Private equity firms for corporate carve-outs
Jul 6 – Oct 20, 2026Updated Oct 20, 2026
Reviewed by Dimitry Apollonsky
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Widest split: Lion Equity Partners, 91% on ChatGPT and 0% on Google AI Mode.
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Questions and answers
Google AI ModeOct 11, 2026
When executing a corporate carve-out, you need a
private equity (PE) firm that not only has capital but also possesses deep operational capabilities. Carve-outs are notoriously complex—requiring the separation of shared IT/ERP systems, supply chains, HR/payroll, and establishing independent management structures.Depending on the size and sector of your division, several prominent PE firms are widely recognized for their specialization and track records in corporate carve-outs:
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R): Globally renowned for handling massive, complex industrial and healthcare divisional carve-outs. They have a long-standing reputation for setting up carved-out entities to operate as thriving, independent market leaders (such as their high-profile transaction involving Sanofi's consumer health unit).
- Advent International: Features a dedicated operational playbook and a massive global footprint with an extensive track record of executing multi-jurisdictional and complex corporate carve-outs across consumer, industrial, and tech sectors.
- KKR & Co.: Extremely active in corporate carve-outs globally, completing dozens of unit-separation and corporate separation deals over the past several years. They deploy dedicated operational value-creation teams to transition a corporate orphan into a standalone enterprise.
- Apollo Global Management: Known for a contrarian, value-oriented approach. Apollo frequently targets complex corporate carve-outs, special situations, or underperforming/distressed units where they can aggressively restructure and unlock hidden value.
- The Carlyle Group: Has decades of experience carving out industrial, chemical, and consumer business units from major multi-industry conglomerates, utilizing a repeatable playbook to build out commercial and operational independence.
- Lower-Middle Market / Niche Specialists (e.g., Shackleton Equity Partners): If your division is on the smaller side, operationally focused lower-middle-market specialists like Shackleton Equity Partners specifically target expedited 30-to-60-day carve-out timelines, managing the messy transition of localized IT, HR, and asset separation.
To help narrow down which firms or types of buyers would be the best fit, could you share:
- The approximate revenue or EBITDA of the division?
- What industry or sector does it operate in (e.g., software, manufacturing, healthcare)?
- Is the division fully operationally independent right now, or does it heavily rely on shared parent-company infrastructure?
ChatGPTOct 11, 2026
If you're selling a division of a larger company, you'll want to target private equity firms with a demonstrated track record in corporate carve-outs, non-core divestitures, and complex separations—not just firms that buy entire standalone businesses.
These buyers specialize in acquiring divisions that may lack their own IT systems, finance teams, employees, facilities, or independent financial reporting. They understand how to separate a business from its parent, establish standalone operations, and create value after closing.
Based on the firms' stated investment strategies and published transaction experience, here are several firms worth putting on your initial buyer list.
1. Private equity firms that specialize in corporate carve-outs
Pacific Avenue Capital Partners
(Broad carve-out focus)
A middle-market firm with extensive experience in corporate divestitures, carve-outs, and complex situations. Its website reports more than 70 carve-outs, making it a particularly relevant starting point for a seller considering a division separation.
Best to investigate for: established operating businesses being divested by larger corporations.
Website:
Lion Equity Partners
Explicitly focuses on acquiring divisions of larger corporations and has experience with corporate divestitures and separation processes. It states a target range of $30 million–$300 million in revenue, with EBITDA up to $25 million.
Best to investigate for: smaller divisions that may be non-core to the parent and need a focused owner.
Website:
Shackleton Equity Partners
Specializes in lower-middle-market corporate carve-outs and special situations, including underperforming divisions and businesses that need operational restructuring. Its stated criteria include revenue of $10 million–$250 million, with a focus on businesses that may have negative or modest EBITDA.
Best to investigate for: divisions that are operationally complicated, underperforming, or not yet fully standalone.
Website:
AuSable Capital Partners
Highlights corporate divestitures and carve-outs as a core transaction type. It emphasizes transaction flexibility, speed, closing certainty, and protecting employees, customers, and vendors during a separation.
Best to investigate for: complex corporate sales where transaction structure, timing, and continuity matter.
