Andrew Nikou

In 2001, Nikou began his career in private equity at Platinum Equity. At age 25, he moved to Paris to help open the firm's first European office.[5] At Platinum Equity, he expanded the firm's international presence in Europe.[8] In 2004, he left Platinum Equity and moved back to Los Angeles to start his own global investment firm.

In 2005, Nikou founded OpenGate Capital with $30,000 from his own savings.[5]

Under Nikou's leadership, OpenGate Capital bought founder-owned businesses and divisions of Fortune 500 companies such as Philips, Schlumberger, Arvin Meritor, Stora Enso and Cascades.[9] In 2006, OpenGate purchased OMMIC, a former division of Philips. OpenGate sold OMMIC to Egalux SA Luxembourg in 2008.[9]

In 2019, OpenGate purchased the lock company Sargent & Greenleaf from Stanley Black & Decker.[10]

In 2008, Nikou negotiated the deal for OpenGate Capital to acquire TV Guide for $1 and $50 million in assumed liabilities from owner Rovi Corporation (previously Macrovision). Later that year, Nikou led OpenGate Capital's bid for McGraw-Hill Companies BusinessWeek magazine, then withdrew from the bidding.[11] Also in 2009, OpenGate purchased children's publishers Fleurus Presse and Junior Hebdo from Groupe Le Monde.[12] In 2010, Nikou was behind the OpenGate bid for Newsweek, owned by the Washington Post Company, but the firm did not acquire the publication.[13]

Nikou increased OpenGate's pace of international acquisitions in the 2010s.

In 2019, OpenGate acquired the German content-management platform CoreMedia.[14] Also in 2019, OpenGate purchased the UK-based Duraco Specialty Tapes, which then acquired Infinity Tapes the following year.[15] In 2018, OpenGate acquired the Italian stove and fireplace manufacturer Jotul from the European private equity group Ratos.[16]

In 2012, through the firm's legacy, pre-fund investment process, OpenGate Capital acquired the Latin American operations of Getronics from the Dutch conglomerate, KPN. In 2011, the firm acquired NorPaper Avot Vallée, a specialty paper manufacturer based in France. And in 2010, OpenGate acquired Brazilian-based Philips Business Communications, since renamed Sopho which was merged into Getronics LATAM, and Finland-based KotkaMills, a laminating paper and wood business.[17][18][19]

In July 2016, OpenGate closed its first institutional fund, OpenGate Capital Partners I, at $305 million, exceeding its target of $300 million and raising about twice what the average new private equity fund does, according to Preqin.[20] As of August 2018, OpenGate's first fund had completed nine platform investments, five of which had closed in 2016.[21]

In November 2016, OpenGate Capital completed the acquisition of the zinc products business of the Belgian company Umicore for $150 million in debt and equity.[22] The deal was the fifth platform investment from OpenGate's debut fund.[23] OpenGate rebranded the business EverZinc; within Umicore it had generated $425 million in revenue in 2015.[24]

Several pre-fund, legacy investments that were made with the personal capital of Andrew Nikou and the Partners at OpenGate Capital were sold: Benvic was sold to InvestIndustrial in December 2017, NorPaper Avot-Vallee was sold in 2018 to a private investor, and in January 2019, NAKAN (the largest division within Ivy Group) was sold to Westlake Chemical Corporation.

In October 2019, OpenGate Capital closed on the firm's second institutional fund, OpenGate Capital Partners II, oversubscribed on its original $450 million target, with approximately $585 million in commitments.[25] In that same year, the firm also completed six platform investments, and one add-on, all within the second fund.

Power Partners Inc., the first investment completed in OpenGate's first fund, was realized in November 2019 through the sale to Pioneer Transformers, a portfolio company of Mill Point Partners.[26]

Prior to raising its first institutional fund, OpenGate also acquired the Waukesha, Wisconsin plant and brand rights to Golden Guernsey Dairy as the result of an antitrust divestment of Dean Foods, which was required to sell the plant to purchase GGD's other plants in the state.[27]

On January 5, 2013, Golden Guernsey ceased operations without notice in an alleged violation of the State of Wisconsin's mass layoff/shutdown regulations. The Golden Guernsey plant employed over 100 workers.[28][29]

Past closures also included PennySaver USA and Hamilton Scientific. Several lawsuits had been filed claiming OpenGate and did not follow proper protocol under the WARN Act when firing hundreds of employees from both PennySaver and Hamilton Scientific.[30][31][32]