Strategic View:
Software specialist Hg has orchestrated a $6.4 billion take-private of OneStream, bringing in General Atlantic and Tidemark as minority co-investors. This “Expert Club” approach allows Hg to write a massive check while sharing the valuation risk.
Full Story:
The software buyout market roared back to life this week as Hg, the transatlantic private equity firm, announced the $6.4 billion acquisition of enterprise finance platform OneStream. While the headline price is staggering, the deal structure reveals a sophisticated “Club Syndication” strategy designed to navigate the current valuation environment.
Hg is not going it alone. The firm has syndicated a significant minority stake to General Atlantic and growth equity firm Tidemark. This consortium approach serves two purposes. First, it mitigates concentration risk for Hg’s flagship fund. Second, it brings complementary expertise to the table: Hg’s operational prowess in European SaaS, combined with General Atlantic’s deep US capital markets network, creates a “value-add” flywheel that a single sponsor could not replicate.
Furthermore, the debt financing for the deal was reportedly provided by a club of private credit funds rather than a traditional bank syndicate. This “Private-for-Private” financing model ensures execution certainty in a volatile week for public markets. The deal is a clear signal that “Mega-Buyouts” in 2026 will increasingly rely on squads of specialist GPs pooling their firepower rather than the “lone wolf” bids of the past decade.
Why It Matters:
The “Consortium Bid” is the new normal for tech M&A. With valuations remaining high, GPs are forced to collaborate to bridge the gap. For LPs, this trend offers comfort: multiple top-tier due diligence teams have validated the asset, providing a layer of “social proof” to the investment thesis.
Source(s):
Fortune Term Sheet