Website:
2. Larger firms to consider for a bigger or more complex division
These firms are especially relevant if your division is a substantial business, operates internationally, or belongs to a sector where specialized operating expertise matters.
KPS Capital Partners
A strong candidate to investigate for manufacturing and industrial businesses. KPS explicitly targets non-core assets of large global corporations and emphasizes complex global separations and transforming acquired businesses into independent companies.
Francisco Partners
Particularly relevant for technology, software, healthcare technology, and tech-enabled services. Its investment database explicitly categorizes divisional carve-outs and includes businesses acquired from larger corporate parents.
Apax
Publicly identifies carve-outs as an important investment opportunity, particularly businesses that could perform better with dedicated leadership, resources, and operational independence.
3. Which firms should you prioritize?
The right buyer universe depends on the size and condition of your division. Here's a practical starting framework.
Your division's profile Firms to investigate first Lower-middle-market business, roughly $10M–$250M revenue Lion Equity, Shackleton Equity Established middle-market business with complex separation needs Pacific Avenue, AuSable Manufacturing or industrial division of a global company KPS Capital Partners, Pacific Avenue Software, technology, or healthcare technology Francisco Partners, Apax Underperforming division or one requiring a turnaround Shackleton, AuSable, KPS (for industrial businesses) These are initial screening suggestions based on published investment criteria and strategies, not a ranking of firms or a guarantee that any firm is currently seeking your particular asset.
4. What matters most when selling a corporate division
A carve-out buyer evaluates more than the division's earnings. It also needs to understand how difficult the business will be to separate from your parent company.
Before approaching buyers, prepare for questions about:
- Standalone financials: Revenue, EBITDA, allocated corporate costs, and the business's true standalone profitability.
- Separation costs: The cost of replacing shared IT, HR, finance, facilities, procurement, and other corporate functions.
- Transition services agreements (TSAs): What services your parent will provide temporarily after closing, and for how long.
- Employees and management: Which employees transfer and whether the division has a leadership team capable of running independently.
- Commercial dependencies: Shared customers, contracts, intellectual property, suppliers, and distribution channels.
These issues can materially affect both the buyer pool and the sale price. A specialist M&A advisor can help prepare the division, build a targeted buyer list, and run a confidential sale process.
5. Let’s narrow this to the most relevant buyers for your business
I can make the list considerably more useful if I know a little about the division you want to sell.
Share what you can; approximate figures are fine.
1. Industry
Industrial / manufacturing
Technology / software
Healthcare / life sciences
Business services
Consumer / retail
Other / diversified
2. Annual revenue of the division
Under $25M
$25M–$50M
$50M–$250M
$250M–$1B
Over $1B
3. Approximate EBITDA margin
Negative or near break-even
0%–10%
10%–20%
Over 20%
Not yet determined
4. Where does the business operate?
United States
North America
Europe
Global / multiple regions
5. How independent is the division today?
Profitable and already largely standalone
Profitable, but integrated into parent
Underperforming or needs restructuring
Not sure / mixed situation
[Find the best-fit buyer shortlist]
With those details, I can focus on firms that fit your division's scale, industry, profitability, and separation complexity, rather than giving you a generic list of private equity funds.
Sources cited in this answer15
- pacificavenuecapital.comPacific Avenue Capital Partners | Private Equity Firm
- lionequity.comLion Equity Partners
- shackletonequity.comAbout Us – Shackleton Equity Partners
- shackletonequity.comInvestment Criteria – Shackleton Equity Partners
- shackletonequity.comShackleton Equity Partners – Private Equity Firm Specializing in Corp Carve-Outs & Special Situations
- ausablecap.comAuSable Capital Partners | Transaction Types
Google AI ModeOct 20, 2026
When pursuing a corporate carve-out or divestiture, partnering with a private equity (PE) firm that has dedicated operational separation experience is critical . Carve-outs require untangling shared services, building standalone IT/HR infrastructures, and minimizing Transition Services Agreement (TSA) friction.
Private equity investors that frequently target and possess specialized capabilities in corporate carve-outs and divisional divestitures span multiple market tiers:
Large-Cap / Complex Carve-Out Specialists
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) : Renowned for operationally intensive large-scale corporate carve-outs and industrial/healthcare divestitures (such as major business unit and multi-billion-dollar corporate separations). They pair deep operating executive teams directly with transaction processes.
