General Atlantic

General Atlantic (also known as "GA") is an American growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for global growth companies, headquartered in New York, United States.[2] The firm was founded in 1980 as the captive investment team for Atlantic Philanthropies, a philanthropic organization founded by Charles F. Feeney, the billionaire co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers Ltd.[3]

General Atlantic
TypePrivately held company
IndustryPrivate equity
Founded1980 (1980)
FounderCharles F. Feeney
HeadquartersNew York, NY, United States
Number of locations
14 offices
Key people
Bill Ford
(CEO)
Anton Levy
Gabriel Caillaux
Martín Escobari
(co-presidents)
ProductsGrowth capital
AUMUS$84.4 billion (2022)[1]
Number of employees
496 (2022)[1]
Websitegeneralatlantic.com

As of November 2021, General Atlantic has over $86 billion in assets under management and focuses on investments across five sectors, including Technology, Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare, and Life Sciences. The firm has 185 investment professionals based in New York City, Stamford, Palo Alto, Sao Paulo, London, Munich, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai, Mexico City, Singapore, and Jakarta.[4][5]

In June 2023, General Atlantic were ranked ninth in Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking of the largest private equity firms in the world.[6][7]

History
History of private equity
and venture capital
Early history
(origins of modern private equity)
The 1980s
(leveraged buyout boom)
The 1990s
(leveraged buyout and the venture capital bubble)
The 2000s
(dot-com bubble to the credit crunch)
The 2010s
(expansion)
The 2020s
(COVID-19 recession)

General Atlantic was founded in 1980 as the captive investment team inside of Atlantic Philanthropies, founded by billionaire Charles F. Feeney a co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers Group. Two of the world’s richest men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, credit Feeney as a major inspiration for both the $30 billion-strong Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Giving Pledge, which has enlisted more than 90 of the world’s richest to (eventually) grant half their wealth to charity.[8][9]

The firm was initially led by CEO Edwin Cohen, previously a partner of McKinsey & Company. Cohen was joined by Steven A. Denning, also from McKinsey & Company, as a founding member of the firm. Steven Denning served as General Atlantic’s CEO from 1995 to 2006 and is now Chairman Emeritus. William (Bill) E. Ford, who joined the firm in 1991, is the current Chairman and CEO of General Atlantic.[10] In November 2019, General Atlantic announced the appointments of Gabriel Caillaux, Martín Escobari, and Anton Levy to Co-Presidents of the firm, expanding its senior leadership team with the newly-created roles.[11][12] In December 2019, General Atlantic's Global Co-Head of Financial Services Paul Stamas was selected as one of GrowthCap's Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2019.[13]

General Atlantic focused initially on investments in computer software, oil and gas exploration, real estate and retailing. Among the firm's first major investments was United Health Services, which tripled in value in three years for the firm. By the late 1980s, General Atlantic began to expand its funding sources to include other family offices, as well as foundations and endowments.[14]

Coincident with General Atlantic's expansion of its funding source, the firm began exploring expanding its presence overseas. Starting in 1999, General Atlantic began to open offices in Europe and Asia and currently has 14 offices globally.[5] In 2018 General Atlantic invested in UK investment start-up Greensill Capital in an attempt to challenge traditional lending systems.[15] In 2019 the firm continued its investments in EMEA region by acquiring majority share in Kiwi.com.[16]

In October 2023, General Atlantic acquired a minority stake in India-based travel-tech platform TBO for an undisclosed amount.[17]

Investments

General Atlantic backed Royalty Pharma ahead of the company's 2020 IPO, which was among the largest U.S. IPOs that year and was the second-largest pharmaceutical listing ever.[18] The firm also expanded its footprint in Asia in 2020 with an $870 million investment in India's digital services platform Jio Platforms.[19]

In 2018, General Atlantic entered into a joint venture, Nucom ecommerce, with German mass media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media.[20] Later that year, NuComn purchased U.S.-based online dating website eHarmony.[21]

References
  1. "General Atlantic Form ADV" (PDF). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 17 June 2022. pp. 29, 31.
  2. "General Atlantic LinkedIn Profile". LinkedIn. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  3. Lipen, Steve (April 19, 2000). "AIG Will Disclose Plans to Invest in Venture Fund". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  4. "About General Atlantic". Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  5. "General Atlantic Offices". General Atlantic. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  6. "PEI 300 | The Largest Private Equity Firms in the World". Private Equity International. 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  7. Farman, Madeleine (2023-06-01). "Blackstone once again crowned largest private equity fundraiser in PEI 300". Private Equity International. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  8. "About Atlantic History and Founder". The Atlantic Philanthropies. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  9. Bertoni, Steven (September 19, 2012). "Chuck Feeney: The Billionaire Who Is Trying To Go Broke". Gates Notes. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  10. "William E. Ford". Bloomberg Business. Bloomberg. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  11. Gottfried, Miriam (November 5, 2019). "General Atlantic Taps Three for Roles Near Top of Firm". The Wall Street Journal.
  12. "General Atlantic Announces Expansion of Senior Leadership Team". Business Wire. November 5, 2019.
  13. "GrowthCap's Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2019 | GrowthCap". Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  14. Conor O'Clery, The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Made and Gave Away a Fortune Without Anyone Knowing (ISBN 1586483919).
  15. Gottfried, Miriam. "General Atlantic Invests $250 Million in Lending Startup Greensill". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  16. Fox, Linda (June 3, 2019). "Kiwi.com takes big investment as General Atlantic becomes majority owner". PhocusWire.
  17. "General Atlantic to acquire minority stake in travel-tech platform TBO". The Economic Times. 2023-10-22. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  18. Franklin, Joshua; Spalding, Rebecca (June 15, 2020). "Royalty Pharma prices at top of range in second-biggest pharma IPO ever". Reuters.
  19. Singh, Manish (May 17, 2020). "General Atlantic to invest $870M in India's Reliance Jio Platforms". TechCrunch.
  20. Clarke, Stewart (2018-10-29). "ProSiebenSat.1 Buys Online Dating Business eHarmony". Variety. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  21. "Germany's ProSieben buys U.S. online dating site eharmony". Reuters Business News. 2018-10-29. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
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