Hadley Capital

Hadley Capital does not operate traditional closed-end funds. It uses a holding company structure with evergreen capital, allowing it to acquire companies and hold them indefinitely without the forced sale timelines that define fund-based private equity. This permanent-capital model makes Hadley an attractive buyer for founders who want assurance their business won't be flipped in a short window.

The firm targets profitable companies with $5M to $30M in revenue and $1M to $5M in EBITDA, a segment it describes as the "lower middle market." Hadley focuses on businesses that are too small for institutional private equity funds but too large or complex for individual buyers, a structural niche it has occupied since its founding in 1998.

Founder and Managing Partner Clayton Struve leads investment decisions with a small team of deal professionals. Each acquisition is evaluated by this central team and typically paired with an experienced operating executive from Hadley's network who joins the portfolio company as chairman or CEO to drive post-acquisition growth.

Hadley avoids software, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and any business dependent on speculative technology adoption. It also avoids turnarounds and distressed situations. The firm concentrates on industrial services, niche manufacturing, equipment distribution, and packaging — sectors where free cash flow is predictable and operational improvement drives returns rather than market timing.

The firm relies on a proprietary network of business brokers, accountants, attorneys, and industry executives built over 25 years of operating in the lower middle market. It does not participate in broad auction processes run by investment banks. Hadley's permanent-capital structure and reputation for retaining company cultures give it an advantage in proprietary negotiations with founder-sellers.