Genstar Capital is a private equity firm that executes leveraged buyout transactions in middle-market companies based in North America. Founded in 1988, Genstar currently has approximately $17 billion in assets under management. Based in San Francisco, Genstar is focused on investing in financial services, software, industrial technology, and healthcare. The firm partners with its management teams and network of strategic advisors to grow and transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses.
History
The firm's origins date back to Genstar Corporation, whose senior executives founded Genstar Capital in 1988. Genstar was a Canadian building-materials and financial-services company that invested $1.9 billion through 28 acquisitions from 1976 to 1986. Additionally, Genstar sold 40 businesses and entered into 75 joint ventures during this period. Genstar, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold to Imasco, Ltd in 1986, at which point Genstar owned more than 100 businesses around the world. Following the sale of Genstar, a number of the company's executives formed a new investment partnership while, under Imasco's ownership, Genstar was broken up and divested through the late 1980s. In March 1989, the newly independent firm raised a $100 million pool of capital to fund leveraged buyout transactions. Among the founders of what was then known as Genstar Capital Corp. were Angus MacNaughton and Ross Turner, former chief executive officers of Genstar Corp., as well as Richard D. Paterson, previously senior vice president and chief financial officer, and John A. West, previously executive vice president of Genstar. Through the mid-1990s, Genstar focused primarily on investments in industrial manufacturing companies. In 1995, current chairman and managing director J-P Conte joined the firm, and, through the second half of the 1990s, Genstar focused on investments in a group of growth sectors, including industrial technology and healthcare.Current president and managing director Ryan Clark, and managing directors Rob Rutledge, Anthony Salewski, and Eli Weiss joined in the 2000s. During this period, Genstar began to also invest in financial services and software. Today, the firm's core sectors are financial services, software, industrial technology, and healthcare. In December 2019, Genstar Capital announced the successful completion of the sale of ECM Industries to Sentinel Capital Partners.
