Main Capital Partners?
Wondering if any of our European counterparts can speak about this European software investing firm. What's their reputation, performance, and general perception like in Europe? Asking because they seem to have very recently opened a Boston office and expanding. Is this a good opportunity?
bump?
Not Europe-based but we are long-standing LPs in their funds. Stellar reputation, specialising in mid-market software buyouts with a growth bent in the Benelux + DACH to a smaller extent. Only do profitable, mission-critical B2B software businesses, and help businesses scale with aggressive buy-and-build. They're probably a top 3 performing mid-market/lower mid-market fund in Europe and have scaled very quickly from their Fund V onwards, roughly doubling fund size each time. Key guy is still Charly Zwemstra, very outstanding, and is probably the go-to guy for small software businesses in the Benelux and Germany.
Honestly not too sure about expansion to the US - quite a number of their portfolio companies are expanding into the US as a revenue base, but in terms of deals and competitive edge in the US, I'm not entirely sure. Main has grown very quickly and has gone from a hidden gem to a firm that every LP in Europe is banging on their door to get access to, but they're not too well-known outside of Benelux + DACH yet. If you're talking about expansion to Boston I would assume a larger part of your work would be focused on portfolio value creation as opposed to deal sourcing and execution? Can't imagine them doing deals in the US for now - though if they do start doing deals in the US my firm might have to re-evaluate our relationship with them lol
Seems like their Boston team did a deal recently (Cloud Coach).
I see, that's great from your perspective if you're looking to join - always great to get deal experience. Though do note the niche focus (software company buyouts), if you have an interest in that space then Main really does do have the expertise for you to learn a lot
bump
Europe perspective: Invest in boring small “tech” businesses and roll them up. Often limited integration. Had a few funds with solid returns and rode the tech multiple expansion wave. Don’t think they are positioned for delivering longer term returns.
Team is not impressive.
Don’t see how they would have any edge in the US.
Boring? lol welcome to real life.
Bump, heard they are looking to raise an EUR 5bn fund and had 4.7+ gross moic (perhaps on realised assets?) across their last fund(s).
Im sure their returns are good, but reputation of them in the software PE landscape is very meh. As one of the other posts mentioned, they are very heavy buy and build and focus on rolling up small cap assets. They have a reputation for not always having the clearest M&A rationale and not integrating them well. Their typical play is to sell these assets to strategic buyers and run the sell-sides themselves rather than hire a bank. They have more difficulty selling to PE. This is by no means to say they are a bad PE firm as they make money, albeit I think this strategy works better in a bull market and less in the current market where there is a flock to quality as I have seen them try to sell several assets with limited success.
A few things to consider: you will probably get fantastic deal experience as it is a high volume shop with a flexible underwrite. Your WLB will probably be quite bad as you’ll be spending all your time executing, including all add-ons. Charly will call all the shots at the firm (can be good or bad). You will need to diligence the dynamic of being outside the centre of gravity and understand how series they are about the US.
Do you have any insight into the companies that Main tried to "sell with limited success?"
https://main.nl/press-release/sdb-aqcuires-alfa/
bump
Pay is shit
Can you please give a range? By and large for an associate what are we talking?
Define just how shit my good sir
I have heard pretty solid things about them from people in the Benelux software scene. They focus on smaller profitable software firms and usually work closely with management, so the pace is steady and the deals are hands on. The fund size is not huge but the track record is good and they have been growing for a while.
The Boston office is new so the platform there will probably feel more like a build out than a mature team. That can be a good chance to take on responsibility early if you are fine with a bit of uncertainty while they scale.
On the surface, it seems like a solid shop, but expect a very strong focus on sourcing (cold calling and emailing), even at the junior level. There is no dedicated events team, so events feel like recurring obstacles to overcome - you spend an endless amount of time trying to get executives to sign up.
Compensation is weak unless you negotiate aggressively, although carry is granted relatively early.
The culture is mediocre. Main is a fund that is growing quickly but has not yet gone through a traditional founder transition, so Charlie (the founder) still has significant influence. It’s widely understood that advancement opportunities at Main are limited unless you’re in his good graces.
If you look people up on LinkedIn, you’ll notice very similar backgrounds - many “grew up” at Main. This suggests a strong tendency toward one way of doing things and resistance to outside perspectives from people with different backgrounds.
Deal flow is high due to the volume of add-on acquisitions, and fund performance is strong.
Overall, whether it’s a good fit really depends on what you’re looking for. If any particular Q's happy to answer
this reads ai generated, am i crazy?
DELETE
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