Catterton Partners

L Catterton

Type	Private
Industry	Finance
Founded	1989
Founder	Michael Chu, Frank Vest
Headquarters	Greenwich, Connecticut, United States
Products	Private equity, Venture capital
Website	www.catterton.com

L Catterton is a venture capital and private equity firm in Greenwich, Connecticut, specializing in growth capital investments in middle-market companies, with a particular focus on consumer brands and CPG. The company was founded in 1989.^[1] The company has 22 partners and more than 60 staff.

History

Catterton was founded in 1989 as Catterton-Simon Partners by Frank Vest and Michael Chu, along with former US Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon. Simon, the chairman of private investment company, Wesray Capital Corporation, was a buyout investor in the early 1980s who led the acquisition of Gibson Greetings, a producer of greeting cards. This was followed by a buyout of Atlas Van Lines prior to the subsequent boom in leveraged buyouts.^[2]

Since inception, Catterton has raised seven private equity funds and two growth equity funds. In its first five years, Catterton focused exclusively on buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations and turnarounds in the beverage industry. It later acquired consumer products companies, as well as OSI Restaurant Partners (Outback Steakhouse), (Restoration Hardware), and most recently Noodles & Company.

In January 2016, the company announced plans to merge with the multinational luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. The newly merged company is called L Catterton.^[3]

Funds

• Catterton-Simon Partners I – $11.25 million (1990)
• Catterton-Simon Partners II – $50 million (1993)
• Catterton-Simon Partners III – $100 million (1996)
• Catterton Partners IV – $400 million (2000)
• Catterton Partners V – $650 million (2004)
• Catterton Partners VI – $1.0 billion (2006)
• Catterton Growth Partners – $300 million, focused on growth capital (2008)^[4]
• Catterton Partners VII – $1.6 billion (2013)
• Catterton Growth Partners II – $400 million, focused on growth capital (2013)^[5]

With its fourth fund, the firm dropped "Simon" from the name after severing direct investment ties with William E. Simon whose firm William E. Simon & Sons had migrated primarily toward investments in late-stage venture capital. Although Simon remained an investor in Catterton funds, he is no longer an investment professional at the general partner.

References

1. "Pure Barre Receives Significant Investment From Catterton, The Leading Consumer-Focused Private Equity Firm".
2. Taylor, Alexander L. "Buyout Binge". TIME magazine, Jul. 16, 1984.
3. "LVMH's Private Equity Arm to Merge With Catterton". The New York Times. 6 January 2016.
4. "Catterton Closes $300 Million Consumer Growth Fund". New York Times Deal Book, May 2, 2008
5. Archived September 22, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

• Catterton
• Gourmet Food Stores Merge. New York Times, January 31, 1995