Private Equity · Profile from Private Equity Research Companion
3G Capital
New York–headquartered investment firm founded in 2004 by Brazilian financiers Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Herrmann Telles and Carlos Alberto "Beto" Sicupira. It is best known for building AB InBev, Restaurant Brands International (Burger King + Tim Hortons + Popeyes + Firehouse Subs) and Kraft Heinz (with Berkshire Hathaway), and for spreading zero-based budgeting (ZBB) through consumer goods. It is also the clearest example of how a cost-cutting playbook can stop working.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2004 (New York); intellectual roots in Banco Garantia (Rio de Janeiro, 1971)
- Founders
- Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles, Carlos Alberto Sicupira; Alex Behring was a founding managing partner
- Headquarters
- New York, NY (earlier Rio de Janeiro / São Paulo links)
- Current leadership (2026)
- Daniel Schwartz (Managing Partner, ex-RBI CEO); Alex Behring (co-founder / partner); the founders as senior partners / board members
- AUM
- Not consistently disclosed. Reported figures run from ~$10bn (fund capital) to much larger look-through stakes in AB InBev, RBI and Kraft Heinz. Treat any single number with caution.
- Strategy
- Concentrated control or influential stakes in large, mature consumer brands; long holds; heavy operational and cost discipline
- Signature tools
- Zero-based budgeting, meritocratic partnership, aggressive pay-for-performance, "dream big" culture, partnership with Berkshire Hathaway
11 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1989
Brahma
Control Buyout
2004
Interbrew AmBev
Cross-Border Share-Swap Merger
2008
Anheuser Busch
Unsolicited Strategic Acquisition
2008
CSX
Activist Minority Campaign / Proxy Fight
2010
Burger King
Take-Private
2013
Heinz
Take-Private with Berkshire Hathaway
2014
Tim Hortons
Strategic Merger / Tax Inversion
2015
Kraft Heinz
Merger of Heinz into Kraft Foods
2017
Unilever Bid
Attempted Merger Approach by Kraft Heinz
2018
Hunter Douglas
Control Stake Acquisition
2025
Skechers
Take-Private with Founder Rollover