Charter Oak Equity

Three managing partners — Paul Roughan, Zubin Avari, and Mark Ullman — share investment authority. The firm does not designate a CEO or CIO, operating instead as a partnership of equals. Principal Doni Perl supports deal execution and portfolio oversight. All four sit in Westport, Connecticut, and invest through direct, consensus-driven underwriting rather than a formal committee hierarchy.

The firm leans heavily on the operational networks of its three managing partners, all of whom spent formative years at McKinsey & Co. and maintain deep ties to family- and founder-owned manufacturing businesses. It does not advertise a proprietary sourcing platform or intermediary database. Its concentration in niche industrials, packaging, and medical products means deal flow tends to originate from repeat founder referrals and sector-focused investment banks rather than broad auctions.

The firm targets control-equity positions in companies with enterprise values of up to $150 million. Deal structures are exclusively control-oriented, and the firm has a history of executing bolt-on acquisitions — over 50 add-ons across 30 platform companies. It does not take minority stakes, nor does it participate in growth-stage financings outside its buyout mandate.

The firm's stated focus — niche manufacturing, packaging, medical products and services, specialty chemicals, consumer products, and financial services — excludes technology, software, and life sciences pure-plays. There is no mention of energy, real estate, or infrastructure investing in its public materials, and the team backgrounds are concentrated in industrial operating and consulting roles rather than high-growth venture or biotech.

Charter Oak Equity was founded in 2006 as a successor vehicle to Charter Oak Capital Partners, where managing partner Paul Roughan had worked since 1999 and Zubin Avari since 1998. The current firm carries forward the same sector strategy — lower-middle-market control buyouts in manufacturing and services — and the same core team, but operates as a distinct entity under the Charter Oak Equity, LP name with no public structural link to the predecessor fund remaining.