capital Partners Court Square Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions. Court Square was originally a captive private equity firm within Citigroup known as Citigroup Venture Capital Equity Partners. Court Square's inve ...

), Morgan Stanley (

Metalmark Capital Metalmark Capital, formerly Morgan Stanley Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout investments in middle-market companies across a range of industries. Metalmark was acquired by Citigroup Alternative Investments i ...

) and Credit Suisse First Boston ( Avista Capital Partners,

Diamond Castle Holdings Diamond Castle Holdings is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in middle-market companies across a range of industries including the media, healthcare, financial services, power and industrial sectors. ...

Investments

Among MidOcean's investments are various business services; consumer and leisure companies, media and niche industrial services companies including:
Music Reports
*

Casablanca Fan Company Casablanca Fan Company is a ceiling fan company currently based in Memphis, Tennessee. In the late 1970s, the company became known for their premium fans, which were marketed as furniture. History Casablanca was founded by Burton A. Burton ...

* Center Parcs UK * Hunter Fan Company * Jostens * LA Fitness (Europe) —unaffiliated with American LA Fitness company *

Palace Entertainment Palace Entertainment is a subsidiary of Madrid, Spain based Parques Reunidos which operates various attractions including amusement parks, zoos, and water parks around the world. Palace Entertainment is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is ...

* Prestige Brands * Sbarro *

Stratus Technologies Stratus Technologies, Inc. is a major producer of fault tolerant computer servers and software. The company was founded in 1980 as Stratus Computer, Inc. in Natick, Massachusetts, and adopted its present name in 1999. The current CEO and preside ...

* Totes-Isotoner * United Biscuits *

Young America Corporation YA is a marketing services company with locations in the United States and Canada. The corporation handles rebates, enter to win, loyalty, sampling and channel incentive programs and business process outsourcing for a number of major clients. H ...

* KidKraft *

LegalShield LegalShield (previously known as Pre-Paid Legal Services or simply Pre-Paid Legal) is an American corporation that sells legal service products direct to consumer through employer groups and through multi-level marketing in the United States, an ...

(previously known as Pre-Paid Legal) * Travelpro Products, Inc *

Questex MidOcean Partners is a New York-based alternative asset management firm that specializes in mid-sized private equity and alternative leveraged investments. The firm, founded in February 2003, is based in Midtown Manhattan. MidOcean was origina ...

, a "leading B2B information services provider", acquired from Shamrock Capital in 2018 for a price estimated at around $180 million; Questex holdings include: :* FierceMarkets Inc., a Washington, DC based electronic media company focused on online and e-mail newsletter trade publishing covering various industries. Fierce-branded properties include ''FierceBiotech'', ''FierceCable'', ''FierceCEO'', ''FierceHealthcare'', ''FiercePharma'', ''FierceRetail'', ''FierceTelecom'', and ''FierceWireless''. :* Marketplaces, including Beauty, Spa & Wellness, Hospitality, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Telecommunications & Technology and TravelQuestex main web page
Retrieved 2019-03-27.

Former investments

Bushnell Corporation Bushnell Corporation is an American firm that specializes in sporting optics and outdoor products. It is based in Overland Park, Kansas and is a subsidiary of Vista Outdoor. Bushnell's produces binoculars, telescopes, spotting scopes, riflescope ...

, sold in 2013 to

Alliant Techsystems Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) was an American aerospace, defense, and sporting goods company with its headquarters in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. The company operated in 22 states, Puerto Rico, and other countries. ATK's ...

/ATK *

Jenny Craig, Inc. Jenny Craig, Inc., often known simply as Jenny Craig, is an American weight loss, weight management, and nutrition company. The company has more than 700 weight management centers in Australia, the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. The pro ...

Water Pik, Inc. Water Pik, Inc. (also Waterpik) is an American oral health products company based in Fort Collins, Colorado. A subsidiary of Church & Dwight, it produces personal and oral health care products such as oral irrigators and pulsating shower heads. W ...

(agreed to sell: 2017)

Leadership

* Ted Virtue – CEO * Steve Shenfeld – President * Deborah Hodges – COO & Managing Director * Andrew Spring – CFO & Managing Director Source:

References

Former Deutsche Buyout Arm Raised $1 billion for New Fund
" New York Times, July 19, 2006
MidOcean Partners to Raise $1 billion fund
, eFinancial News, January 9, 2006
Goldman Sachs, CPPIB Lead $925M Secondary Buy
"Buyouts, April 17, 2006

, PR Newswire, May 23, 2016
Secondaries grow in stature

External links

MidOcean Partners
(company website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Midocean Partners Private equity firms of the United States Private equity secondary market Investment banking private equity groups Financial services companies established in 2003 DB Group Companies based in Manhattan Hedge fund firms in New York City 2003 establishments in New York City