Private Equity · Profile from Private Equity Research Companion
Clearlake Capital Group
Santa Monica–based private-investment firm founded in 2006 by José E. Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali. It grew from a niche special-situations shop into one of the fastest-growing sponsors of the 2015–2025 era: buy-and-build software platforms, industrial and consumer carve-outs, a sizeable credit business, and the 2022 acquisition of Chelsea Football Club. Its trademarked O.P.S.® (Operations, People, Strategy) framework and its flexible use of equity and credit are its calling cards.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2006, Santa Monica, California
- Founders
- José E. Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali (Co-Founders and Managing Partners)
- AUM
- Reported ~$90bn+ (2025), up from <$5bn in 2016. Figures differ by source and methodology; verify against the firm's latest disclosure.
- Strategy
- Control and structured equity in technology, industrials and consumer; special situations and credit
- Sectors
- Software and tech-enabled services, industrial (specialty materials, auto aftermarket), consumer, sports
- Signature tools
- O.P.S.®; buy-and-build software platforms; capital solutions across the capital structure; continuation vehicles and structured liquidity
10 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2015
Syncsort Precisely
Software Buy-and-Build
2017
Ivanti
Carve-Out Merger and Buy-and-Build
2018
Perforce
Secondary Buyout and DevOps Buy-and-Build
2018
Unifrax Alkegen
Secondary Buyout and Transformative M&A
2018
Wheel Pros
Secondary Buyout and Sale to Apax
2019
DigiCert
Secondary Buyout with TA Associates
2021
Cornerstone OnDemand
Take-Private
2022
Chelsea FC
Forced-Sale Control Acquisition
2024
Alteryx
Take-Private with Insight Partners
2025
Dun and Bradstreet
Take-Private