BayPine, a private equity firm founded by veterans of Silver Lake and Blackstone Inc., raised $2.2 billion from institutional investors for its first fund.
The firm has about $3 billion of capital, including co-investments, that it will use to acquire stakes in established middle-market firms and help them overhaul their digital strategies, Boston-based BayPine said in an emailed statement.
BayPine, founded in 2019, is led by David Roux, 65, a co-founder and former co-chief executive officer of Silver Lake, and Anjan Mukherjee, 48, previously a senior managing director at Blackstone. Their new firm targets companies with earnings of $50 million to $300 million that lack strong digital and technological capabilities.
“We’re buying analog companies, hopefully at analog prices, and we’re transforming them into more tech-enabled companies and selling them at digital prices,” Mukherjee, who was also a U.S. Treasury Department adviser during the Obama administration, said in an interview.
The firm has already completed three acquisitions, including Mavis Tire Express Services and Pinnacle Dermatology Management. BayPine helps its portfolio companies use technology to improve their sales and customer experience, allocate resources, and make other operational improvements.
Investing in “battle-ready” companies like a tire retailer and a medical-services company will insulate BayPine amid a challenging economic climate as the firm sees a looming recession, Mukherjee said.
BayPine raised the fund at a time when it’s getting harder for private equity firms to collect additional capital from increasingly tapped-out institutional investors.
