Platinum Equity
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| Industry | Private equity |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1995 |
| Founder | Tom Gores, Chairman & CEO |
| Headquarters | Beverly Hills, California, United States |
| Products | Investments, private equity funds, leveraged buyouts |
| Website | platinumequity.com |
Platinum Equity, LLC is an American private equity investment firm founded by Tom Gores in 1995. The firm focuses on leveraged buyout investments of established companies in the U.S. and Europe.
The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with regional offices in Boston, New York City, London, and Singapore. In 2010, it ranked #31 on Forbes’ Largest Private Companies list for 2010 and #1 on the 2010 Los Angeles Business Journal list of LA's Largest Private Companies. The firm manages three private equity fund vehicles, Platinum Equity Capital Partners and Platinum Equity Capital Partners II, and the firm recently completed raising Platinum Equity Capital Partners III, a $3.75 billion buyout fund.
Platinum Equity was founded in 1995 by Tom Gores. The firm's first acquisition was LSI, a company that generated computer graphics to re-create accidents for courtroom testimony. After purchasing it for $200,000, Platinum Equity focused on servicing existing customers and returning the company to profitability.
Over the next five years, between July 1996 and September 2001, the firm made 32 acquisitions with $226 million, and realized $940 million on those investments. These acquisitions included a call center (Foresight Software), networking gear (Racal Electronics), and voice and data service (Williams Communications).BusinessWeek ranked the firm number 10 on its 1999 list of the country’s top 20 private IT organizations, based on 1998 revenues.
During this period of acquisition growth, additional partners joined the firm and several other joined through key acquisitions starting in 1999.
The firm’s first fund, Platinum Equity Capital Partners, was raised in 2004 and had a 62.5% net internal rate of return as of June 30, 2009. For the second fund, Platinum Equity Capital Partners II, which closed in September 2008, despite uncertainty in the financial markets. the firm initially sought a $1.5 billion leveraged buyout fund and nearly doubled it by raising $2.75 billion.
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