San Francisco, July 13, 2018 – Francisco Partners, a leading technology-focused private equity firm, announced that Blackstone’s (NYSE: BX) Strategic Capital Group and Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Petershill program (“Petershill”) (NYSE: GS) have acquired a minority stake in Francisco Partners. The investment provides Francisco Partners with balance-sheet capital to continue to develop its strong platform while increasing commitments to its own funds, strengthening its alignment with limited partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Dipanjan “DJ” Deb, Co-founder and CEO of Francisco Partners, said, “Since our inception, we have always prided ourselves on the strength of our relationships. We have the opportunity to work with great management teams who create solutions across all sectors of technology. We have incredible limited partners and now we are proud to bring on two strategic partners in Blackstone and Goldman Sachs to help us continue to grow our platform so that we can build on the success of the past 20 years. We are excited about the opportunities ahead of us and welcome the resources and expertise that these firms bring to FP.”
Scott Soussa, Head of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management’s Strategic Capital Group which specializes in acquiring long-term interests in alternative managers, said, “Francisco Partners is driven by a talented investing team with deep industry expertise. For nearly two decades, the team has stood out as a leading partner to businesses in the technology sector and we, alongside Petershill, are proud to support their continued growth.”
Robert Hamilton Kelly, Managing Director in the AIMS Group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said, “We look to partner with differentiated businesses with their best years ahead of them, and we believe Francisco Partners is a perfect example of such a firm. They have a well-deserved reputation for thoughtful investment and strategic operational execution across the technology space.”
Michael Brandmeyer, co-CIO of the AIMS Group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said “The Francisco Partners team is impressive and we appreciate the commitment and continuity of the organization. We, together with Blackstone, look forward to supporting the firm’s development and believe in its continued success.”
Evercore served as financial advisor to Francisco Partners. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Francisco Partners, Simpson Thacher served as legal counsel to Blackstone and Fried Frank served as legal counsel to Goldman Sachs.
About Francisco Partners
Francisco Partners is a leading global private equity firm that specializes in investments in technology and technology-enabled services businesses. Since its launch over 18 years ago, Francisco Partners has raised over $14 billion in capital and invested in more than 200 technology companies, making it one of the most active and longstanding investors in the technology industry. The firm invests in opportunities its deep sectoral knowledge and operational expertise can help companies realize their full potential. For more information on Francisco Partners, please visit www.franciscopartners.com.
About Blackstone Alternative Asset Management
Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (BAAM®), Blackstone’s Hedge Fund Solutions platform, is the world’s largest discretionary investor in hedge funds, with approximately $79 billion in assets under management. BAAM manages a diversified set of businesses including a customized solutions business, a special situations platform, a hedge fund seeding business, an open-ended mutual fund platform and a business that purchases stakes in established alternative asset managers. In all of BAAM’s business lines, it carefully selects and partners with fund managers across a variety of asset classes and strategies to create solutions for its investors. Through its sharp focus on clients’ goals, a rigorous due-diligence process and access to Blackstone’s global insights, BAAM strives to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns across market cycles while preserving capital during stressed market environments.
About the Goldman Sachs Asset Management AIMS Group
The Alternative Investments & Manager Selection (AIMS) Group provides investors with investment and advisory solutions across leading private equity funds, hedge fund managers, real estate managers, public equity strategies and fixed income strategies. Institutional and individual investors access these opportunities through new fund commitments, multi-manager programs, strategic partnerships, secondary-market investments, co-investments, management-company stakes, and seed-capital investments. The Petershill Strategies are a part of the AIMS Group, which manages over $200 billion, providing manager diligence, portfolio construction, risk management, and liquidity solutions to investors around the world.
Contacts
Francisco Partners
John Moore
+1 (215) 657-4971
john.moore@zenogroup.com
Blackstone
Paula Chirhart
+1 (212) 583-5263
paula.chirhart@blackstone.com
Goldman Sachs
Patrick Scanlan
+1 (212) 902-5400
