Berkshire Partners, the Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

-based private equity

Private equity

Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....

 firm, has invested in leading mid-sized companies for over twenty-five years through eight investment funds with aggregate capital of $11 billion. Berkshire has developed specific industry experience in several areas including retailing

Retailing

Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...

, consumer product

Consumer product

A consumer product is generally any tangible personal property for sale and that is used for personal, family, or household for non-business purposes. The determination whether a good is a consumer product requires a factual finding, on a case-by-case basis...

s, manufacturing, transportation, energy, business services and communications. Since the mid-1980s, Berkshire has invested in over 100 companies with approximately $20 billion of acquisition value and combined revenues of over $22 billion. Berkshire seeks to invest $50 million to $500 million of equity capital in each portfolio company

Portfolio company

A portfolio company is a company or entity in which a venture capital firm, buyout firm, holding company, or other investment fund invests. All of the companies currently backed by a private equity firm can be spoken of as the firm’s portfolio....

.

History

Berkshire Partners was founded by Bradley M. Bloom, J. Christopher Clifford, Carl Ferenbach, Richard K. Lubin and Russell L. Epker in 1984. The firm traces its roots back to Boston's Thomas H. Lee Partners

Thomas H. Lee Partners

Thomas H. Lee Partners is a private equity firm based in Boston, Massachusetts specializing in leveraged buyouts, growth capital, special situations, industry consolidations, and recapitalizations....

, a large-cap private equity firm founded a decade earlier. Since its founding in 1984, Berkshire has raised eight private equity fund

Private equity fund

A private equity fund is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity....

s with total investor commitments of $11.0 billion since inception.

• Berkshire Fund I (1984) - $59 million
• Berkshire Fund II (1986) - $125 million
• Berkshire Fund III (1992) - $168 million
• Berkshire Fund IV (1996) - $387 million
• Berkshire Fund V (1999) - $985 million
• Berkshire Fund VI (2002) - $1.7 billion
• Berkshire Fund VII (2006) - $3.1 billion
• Berkshire Fund VIII (2011) - $4.5 billion

Portfolio

Since its inception in 1984, Berkshire Partners has invested in over 100 companies and developed specific industry experience in several areas including retailing, consumer products, manufacturing, transportation, energy, business services and communications. Representative investments include Amscan/Party City, Bare Escentuals, Carter's, Crown Castle International, NEW Asurion and TransDigm Group

TransDigm Group

TransDigm Group Incorporated develops, distributes and manufactures commercial and military aerospace components such as mechanical actuators and ignition systems.-Beginnings:Transdigm Incoprorated was established in 1993 by W. Nicholas Howley and Douglas W...

. For information on additional investments visit their website.

