Summit Partners
Encyclopedia
Summit Partners is a growth equity investment firm focusing on a wide array of transactions from leveraged buyout
s and recapitalizations
to growth capital
, venture capital
investments, and mezzanine capital
.
Summit is based in Boston, Massachusetts and was founded in 1984. Summit also has offices in Palo Alto, California
and London, England and has more than 85 investment professionals and more than 160 employees overall.
The firm has approximately $11 billion of capital under management
and has raised 14 private equity fund
s since its founding. The firm has been ranked among the 50 largest private equity firms globally.
Some of Summit's most notable investments include:
and before that at First Chicago Investment Corporation
(the predecessor of Madison Dearborn Partners). Woodsum and Stamps were joined shortly thereafter by Greg Avis, who would open the firm's Palo Alto office in 1993. In 2001, Summit Partners completed its management succession led by Bruce Evans, Walter Kortschak, Marty Mannion, Tom Roberts, and Joe Trustey.
Since its founding in 1984, Summit partners has raised 14 private equity fund
s:
Leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...
s and recapitalizations
Leveraged recapitalization
In corporate finance, a leveraged recapitalization is a change of the capital structure of a company, a substitution of equity for debt —e.g. by issuing bonds to raise money, and using that money to buy the company's stock or to pay dividends...
to growth capital
Growth capital
Growth capital is a type of private equity investment, most often a minority investment, in relatively mature companies that are looking for capital to expand or restructure operations, enter new markets or finance a significant acquisition without a change of control of the business.Companies...
, venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
investments, and mezzanine capital
Mezzanine capital
Mezzanine capital, in finance, refers to a subordinated debt or preferred equity instrument that represents a claim on a company's assets which is senior only to that of the common shares...
.
Summit is based in Boston, Massachusetts and was founded in 1984. Summit also has offices in Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
and London, England and has more than 85 investment professionals and more than 160 employees overall.
The firm has approximately $11 billion of capital under management
Assets under management
Assets under management is a financial term used denote the market value of funds being managed by a financial instutition on behalf of its clients, investors, depositors, etc. This metric is a sign of size and success against competition...
and has raised 14 private equity fund
Private equity fund
A private equity fund is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity....
s since its founding. The firm has been ranked among the 50 largest private equity firms globally.
Investments
In 1984, Summit made its first investment into VM Software, a developer of system software products for the IBM VM mainframe operating system market. Since that time, Summit has invested in over 300 companies globally. Summit's portfolio includes a broad range of companies headquartered in North America, Europe and Asia.Some of Summit's most notable investments include:
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History
Summit Partners was founded in 1984 by Stephen Woodsum and E. Roe Stamps, who had worked together at TA AssociatesTA Associates
TA Associates, founded in 1968, is one of the oldest private equity firms in the United States. The firm employs a hybrid strategy making growth capital investments in developing companies and acquiring mature companies through leveraged buyout and recapitalization transactions...
and before that at First Chicago Investment Corporation
First Chicago Bank
First Chicago Bank was a Chicago-based retail and commercial bank tracing its roots back to 1863. Over the years, the bank operated under several names including The First National Bank of Chicago and First Chicago NBD...
(the predecessor of Madison Dearborn Partners). Woodsum and Stamps were joined shortly thereafter by Greg Avis, who would open the firm's Palo Alto office in 1993. In 2001, Summit Partners completed its management succession led by Bruce Evans, Walter Kortschak, Marty Mannion, Tom Roberts, and Joe Trustey.
Since its founding in 1984, Summit partners has raised 14 private equity fund
Private equity fund
A private equity fund is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity....
s:
- 1984 — Summit Ventures ($160 million)
- 1988 — Summit Ventures II ($230 million)
- 1992 — Summit Ventures III ($280 million)
- 1994 — Summit Subordinated Debt Fund ($140 million)
- 1995 — Summit Ventures IV ($610 million)
- 1997 — Summit Subordinated Debt Fund II ($335 million)
- 1998 — Summit Ventures V ($1.12 billion)
- 1999 — Summit Accelerator Fund ($170 million)
- 2001 — Summit Ventures VI ($2.08 billion)
- 2004 — Summit Subordinated Debt Fund III ($465 million)
- 2005 — Summit Partners Private Equity Fund VII ($3.10 billion)
- 2005 — Summit Partners Venture Capital Fund II ($310 million)
- 2008 — Summit Partners Europe Private Equity Fund (€1.05 billion)
- 2008 — Summit Partners Subordinated Debt Fund IV ($840 million)
External links
- Summit Partners (company website)