Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Betting on GPs: A Two-Horse Race

Loutskina, Elena, ...

Case

Betting on GPs: A Two-Horse Race

Loutskina, Elena; LoMonaco, Nick

F-2096 | Published January 23, 2025 | 21 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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In August 2024, two founding partners at White Mountain Capital were presiding over an investment committee meeting discussing potential investments in two distinct private equity (PE) general partner (GP) firms. White Mountain Capital was a major player in a new frontier of PE investing: GP staking funds that bought minority equity stakes in PE firms. A GP equity stake afforded investors access to firms with high recurring revenues (PE fees), high margins, upside potential that depended on GPs' skill set (carry), and strong growth prospects driven by secular tailwinds in PE fundraising. One of White Mountain Capital’s prospective investees—a health care specialist, JHS Capital Partners—was looking to sell a significant equity stake because it was going through an intergenerational transition. The second GP—a platform-buyout generalist, Gremlin Capital Partners—was looking for a financial and strategic partner to catalyze growth in its assets under management (AUM). As part of the first round of White Mountain Capital's due diligence efforts, the partners had several outstanding questions about both prospective investments. The investment committee members gathered to decide whether they wanted to proceed with either or both funds. They also aimed to identify the missing pieces of the puzzle that would allow them to make rational investment decisions.