Brightstar Capital Partners

Last week, we hosted a March Madness watch party at our New York office with a strong showing from across our network. It was a great afternoon filled with bracket talk, pop-a-shot competitions, and catching up over classic game day food and drinks. Thank you to everyone who joined us—see below for a few highlights from the day!

In the first survey of our “The Pulse of Family Business” series, in collaboration with the Family Business Magazine team, we asked members of multi-generational family-owned businesses what their key priorities were over the next 24 months. Our findings revealed that respondents believe succession planning, growth, governance, along with legacy and family harmony are crucial to help ensure long-term success. While the value of family and NextGen engagement was a common theme seen in this survey, there are clearly many challenges and opportunities on the mind of family-owned businesses. To learn more, read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eza6-rni

In a recent conversation with Nikitha Sattiraju on The Deal by With Intelligence’s Behind the Buyouts podcast, Brightstar CEO and Founder Andrew Weinberg discusses how the unprecedented Great Wealth Transfer is accelerating the market opportunity for private equity to support families, founders, and entrepreneurs and focus on driving sustainable growth. Check out the clip below and click the link to catch the full podcast to hear more from Andrew on his current outlook for the private equity industry. https://lnkd.in/esBJYD4i

Last week, Brightstar team members Simi Kavthekar (Principal) and Alina Jennings (Vice President) attended the annual With Intelligence Women’s Private Equity Summit in Phoenix, AZ. The summit brought together more than 1,200 female executives from across the private equity industry, including LPs, GPs, and industry advisors. One key topic was industrial investors’ approach to navigating this current period of heightened uncertainty. There was a lot of discussion about the optimism that American industrials will benefit from the strong desire to reshore supply chains post-COVID, as well as the real challenges to this trend from labor constraints, tariffs, and inflation. It is a dynamic that our team continues to monitor. The trip was a valuable three days filled with insightful keynote speakers, informative panel sessions, and an activity program (including a hike!) designed for networking and building relationships with peers in the industry. Check out some highlights below.

In a recent episode of Northstar's Private Equity Fast Pitch® podcast, Brightstar founder and CEO Andrew Weinberg sat down with Jeff Henningsen to dive into Brightstar’s origin and foundational values, collaborative partnership model, and affinity for family-owned businesses. They also explore how strategic partnerships are reshaping the private equity landscape, and discuss Andrew’s perspective on how to help dynamic companies drive scalable success. Make sure to listen to the full episode below! https://lnkd.in/gXqdnUiV

Following our investment earlier this year, we recently held a kickoff strategy session with the W.W.Williams team in Phoenix, AZ and visited one of their impressive facilities. Team members of Brightstar and Williams were able to collaborate and develop a shared vision for the future. We’re thankful for the opportunity to connect in person, strengthen our relationships, and gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental operations of the business. At the core of the visit was a focus on aligning on a clear growth strategy and moving forward as partners—an essential part of our “Us & Us” model. We have more work to do, and by fostering trust across two layers of leadership, we believe we are laying the groundwork for long-term success and sustainable growth. Check out some highlights below! Reidar Brekke, Bruce Roberson, Craig Thomas, Larry Schmidlapp, Christopher Grillo, Alina Jennings, Stephen Ruder

PE Hub's Rafael Canton featured Brightstar CEO Andrew Weinberg’s insights on the current dealmaking environment in a recent edition of PE Hub’s daily Wire newsletter. Andrew discusses that while we’re seeing relatively strong debt markets and a healthy appetite to finance deals, we may also see many GPs adopt a wait-and-see strategy to dealmaking. Discover Andrew’s full range of insights, including his thoughts on the continuation vehicle market, below. https://lnkd.in/g_w4BKt9

While 2025 may be a year of uncertainty, at Brightstar we believe the current environment will offer significant opportunities for those who can separate the signal from the noise. Brightstar founder and CEO Andrew Weinberg recently shared his outlook for this year in Private Equity Wire’s Global Outlook 2025 Insight Report. Check out Andrew’s full 2025 outlook below to learn more about why he believes middle market companies, and those who invest in them, are well-positioned to benefit in this current environment.

We are excited to congratulate portfolio company America's Group on its recent acquisition of Car-Tech Auto Auction! This enables America’s Group to expand into New Jersey. The company continues to grow, now serving customers in 20 states, and focuses on providing quality service and operations execution for dealers and institutional customers. A big congratulations on this exciting acquisition!

Exciting news from portfolio partner Stratus who has just announced its new partnership with BREC, an engineering and consulting firm. Learn more about how this strategic acquisition will expand Stratus' service offerings and strengthen its ability to provide innovative, comprehensive solutions to clients across various industries by clicking the link below.