3.6.5.2Vertical

Growth Equity Firms

PE firms investing in high-growth companies without leverage.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Private Equity & Venture Capital (3.6.5), the segment that Growth Equity Firms sits within. They are not figures for Growth Equity Firms on its own.

Market size
~$46B
Growth
~8.8%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~11,254 firms
Firms by employee count

93.5% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 10,520 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe734 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
46063%
100–499
16122%
500+
11315%

The buyout, growth, and venture managers (Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, Carlyle, Ares, and thousands of smaller funds) earning management fees on committed capital plus carried interest on gains. The reported ~$46B is management-fee revenue and vastly understates the multi-trillion AUM and economic footprint. The biggest managers have scaled into diversified platforms across PE, credit, real assets, and insurance; consolidation runs through GP-stakes deals, manager M&A, and the push into private wealth.

NAICS 523910. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Management fees on committed capital plus carried interest

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$4,070,765
Revenue per employee
$665,124
Employees per firm
5.2
Recurring revenue
High

long-duration fund management fees

EBITDA margin
Strong

scalable fee-and-carry economics

Capex intensity
Low

Characteristics

  • Balanced cost base: payroll is 28% of revenue, leaving room to scale margin without cutting staff
  • Moderate strategic-buyer pool: 113 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has buyers, but not many
  • Management fees plus carry against trillions in AUM.
  • Largest managers scaled into diversified platforms.
  • Push into private wealth and insurance permanent capital.

NAICS 523910. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

M&A deal context

Deal activityHigh

Who’s acquiring

  • Alternative-asset managers
  • GP-stakes investors
  • Manager-M&A consolidators

What’s driving deals

  • GP-stakes investment and manager M&A.
  • Diversification across alternative strategies.
  • Expansion into private wealth and insurance capital.

Find Growth Equity Firms acquisition targets

Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Growth Equity Firms (3.6.5.2) and build a targeted deal pipeline.

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