Capital placement and investment advisory.
For founders, families, and principal-led businesses raising capital with the firm invested beside them. From $5M to $250M,
structured around the long life of the business, not the closing date.
Where the firm engages.
The hardest part of building a business is getting it off the ground. Founders know this.
The next hardest part is landing it: sale, succession, the eventual exit. Most of the discourse around private capital is about the launch: seed, venture, early growth. Less is said about the part that follows.
"The firm comes in for the climb to scale and stays
through to the eventual exit."
Ladd Capital is built for the middle and the end. The firm engages with
businesses that have proven their economics and are facing a different set of questions: how to compound from here, how to bolt on, how to recapitalise, how to transition, how to exit. The capital is one part of the answer. The firm's broader advisory bench is the other.
The firm comes in for the climb to scale and stays through to the eventual exit. Engagements are long-arc by design. The firm holds a position in every company it backs, and that position persists through the hold until it is fully exited.
This shape suits a paticular kind of principal: one who has built something worth compounding and wants a capital partner that is structurally aligned with the outcome rather than the closing event.
The Platform Build.
For a defined subset of engagements, the firm operates as a platform partner.
The thesis is straightforward: identify a strong operating business in a fragmented market, deploy capital alongside the firm's position, then build through systematic bolt-on acquisition. Five to ten acquisitions integrated under the original platform, supported by the firm's M&A bench and capital network, can substantially change the scale and exit profile of the original business.
The firm holds through the build cycle. Distributions are taken progressively as the platform compounds; the exit, when it comes, is to a strategic acquirer at scale, through an IPO process, or via a structured liquidity event not available to the original business on its own.
The economics align over years, not quarters. The firm's reputation accrues with the businesses it builds.
Typical Platform Build
5-10 bolt-on acquisitions
3-7 year hold
2-4x scale at exit
Firm position held throughout
Platform company
Identified
Bolt-on acquisitions
5-10 over hold
Integration
Unified under
original platform
Scale / exit
Strategic sale, IPO,
or structured liquidity
Firm position
held throughout
The work.
The firm advises principal-led businesses across the full range of private capital situations.
The firm advises principal-led businesses across the full range of private capital situations. Mandates are sized between $5M and $250M, and the firm holds a position in every one. The scope of work is outlined in Capital Situations.
Growth capital · for businesses scaling past proven economics.
Recapitalisation · partial liquidity for founders and families.
Succession · generational and founder-retirement transitions.
Platform M&A · platform identification and roll-up financing.
Acquisition financing · single-target acquisition capital.
Management buyout · capital for MBO and MBI investments.
Pre-IPO · late-stage capital ahead of public listing.
Divestiture · corporate carve-outs and sponsor exits.
Bridge financing · capital ahead of a larger investment.
Cross-border structuring · multi-jurisdictional capital arrangement.
Investment criteria.
A short summary of what the firm engages on. Full criteria, including sector priorities and structural preferences, are on the criteria page.
Capital size
$5M – $250M per investment
Revenue range
Typically $10M+ at engagement
EBITDA range
Typically $1M+ for growth situations; higher for platform M&A and buyout
Geographies
Across the firm's nine office locations
Sectors
Technology, real estate, energy, financial services, healthcare, infrastructure, consumer and luxury, industrials, defence, hospitality, media and telecommunications
Investment types
Growth equity, recapitalisation, structured credit, direct real estate, platform M&A, acquisition financing, bridge financing
Engagement form
Capital placement, investment advisory, the firm's own position in every engagement
The firm at the cap table.
The firm is a partner,
not an agent.
When the firm backs a company, the firm is also on the cap table or carrying structured economics in the outcome. The company's interests and the firm's interests are aligned by structure, not by intention.
The firm holds through the holding period, supports follow-on activity, engages in governance where appropriate, and stays involved through to the exit. The firm's reputation is attached to the company's outcome.
For a company raising capital, this is the structural difference. The firm is not paid to close the deal. The firm is paid alongside the investors when the business performs. The principles behind this approach are set out in Why We Own.
The Principle
The firm owns a position in every
company it backs, through cash co-investment, equity, or economics tied
to the outcome. Alignment by
structure, not intention.
Beyond capital.
Capital is one part of the engagement.
The firm's broader advisory bench is deployed in support of every Capital mandate. M&A coverage for platform builds and bolt-on acquisitions. International structuring for cross-border situations. Tax and entity architecture for succession and recapitalisation. Governance frameworks for family enterprises navigating professional management transitions. Banking and treasury for liquidity management.
This is the operational expression of the firm's capabilities. The Capital division is the investment surface; the broader firm is the operating substrate. Engagements draw on whichever capabilities the situation requires. Explore the firm's full Firm Capabilities.
The Firm's Bench
Mergers and acquisitions
International structuring
Tax and entity architecture
Governance frameworks
Banking and treasury
Real estate and asset structuring
Regulatory and compliance
Dispute advisory
Debt recovery and asset tracing
After close.
The engagement
does not end at close.
The firm continues to administer the position alongside the company through the holding period. Board observation or directorship where structured. Support for follow-on financing rounds. Strategic introductions through the firm's network. Engagement on exit options as the business matures.
The firm's economic alignment is maintained until the position is fully exited. The relationship runs for the life of the position,
not the closing event. The complete lifecycle is outlined in The Full Process.
Engage.
Bring the situation to the firm. Every submission is reviewed personally by the Capital team. Where there is a fit, the firm responds with an initial assessment and proposed scope of work. If you have a situation to discuss, .