- Blackstone : Frequently executes large corporate carve-outs and non-core division sales across global industrial, healthcare, and technology spaces.
- Bain Capital : Possesses strong operational depth and a dedicated portfolio group to handle complex cross-border corporate separations and standalone transitions.
Middle-Market Carve-Out & Divestiture Specialists
- Sentinel Capital Partners : Routinely invests in corporate divestitures, management buyouts, and operational turnarounds across the lower-to-middle market.
- Accel-KKR : Focuses on mid-market software and tech-enabled businesses, specifically listing divisional carve-outs and corporate spin-outs among their core transaction types.
- Rockwood Equity Partners : Explicitly targets lower middle-market corporate divestitures, carve-outs, and non-core asset sales, specializing in minimizing cumbersome TSAs and handling IP/contract/employee separation.
- Shackleton Equity Partners : Focuses heavily on lower middle-market corporate carve-outs, including operationally complex or underperforming corporate divisions that require rapid stabilization as standalone entities.
If you can share the industry sector, approximate revenue or EBITDA of the unit, and how much transition support (TSA) you expect to need , I can help narrow down which of these firms or general categories best fits your specific divestiture strategy.
Sources cited in this answer4
ChatGPTOct 20, 2026
For a corporate divestiture, I would prioritize private equity firms that have demonstrated experience acquiring business units from larger corporate parents, rather than simply firms that buy and sell companies. These investors are often better equipped to handle separation planning, transitional services agreements (TSAs), standalone infrastructure, employee transfers, and the operational complexity of a carve-out.
Below is a shortlist of investors whose stated strategies or transaction histories make them relevant potential buyers. I've included both dedicated carve-out specialists and larger middle-market firms with established carve-out capabilities.
1. Priority list: private equity carve-out specialists
The first six firms below are a strong starting point for a seller-led outreach process, subject to your unit's size, sector, geography, and financial profile.
1. Pacific Avenue Capital Partners
(Priority target)
A middle-market investor with extensive experience in corporate divestitures, carve-outs, and complex transactions. Its published profile reports more than 70 carve-outs, making it one of the most directly relevant firms to approach.
- Best fit: Established middle-market divisions requiring separation and operational transformation.
- Geography: US and Europe.
- Website:
2. Lion Equity Partners
A specialist investor explicitly focused on acquiring divisions of larger corporations, with significant experience in the divestiture process.
- Published target profile: Revenue of approximately $30 million–$300 million; EBITDA up to $25 million.
- Best fit: Smaller and lower-middle-market corporate divisions.
- Website:
3. Trive Capital
Has explicitly sought corporate carve-outs and completed divestitures involving healthy and underperforming businesses. Its disclosed transactions include businesses separated from Windstream, Triumph Group, Chesapeake Energy, and Flex.
- Best fit: Industrial, aerospace and defense, energy, technology, media and telecom, and other complex businesses.
- Geography: Primarily US.
- Website:
4. Sun Capital Partners
An operationally oriented investor with a broad history of corporate carve-outs, including businesses in industrials, distribution, food and consumer products, and services.
- Published investment range: $50 million–$300 million in equity.
- Best fit: Businesses with operational improvement opportunities or a need for restructuring.
- Website:
5. Wynnchurch Capital
A middle-market private equity firm that explicitly targets corporate carve-outs alongside underperforming businesses and growth situations.
- Published investment range: $50 million–$750 million in equity, including co-investments.
- Best fit: Manufacturing, distribution, and services businesses in the US and Canada.
- Website:
6. Shackleton Equity Partners
A dedicated lower-middle-market carve-out and special-situations investor. It considers both healthy non-core divisions and underperforming or negative-EBITDA businesses.
- Published target profile: Revenue of $10 million–$250 million, with a lower revenue threshold for software businesses; EBITDA can be negative up to $5 million.
- Best fit: Smaller, complex, or operationally challenged divestitures.
- Website:
7. Rockwood Equity
Focuses on lower-middle-market corporate divestitures and has experience on both the buyer and seller sides of carve-outs. It specifically highlights practical separation issues, including financial reporting, tax, IP, customer contracts, and TSAs.