Past investments

Past Investments
Year	Investment	Company	Sale	Year
1984	Leveraged Buyout	Carlin Foods	Strategic Buyer	1987
1987	Growth Capital	Clean Harbors Clean Harbors Clean Harbors, Inc is a provider of environmental, energy & industrial services, including hazardous waste disposal for companies, including Fortune 500 companies and federal, state, provincial and local governments....	IPO: Secondary	1989
1987	Leveraged Buyout	Wisconsin Central Transportation Wisconsin Central Transportation Wisconsin Central Ltd. is a railroad subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway. At one time, its parent Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation owned or operated railroads in the United States, Canada , the United Kingdom , New Zealand , and Australia .- Overview...	IPO: Secondary	1992
1987	Recapitalization	Image Industries	IPO: Secondary	1994
1988	Leveraged Buyout	Fresh Start Bakeries	Strategic Buyer	1994
1988	Recapitalization	WTI WTI WTI may refer to:* West Texas Intermediate, a crude oil used as a pricing benchmark* World Tribunal on Iraq, a people's court* Wildlife Trust of India, a conservation organisation based in New Delhi, India...	Strategic Buyer	1997
1990	Leveraged Buyout	Loveshaw	Strategic Buyer	1994
1990	Recapitalization	America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses	Recapitalization	1997
1991	Leveraged Buyout	Recreation Vehicle Products	Financial Buyer	1996
1991	Recapitalization	Salem Sportswear	IPO: Secondary	1993
1992	Leveraged Buyout	Papa Gino's Papa Gino's Papa Gino's is a restaurant chain based in Dedham, Massachusetts specializing in American-style pizza along with pasta, subs, salads, and a variety of appetizers...	Financial Buyer	2003
1993	Leveraged Buyout	Trico Marine Services	IPO: Distribution	1996
1993	Privatization	Tranz Rail Tranz Rail Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Ltd , was the main rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003.- Formation :...	IPO: Secondary; Open Market Sales	2002
1993	Recapitalization	Gold Coast Beverage Distributors	Financial Buyer	1996
1995	Growth Capital	GBFC	Strategic Buyer	1996
1995	Growth Capital	Crown Castle International	IPO: Secondary	2001
1995	Growth Capital	Profit Recovery Group International	IPO: Secondary	1999
1995	Privatization	NPR NPR NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...	Strategic Buyer	1997
1995	Recapitalization	InteSys Technologies	Strategic Buyer	1999
1996	Growth Capital	Cypress Holding Company	Strategic Buyer	2000
1996	Industry Consolidation	Patterson Broadcasting	Strategic Buyer	1998
1996	Privatization	English Welsh and Scottish Railway	Strategic Buyer	2007
1996	Recapitalization	Thomas Built Buses Thomas Built Buses Thomas Built Buses, Inc. is a bus manufacturer based in High Point, North Carolina, United States and a subsidiary of the German Daimler AG. Thomas produces school buses, activity buses/MFSAB , and commercial buses; both small and full-size buses are produced.Thomas traces its roots to 1916, when...	Strategic Buyer	1998
1997	Industry Consolidation	WordWave	Strategic Buyer	2006
1997	Leveraged Buyout	Charrette Charrette A charrette , is often Anglicized to charette and sometimes called a design charrette. It consists of an intense period of design activity.-Charrettes in general:...	Strategic Buyer	1999
1997	Privatization	Castle Transmission International	Merger IPO; Open Market Sales	2000
1997	Recapitalization	The Holmes Group	Strategic Buyer	2005
1998	Industry Consolidation	Sterling Collision Centers	Strategic Buyer	2001
1998	Leveraged Buyout	Miami Cruiselines	Strategic Buyer	2000
1998	Recapitalization	Avery Weigh Tronix	Leveraged Buyout	2006
1999	Corporate Carveout	Fresh Start Bakeries	Financial Buyer	2006
2000	Growth Capital	Casella Waste Systems Casella Waste Systems Casella Waste Systems, Inc. is an integrated regional solid waste services company that provides collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource management services to residential, industrial and commercial customers, primarily throughout the eastern United States.Founded in Rutland, Vermont...	Open Market Sales	2007
2000	Recapitalization	Savers Savers Savers, Inc. headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, is a privately held for-profit thrift store chain offering secondhand shopping. An international company, Savers has more than 200 locations throughout the United States, Canada and Australia, and receives its merchandise by paying cash to...	Financial Buyer	2006
2000	Take-Private Recapitalization	U.S. Can	Strategic Buyer	2006
2001	Recapitalization	Carter's Carter's, Inc. Carter's, Inc. , also known as the William Carter Company, is a major American manufacturer of children's apparel. It was founded in 1865 by William Carter. Previously, the company also made underwear for adults...	IPO: Secondary; Open Market Sales	2006
2002	Growth Capital	Crown Castle International	Open Market Sales	2003
2003	PIPE Recapitalization	Hexcel Hexcel Hexcel is a materials company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut that manufactures advanced composite materials and structural parts...	Open Market Sales	2006
2003	Recapitalization	Acosta Inc. Acosta Inc. Acosta Sales & Marketing is the largest sales, marketing and service company in North America. The company employs 400 associates at its corporate headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida and 17,000 at 65 locations in Canada and the United States.-History:...	Recapitalization	2006
2004	Recapitalization	Bare Escentuals	Strategic Buyer	2010
2005	Recapitalization	American Tire Distributors	Financial Buyer	2010
2005	Recapitalization; Growth Capital	Waterworks WaterWorks WaterWorks is a water park owned by Cedar Fair, located at the back of Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. When it debuted in 1992, it was originally named Hurricane Reef...	Recapitalization	2009
2009	Industry Consolidation	Crown Castle International	Open Market Sales	2010