BOSTON & SAN FRANCISCO – February 12, 2025 – Audax Private Equity (“Audax”), a capital partner for middle market companies, was recognized in the 2024 HEC-Dow Jones Large Buyout Performance Ranking, published on February 6, 2025. This is the second year in a row that Audax Private Equity was included in the global ranking, which analyzed performance data from 649 private equity firms to compile a ranking of the top 20 PE managers based on aggregate performance across multiple funds, which puts the firm among the top three percent of large buyout managers in the study.
“We’re truly honored to be included in this list in consecutive years, which takes a quantitative approach to measure and assess long-term, persistent performance,” noted Keith Palumbo, Partner and Co-President of Audax Private Equity. “This recognition, we believe, traces back to our investments in building out our team, extending our operational capabilities, and continually developing and evolving our broader PE platform. We think our longer-term track record reflects the investments we’ve made in our people and our organization.”
The HEC Paris-Dow Jones Private Equity Performance Ranking is an annual quantitative performance ranking compiled by HEC Paris strategy professor Oliver Gottschalg (holder of the school’s Antin IP Chair on Private Equity and Infrastructure) and published each year by HEC Paris Business School and Dow Jones. In analyzing fund performance, the ranking considers three complementary measures – IRR, DPI, and TVPI – and factors in absolute and relative returns and aggregate performance across vintage years, as well as certain proprietary measures, as of September 30, 2024. In this latest ranking, the study analyzed performance across 2,662 buyout funds raised between 2011 and 2020 with a total equity volume of $2.29 trillion.
“While we continue to scale our capabilities – premised on creating a differentiated platform to help drive organic and inorganic growth and execute on our Buy & Build strategy – our focus on the middle market has not changed in the 25 years since our founding,” added Young Lee, Partner and Co-President of Audax Private Equity. “We believe this instills a consistency and pattern recognition that simultaneously facilitates our disciplined approach and provides conviction to source new opportunities, invest behind our portfolio companies, and remain true to a strategy that has served us since the beginning.”
The Audax Private Equity platform encompasses the firm’s Flagship and Origins buyout strategies, pursuing control investments in the core and lower middle markets, respectively; Audax Strategic Capital, which provides non-control equity investments to support performing portfolio companies in North America and Europe pursuing actionable mid-hold growth initiatives; and Audax’ junior capital strategy (JCF), which invests in the junior capital tranches of Audax Private Equity portfolio companies, alongside the firm’s control investments.
The 2024 ranking and performance scores of the Top 20 firms can be found here: https://www.hec.edu/en/news-room/us-based-private-equity-firms-dominate-top-10-spots-latest-large-buyout-performance-ranking.
Methodology / Disclaimer
The HEC – Dow Jones Large Buyout Performance Ranking is based on a comprehensive dataset of PE fund performance from Preqin, as well as direct contributions from PE firms. It uses a unique methodology to assess the aggregate performance of each firm, considering various performance measures for all the funds managed by this firm. The data set includes performance data from fund vintages from 2011-2020, with ranking methodology that is based on six performance measures utilizing a “maturity weighted” approach to account for funds earlier in their lifecycle. For more information about the methodology, please see here: https://www.hec.edu/en/news-room/us-based-private-equity-firms-dominate-top-10-spots-latest-large-buyout-performance-ranking
The aforementioned award programs should not be considered an endorsement of Audax or its funds by the authors or distributors of the rankings or honors; the ranking is not necessarily representative of any one client’s experience with Audax; and is not necessarily indicative of Audax’ future performance. These awards are not intended to be a recommendation or investment advice, and do not take into account the specific objectives or circumstances of any particular investor or suggest any specific course of action.
ABOUT AUDAX PRIVATE EQUITY:
Headquartered in Boston, with offices in San Francisco, New York, and London, Audax Private Equity manages three strategies: its Flagship and Origins private equity strategies, seeking control buyouts in the core middle and lower middle markets, respectively, and its Strategic Capital strategy that provides customized equity solutions to PE-backed portfolio companies to help drive continued growth. With approximately $19 billion of assets under management as of June 2024, over 280 employees, and 100-plus investment professionals, Audax has invested in more than 170 platforms and 1,350 add-on acquisitions since its founding in 1999. Through our disciplined Buy & Build approach, across six core industry verticals, Audax seeks to help portfolio companies execute organic and inorganic growth initiatives with the aim of fueling revenue expansion, optimizing operations, and significantly increasing equity value. For more information, visit www.audaxprivateequity.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
