Clearlake Capital
American private equity firm based in Santa Monica
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is a private equity firm founded in 2006 that focuses on the technology, industrial and consumer sectors.[4][6] The firm has more than $90 billion of assets under management and is headquartered in Santa Monica with affiliates in Dallas, London, Dublin, Luxembourg, Abu Dhabi, New York and Singapore.[7][8][9] In 2022, the firm was a part of an investor consortium named BlueCo that purchased Chelsea F.C.[6][10]
- Steven Chang
- Behdad Eghbali
- José E. Feliciano
| |
Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private equity |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | 233 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, California U.S. |
| AUM | US$90 billion (2025) |
Number of employees | 250 (2025) |
| Subsidiaries | WhiteStar Asset Management |
| Website | clearlake |
| Footnotes / references [1][2][3][4][5] | |
In 2024, Clearlake Capital was ranked 16th in Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking of the largest private equity firms in the world.[11]
Background
Clearlake Capital was founded in 2006 by Steven Chang, Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano.[2][3][4][6] The strategy was to shift between buyouts and distressed securities depending on economic conditions.[3] This allowed the firm to take advantage of the 2008 financial crisis to acquire distressed securities and then sell them for a profit after recovery.[3]
In 2015, Chang left the firm leaving Eghbali and Feliciano as the remaining managing partners.[2][12]
In May 2018, Clearlake sold a minority stake of up to 20% of its shares to Dyal Capital, Petershill Partners and Landmark Partners.[13][14] The purpose of the sale was to fund the creation of a credit unit.[14]
In June 2020, Clearlake acquired a majority interest in WhiteStar Asset Management from Pine Brook Road Partners.[3][15] WhiteStar Asset Management serves as the credit platform of Clearlake.[3][15]
Beginning in May 2022, Clearlake became the biggest user of "General partner-led Private-equity secondary markets".[3] In this technique Clearlake will find another private equity firm to buy a large portion of one of its existing investments and then offer investors a chance to either sell at a new valuation, or roll their stake into a new fund. It first used the technique during the COVID-19 pandemic when it sold shares of software company Ivanti to TA Associates in August 2020 at a valuation of $2 billion that generated a large windfall gain.[3] Many investors chose to roll their holdings instead. In 2021, Charlesbank Capital Partners invested in Ivanti at a valuation of $4 billion.[3]
In September 2024, Clearlake acquired Natixis' pan-European private credit business MV Credit. [16]
In February 2025, the HEC Paris ranked Clearlake Capital the fourth best large cap private equity firms based on performance.[17]
In May 2025, Clearlake launched Clearlake Credit, which underwrites investments up to $1 billion across private and liquid credit, and which is expected to triple the firm's credit asset base by 2030.[18]
In November 2025, Clearlake acquired investment management firm Pathway Capital Management for approximately $1 billion, making it one of the largest private equity firms by assets and a newcomer to the private-wealth market.[19]
Investments
Consumer
In 2014, Clearlake acquired the women's clothing company Ashley Stewart for $18 million after it had recently filed for bankruptcy.[12] After the company underwent significant restructuring including cost-cutting, Clearlake sold the company to Invus Group for more than $140 million in 2016.[12]
On May 30, 2022, an investor consortium named BlueCo, co-led by Clearlake and Todd Boehly, acquired Chelsea F.C. for $3 billion.[3][6][10][20] Clearlake, which owns about 60% of Chelsea F.C., shares joint control and equal governance of the club with Boehly.[6]
Industrials
In March 2022, Clearlake acquired Intertape Polymer Group for $2.6 billion, taking the company private.[21][22]
Tech and software
In 2015, Clearlake took a controlling stake in Syncsort.[23] In 2016, Clearlake took a controlling stake in Vision Solutions.[23] In 2017, Clearlake sold both companies to Centerbridge Partners for $1.26 billion and were merged.[23][24] In 2020, the merged company rebranded to Precisely. In 2021, Clearlake and TA Associates reacquired Precisely for $3.5 billion.[23][24]
Following the acquisition, Clearlake combined Endurance's Web Presence division with Web.com to form Newfold Digital, a global web presence and domain name registration market leader.[25]
In October 2021, the firm acquired Cornerstone OnDemand, a NASDAQ-listed software company, for $5.2 billion and took the company private.[26][27]
In December 2023, Clearlake announced it would take Alteryx private in a deal valued at $4.4 billion.[28]
In October 2024, Clearlake acquired Black Duck Software for $2.1 billion.[29]
In August 2025, the firm acquired Dun & Bradstreet for $7.7 billion and took the company private.[30]