Firm Profile

Sterling Partners is a private equity firm with a history of generating extraordinary returns for our investors. With nearly $4 billion of capital under management, our investment strategy is to invest from $5 million to more than $150 million of equity in each company with which we partner. We invest in industries with positive, long-term trends and bring our experience, expertise, and network in driving value to our portfolio companies. Our continued success is driven by Sterling’s investment in an operationally-focused strategy, and by our unique team of industry veterans, operators, investors, strategy experts and human capital professionals.

Sterling’s founders are entrepreneurs who have remained together since the firm’s inception 25 years ago. With 11 Managing Directors with an average of 18 years at the firm, Sterling is rapidly expanding and now has nearly 50 professionals in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia. We leverage our organizational expertise and our core competencies to focus on growth funds that encompass small and middle-market buyout transactions. We focus on high-growth industries including education, healthcare, business services, direct marketing, specialty manufacturing and distribution, and technology.

Since the founding of our firm, we have partnered with superior management teams, leveraging our experience and proprietary methodologies such as our Business Value Accelerator (BVA) tools. Our philosophy emphasizes the development of our management teams, while providing our portfolio companies with proven best practices that maximize their core strengths. Our approach enables entrepreneurs and management teams to stimulate and sustain significant growth—yielding outstanding returns for our investors. Rather than operate the companies in which we invest, we prefer to serve as a resource for management—building long-term partnerships that accelerate growth and result in world-class organizations.

Despite the firm’s tremendous growth, Sterling’s mission remains the same: To build trusted relationships with our management partners and serve as a resource to accelerate growth, and to demonstrate a balance of entrepreneurship and institutional discipline to maximize the financial returns of our partners.