Type Private Website www.catterton.com Headquarters Greenwich | Industry Finance Founded 1989 | |
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Founder Michael Chu, Frank Vest Products Private equity, Venture capital Subsidiaries John Hardy, LCatterton Europe, L Real Estate | ||
L Catterton is a venture capital and private equity firm in Greenwich, Connecticut, specializing in growth capital investments with a particular focus on consumer brands and CPG. The company was founded in 1989.
Contents
L Catterton is a merger of three different entities: 1) LVMH's (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) corporate venture and private equity arm; 2) Groupe Arnault, which is the family holding company of Bernard Arnault, the chairman, chief executive, and principal owner of the world luxury leader LVMH; 3) and Catterton Partners; creating "the largest consumer-focused investment firm in the world," according to The New York Times, with some $12 billion of assets under management.
History
Catterton was founded in 1989 as Catterton-Simon Partners by Frank Vest and Michael Chu, along with former US Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon. Simon, the chairman of private investment company, Wesray Capital Corporation, was a buyout investor in the early 1980s who led the acquisition of Gibson Greetings, a producer of greeting cards. This was followed by a buyout of Atlas Van Lines prior to the subsequent boom in leveraged buyouts.
Since inception, Catterton has raised seven private equity funds and two growth equity funds. In its first five years, Catterton focused exclusively on buyouts, acquisitions, recapitalizations and turnarounds in the beverage industry. It later acquired consumer products companies, as well as OSI Restaurant Partners (Outback Steakhouse), (Restoration Hardware), and most recently Noodles & Company.
In January 2016, the company announced plans to merge with the multinational luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. The newly merged company is called L Catterton.
Funds
With its fourth fund, the firm dropped "Simon" from the name after severing direct investment ties with William E. Simon whose firm William E. Simon & Sons had migrated primarily toward investments in late-stage venture capital. Although Simon remained an investor in Catterton funds, he is no longer an investment professional at the general partner.