{{short description|British private equity firm}} {{Infobox company | name = Hg | logo = Hg logo.svg | predecessor = Mercury Private Equity | type = Private limited company | founders = Partnership | foundation = {{start date and age|2000}} | location = London | industry = Private equity | products = Private equity funds, Leveraged buyout | assets = US$70 billion (2024) | num_employees = | homepage = {{URL|http://www.hgcapital.com/}} }} '''Hg''' is a London, England-based private equity firm targeting technology buyouts primarily in Europe and the US. The company focuses on investments in technology and services sectors. Hg was founded in 2000.
==History== Hg began life as Mercury Private Equity, the private equity arm of Mercury Asset Management plc, a long-established UK-based asset management firm. Mercury Asset Management was acquired by Merrill Lynch in 1997. In December 2000, the executives of Mercury Private Equity negotiated independence from Merrill Lynch, and HgCapital (as it was then known) was established as a fully independent partnership wholly owned by its Partners and employees, who together work with a common purpose and culture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hgcapitaltrust.com/about/the-manager.aspx|title=The Manager - HgCapital Profile|publisher=HgCapital Trust|accessdate=28 August 2017|archive-date=24 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824105247/http://www.hgcapitaltrust.com/about/the-manager.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In February 2017, the company raised its 8th £2.5 billion core fund and its 2nd £575 million Mercury fund, targeting smaller technology buyouts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pehub.com/2017/02/hgcapital-closes-two-new-funds-at-a-total-of-about-3-1-bln-pounds|title=HgCapital closes two funds at a total of about 3.1 bln pounds|date=16 February 2017|publisher=PE Hub|accessdate=28 August 2017}}</ref> Both funds were closed on their hard-caps and were more than 3x oversubscribed versus their targets, receiving strong re-ups from existing investors.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.privateequityinternational.com/profile/?partner=6532 | title=HgCapital LP Profile|date=2 August 2017|publisher=Private Equity International|accessdate=28 August 2017}}</ref> The company raised its 1st time £1.5B Saturn large-cap fund in March 2018<ref>{{cite web|url=https://realdeals.eu.com/news/2018/03/06/hg-launches-hg-saturn-transition-capital/|title=Hg hits first close of Saturn fund, launches transition capital strategy|date=6 March 2018|publisher=PE Hub|accessdate=8 April 2018}}</ref> and in 2020 raised $11B across three funds, Mercury 3, Genesis 9 and Saturn 2.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-05-11|title=Hg Said to Top $11 Billion for Its Largest Ever Buyout Funds|language=en|work=Bloomberg.com|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-11/hg-said-to-top-11-billion-for-its-largest-ever-buyout-funds|access-date=2020-09-03}}</ref>
In 2022, the company raised $11 billion for its largest fund, Saturn 3. In 2023, the firm reached the €6.75 billion hard-cap for mid-market fund Genesis 10 and held a final close on Hg Mercury 4 at over €2.4 billion.
