EQT Partners Australia

David Forde leads the Sydney office as Managing Director, with authority to originate and negotiate deals in Australia and New Zealand. Final investment approvals rest with EQT's global investment committees in Stockholm, though the local team manages portfolio company boards independently. Forde has led the Australian platform since its 2015 launch.

The Australian office operates as a direct investing arm within EQT's global Private Equity Advisory group, rather than a separate legal entity or purely fundraising satellite. Deal teams in Sydney source, execute, and manage investments locally, drawing on EQT's centralized due diligence, digital, and sustainability resources. This hybrid structure gives the team more autonomy than a typical regional outpost while preserving access to EQT's international exit channels and Motherbrain analytics platform.

The team focuses on control and co-control acquisitions with enterprise values typically between AUD 200 million and AUD 1 billion, based on public record of completed transactions. This mid-market and upper-mid-market range positions EQT above most local Australian PE firms but below the mega-cap deals the firm pursues in Europe and North America. Sector preferences include enterprise software, healthcare services, and industrial technology.

Australian investments are made from EQT's global private equity and infrastructure funds — most recently from EQT X, which closed at €22 billion in October 2024. There is no dedicated Australia-only fund vehicle. The firm has indicated that capital from EQT X is allocated for continued Asia-Pacific deployment, including Australia and New Zealand (per the firm, October 2024).

In 2021, EQT acquired St John of God Health Care's pathology business alongside co-investor Australian Unity, a transaction that demonstrated the firm's healthcare services focus in Australia. The deal provided EQT a platform in a sector with non-discretionary demand and recurring revenue characteristics. Additional portfolio activity includes investments in business services and technology platforms, though the firm does not publicly disclose all Australian holdings.

Motherbrain, EQT's proprietary AI and data analytics platform developed in Stockholm, supports deal sourcing and portfolio company analytics globally, including for the Australian team. The tool scans market data to identify off-market acquisition targets and provides operational benchmarks for existing investments. This capability gives EQT Partners Australia a sourcing advantage over local competitors that lack comparable in-house technology.

Before joining EQT in 2015 to launch the Australian office, David Forde was a partner at CHAMP Private Equity, one of Australia's oldest private equity firms with approximately AUD 4 billion in funds under management. He also held roles at Macquarie Group. His two decades of Australian mid-market deal experience formed the foundation for EQT's local origination strategy.