L Catterton is a U.S.-headquartered

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

firm. Since 1989, the firm has made more than 250 investments in brands across all segments of the consumer industry. L Catterton is led by its co-Chief Executive Officers, J. Michael Chu and Scott Dahnke.Why A Private Equity Firm Backed By Bernard Arnault Is Putting $400 Million Into Norwegian Cruise Line
orbes

History

Founding & early history

Catterton was founded in 1989 as Catterton-Simon Partners by Frank Vest and J. Michael Chu, along with former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury

William E. Simon William Edward Simon (November 27, 1927 – June 3, 2000) was an American businessman and philanthropist who served as the 63rd United States Secretary of the Treasury. He became the Secretary of the Treasury on May 9, 1974, during the Nixon admi ...

. Between 1992 and 2002, the company invested in well-known consumer brands including

P. F. Chang's P. F. Chang's China Bistro is an American-based, casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1993 by Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang that serves Asian fusion cuisine. Centerbridge Partners owned and operated Chang's until acquired by the private eq ...

Odwalla Odwalla Inc. () was an American food product company selling fruit juices, smoothies and food bars founded in Santa Cruz, California in 1980 and from 1995–2020 was headquartered in Half Moon Bay, California. Odwalla's products included juices, ...

, and

Baja Fresh Baja Fresh is an American chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Newbury Park, California in 1990 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and is owned by Canadian franchisor MTY Food Group. The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, ...

. In 2001, the firm changed its name to Catterton Partners.Catterton May Have Two Funds To Raise
'Buyouts Inside''

2002-2016

Between 2002 and 2016, Catterton completed investments in numerous consumer growth businesses including

Peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reductio ...

Build-A-Bear Workshop Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. is an American retailer headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri that sells teddy bears and other stuffed animals and characters. Customers go through an interactive process in which the stuffed animal of their choice ...

Ferrara Candy Company The Ferrara Candy Company is an American candy manufacturer, based in Chicago, Illinois, and owned by the Ferrero Group. The company was formed from a 2012 merger of the Illinois-based Ferrara Pan Candy Company and Minnesota-based Farley's & Sa ...

Outback Steakhouse Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Australia ...

Restoration Hardware RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) is an upscale American home-furnishings company headquartered in Corte Madera, California. The company sells its merchandise through its retail stores, catalog, and online. As of August 2018, the company operate ...

, Wellness Pet Company, and

Kettle Foods Kettle Foods, Inc. is an American manufacturer of potato chips, based in Salem, Oregon, United States, with a European and Middle East headquarters in Norwich, United Kingdom. As of 2006 they were the largest natural potato chip brand in the U.S. ...

. In 2003, Scott Dahnke joined the firm as a co-Managing Partner. In 2008, the firm launched its first growth fund targeting investments in early to late-stage growth companies. These investments included Vroom,

Sweaty Betty Sweaty Betty is a British retailer specialising in women's activewear, founded by Tamara and Simon Hill-Norton. It has over 50 boutiques in the United Kingdom, six boutiques in the United States and concessions in department stores Harrods and ...

Il Makiage Il Makiage is a tech-focused beauty brand based in New York, United States. In May 2020 they launched in the United Kingdom, launched in 2022, Canada in 2020, Germany in November 2020 and Australia in June 2021. Name Origin The name is an intent ...

Sweet Leaf Tea Company Sweet Leaf Tea Company is a producer of ready-to-drink organic branded teas and lemonades, owned by Nestlé and with their headquarters located in the Penn Field Business Park in the South Congress area of Austin, Texas. It was founded in Beaum ...

and Tula. In 2013, the firm launched its Latin America fund targeting investments in Latin American middle market growth companies. Notable investments in the Latin America strategy include Cholula Hot Sauce and

NotCo NotCo is a unicorn Chilean food-tech company producing plant-based alternatives to animal-based food products. NotCo was founded in 2015 by Matias Muchnick, Pablo Zamora and Karim Pichara and utilizes machine learning to replicate dairy produ ...

2016-present

In January 2016, Catterton,

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

, and Financière Agache (previously Groupe Arnault), the family holding company of

Bernard Arnault Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault (; born 5 March 1949) is a French business magnate, investor, and art collector. He is the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world's largest luxury ...

, partnered to create L Catterton. The partnership combined Catterton's existing North American and Latin American private equity operations with LVMH and Groupe Arnault's pre-existing European and Asian private equity and real estate operations. The merged firm is now called L Catterton and invests globally from six fund platforms: L Catterton Flagship Buyout, L Catterton North American Growth, L Catterton Latin America, L Catterton Europe, L Catterton Asia, and L Catterton Real Estate. In May 2021,

Private Equity International ''Private Equity International'' (PEI) is a global insight, analysis and data provider for the private equity industry, with a core focus on the relationship between investors and fund managers: the LP-GP nexus. Launched in December 2001, the tit ...

listed L Catterton as the 32nd largest private equity firm in the world based on capital raised over the prior five years. In 2020, L Catterton raised over $5b for its ninth buyout fund and over $950m for its fourth growth fund.

Investments

The firm has backed several notable investments, including

Birkenstock Birkenstock Group B.V. & Co. KG is a German shoe manufacturer known for its production of Birkenstocks, a German brand of sandals and other shoes notable for their contoured cork footbeds (soles) made with layers of suede and jute, which conform ...

, Indian tech giant Jio Platform, Ainsworth Pet Nutrition,

, Nature’s Variety,

Pinarello Cicli Pinarello S.p.A. is an Italian bicycle manufacturer based in Treviso, Italy. Founded in 1953, it supplies mostly handmade bicycles for the road, track, E-bikes(NYTRO), mountain bikes and cyclo-cross. The company also produces bicycles u ...

Freetrade Freetrade is a UK-based financial technology company which offers a freemium share dealing service. The company was founded in 2016 and launched an iOS app in October 2018, followed by an Android version in April 2019. In October 2021 the ...

, the

Miami Design District The Miami Design District is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida, United States, and a shopping, dining and cultural destination. The Design District was redeveloped in the early 2000s under the direction of developer Craig Robins, president and CEO ...

, and

Ginza Six Ginza Six is a luxury shopping complex located in the Ginza area of Tokyo, jointly developed by Mori Building Company, J. Front Retailing, Sumitomo Corporation and L Catterton Real Estate. The name Ginza Six or G Six reflects the building address ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Private equity firms of the United States Financial services companies established in 1989 Companies based in Greenwich, Connecticut 1989 establishments in Connecticut