In April 2023, Hg announced it was in the nascent stages of adding a dedicated unit within its client services team to focus on individual clients and their wealth advisers, as well as family offices.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mendoza |first=Carmela |date=2023-04-06 |title=Hg to build out dedicated wealth team |url=https://www.privateequityinternational.com/hg-to-build-out-dedicated-wealth-team/ |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=Private Equity International |language=en-GB}}</ref>
In June 2024, Hg ranked 10th in Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking among the world's largest private equity firms.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mendoza |first=Carmela |date=2024-06-24 |title=Mega-firms and their flagship funds: Who's likely to be back in market? |url=https://www.privateequityinternational.com/mega-firms-and-their-flagship-funds-when-did-they-last-raise/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Private Equity International |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-03 |title=The Largest Private Equity Firms in the World {{!}} PEI 300 |url=https://www.privateequityinternational.com/pei-300/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Private Equity International |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2024 Hg Wealth raised €500m from its friends and family network into its fund. Later in the year, Hg Wealth signed a partnership with UBS.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hg strikes deal with UBS sending semi-liquid assets to €750m |url=https://citywire.com/wealth-manager/news/hg-strikes-deal-with-ubs-sending-semi-liquid-assets-to-750m/a2457566 |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=citywire.com}}</ref> In the same year, Hg acquired audit, risk and ESG software firm Auditboard for over $3bn,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dorbian |first=Iris |date=2024-05-23 |title=Hg to acquire audit, risk and ESG software firm AuditBoard for over $3bn |url=https://www.pehub.com/hg-to-acquire-audit-risk-and-esg-software-firm-auditboard-for-over-3bn/ |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=PE Hub |language=en-US}}</ref> as well as Focus Group, a UK-based business technology provider.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Focus Group founders dial up £800m sale to private equity firm Hg |url=https://news.sky.com/story/focus-group-founders-dial-up-800m-sale-to-private-equity-firm-hg-13112142 |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref>
==Business== The company has close to 400 employees in investment offices in London, UK, Munich, Germany, San Francisco, Singapore,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-09-30 |title=Hg Wealth hires ex-Apollo wealth head to lead new Singapore office |url=https://asianprivatebanker.com/funds/hg-wealth-hires-ex-apollo-wealth-head-to-lead-new-singapore-office/ |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=Asian Private Banker |language=en-US}}</ref> and New York, NY, and serves over 100 institutional investors, including private and public pension funds, endowments, insurance companies and fund of funds.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hgcapital.com/about-hg/|title=HgCapital About Us|date=8 April 2018|publisher=HgCapital|accessdate=8 April 2018|archive-date=8 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408210421/https://hgcapital.com/about-hg/|url-status=dead}}</ref> As of 2025, Hg has over $75 billion in funds under management and invests on behalf of Limited Partner clients.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |last=StacheCow |date=2024-12-12 |title=Private Equity Deep Dive: HG Capital History, Investments and More |url=https://stachecow.com/private-equity-deep-dive-hg-capital-544 |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=StacheCow {{!}} Financial and Motivational News {{!}} StacheCow |language=en}}</ref>
===Investments=== Hg is invested in more than 50 companies across Europe and the US, and has invested in over 120 Software & Services businesses.<ref name="auto"/> One of its most prominent investments is Visma, a Scandinavian software business. In August 2020 Hg led the $12.2B buyout of Visma, Europe's largest software buyout to date.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hg, TPG seal massive software buyout with $12.2bn Visma deal - Private Equity News|url=https://www.penews.com/articles/hg-tpg-warburg-pincus-seal-massive-software-buyout-with-12-2bn-visma-deal-20200821|access-date=2020-09-03|website=www.penews.com}}</ref> In 2022, Hg Capital purchased Ideagen PLC, a UK GRC company, for £1 bn.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hgcapital.com/ideagen-secures-partnership-with-hg-to-support-further-growth-as-a-regulatory-and-compliance-software-leader/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313232159/https://hgcapital.com/ideagen-secures-partnership-with-hg-to-support-further-growth-as-a-regulatory-and-compliance-software-leader/| title=Ideagen secures partnership with Hg to support further growth as a regulatory and compliance software leader - Hg|date=July 8, 2022|archivedate=March 13, 2023}}</ref>
In January 2026, Hg announced it would acquire financial software company OneStream for ~$6.4 billion. The deal was expected to close in 1H 2026.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schisgall |first=Elias |date=2026-01-06 |title=OneStream to Go Private Through $6.4 Billion Hg Acquisition |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/onestream-to-go-private-through-6-4-billion-hg-acquisition-746919cc |access-date=2026-01-07 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.hgcapital.com/}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090802230654/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=21785 Company overview] on Businessweek {{Largest private equity firms}} {{Private equity and venture capital}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:HgCapital}} Category:Private equity firms of the United Kingdom Category:Financial services companies based in London Category:Financial services companies established in 2000 Category:2000 establishments in England