- Best fit: Smaller business units where separation complexity is a key deal consideration.
- Website:
8. Roslin Capital
A specialist investor focused on corporate carve-outs and complex separations, emphasizing direct access to senior decision-makers, flexible capital, and operational independence.
- Best fit: Businesses where transaction certainty and a credible standalone operating plan are important.
- Website:
2. Additional investors worth including
These firms broaden the potential buyer universe, particularly if the business unit is larger or has more complex operational or international requirements.
Platinum Equity
A large, global, operations-focused investor with a dedicated small-cap strategy and extensive corporate divestiture capabilities.
Best fit: Larger businesses as well as smaller divisions with standalone growth potential. Its broader acquisition profile spans approximately $100 million–$10 billion in enterprise value; its small-cap strategy targets revenue up to $650 million and EBITDA up to $50 million.
Website and investment criteria www.platinumequity.comwww.platinumequity.com
Alpina Equity
Focuses on strategic divestitures, corporate carve-outs, complex cross-border transactions, and turnarounds.
Best fit: Middle-market businesses with international separation issues or operational improvement opportunities. Its stated revenue target is $25 million–$750 million.
Rockwood Equity Partners
Particularly relevant for smaller divestitures where the seller needs a buyer that understands separation constraints, incomplete standalone financials, and TSA considerations.
Best fit: Lower-middle-market corporate divestitures.
Carve-out investment approach www.rockwoodequity.com
3. How I would narrow the buyer list
The right investor depends heavily on the size and condition of the unit. Here is a practical first-pass segmentation based on the firms' published investment criteria.
Your business unit Investors to prioritize Smaller unit, limited EBITDA, or standalone challenges Shackleton, Lion Equity, Rockwood Established middle-market business Pacific Avenue, Trive, Sun Capital Industrial or manufacturing division Wynnchurch, Trive, Sun Capital, Platinum Equity Larger business or complex multinational separation Platinum Equity, Pacific Avenue, Alpina Equity Technology, telecom, or aerospace and defense Trive, Shackleton, Pacific Avenue This is an initial screening framework, not a confirmed assessment of each firm's current available capital or willingness to pursue your specific deal. Investment mandates and fund capacity should be verified before outreach.
4. Information needed to build a targeted buyer universe
If you share a few details, I can narrow this to a more actionable list of investors, including relevant prior carve-out transactions and the best official contact or deal-submission pages.
Optional deal profile — approximate ranges are fine.
Business unit sector
Industrials / Manufacturing
Technology / Software / Telecom
Consumer / Retail / Food
Healthcare / Life Sciences
Business / Professional Services
Energy / Aerospace / Defense
Other / Diversified
Geography
North America
Europe
Asia-Pacific
Global / Cross-border
Annual revenue (USD equivalent)
Under $50M
$50M–$100M
$100M–$500M
$500M–$1B
Over $1B
Not yet determined
EBITDA (USD equivalent)
Negative / break-even
Under $10M
$10M–$50M
$50M–$100M
Over $100M
Not yet determined
Business condition
Profitable / established
Underperforming / turnaround
High growth / technology-led
Separation complexity
Low — largely standalone
Moderate — some TSA / shared services
High — heavily integrated with parent
[Build targeted investor shortlist]
One important consideration: if the unit is deeply integrated with your company, I would weigh separation execution capability and certainty of close almost as heavily as headline valuation. A buyer with a credible standalone operating plan can sometimes be a better outcome than a higher bidder who has underestimated the separation work.
Sources cited in this answer22
- pacificavenuecapital.comPacific Avenue Capital Partners | Private Equity Firm
- pacificavenuecapital.comPacific Avenue Capital Partners | Private Equity Firm
- lionequity.comLion Equity Partners
- lionequity.comLion Equity Partners
- trivecapital.comTrive Capital | Dallas, Texas Based Private Equity Firm
- trivecapital.comTrive Capital Actively Seeking Corporate Carve-out Investment Opportunities | Trive Capital
Also asked as
- I am looking for private equity investors that have a track record of handling corporate carve-outs. Can you list firms that focus on this specific type of divestiture?
