Private Equity Firms in California

California is home to private equity firms of every size, with the largest groups in San Francisco and Los Angeles and smaller teams across the state. Many are best known for technology and software investing, but the state's buyers also back healthcare, consumer, industrial and services companies, and several focus specifically on founder-owned businesses.

The California firms on this page range from large investors that build platforms through dozens of add-on acquisitions to smaller funds that buy one company at a time. Some insist on control, while others are happy to take a minority stake alongside the founder. Their size criteria vary widely, so it pays to read each firm's profile rather than assume that a well-known name only buys large companies.

For owners in California and the rest of the West, a buyer close to home can understand the state's labor rules, licensing and costs better than one that rarely invests there. California's employment rules in particular can affect how a buyer values a services business, and firms with California holdings already deal with them every day.

Most California firms invest nationwide, so owners elsewhere should not rule them out. Several of the firms below own companies across the Midwest, South and Northeast, and buy add-ons wherever their platforms operate.

When comparing firms, look at recent deals in your industry and size range, how involved the firm expects to be after closing, and how it has treated founders and management teams who stayed on. The profiles below show each firm's criteria, recent deals and current portfolio.

Costs are another reason proximity helps. Wages, rent and insurance are higher in much of California than elsewhere, and a buyer used to those costs will judge your margins against the right benchmark rather than a national average.

Greymont is paid by buyers, never by owners. Greymont can help owners in California and across the West compare these firms and find the ones whose criteria and style fit their business.