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High Road Capital Partners
Robert Fitzsimmons founded Greenwich-based High Road Capital Partners in 2007 to acquire lower-middle-market manufacturers and service firms.
High Road Capital Partners
Founded in 2007 by Managing Partners Robert Fitzsimmons and William Connell, High Road Capital Partners emerged from the pair's experience running middle-market investing at private equity firm Charter Oak Partners. They launched High Road with a clearly bounded mandate: acquire platform companies in the lower middle market with EBITDA between $3 million and $12 million. The firm's wealth origin is institutional, not familial—it raises committed capital from pensions, endowments, and fund-of-funds, closing its debut fund in 2008 at $195 million across a period when fundraising was exceptionally difficult. The partnership executes control buyouts with a repeatable playbook: buy a founder-led niche manufacturer or specialized service provider, professionalize operations, and pursue a targeted acquisition strategy to double or triple EBITDA before exit. Sectors include industrial technology, enterprise software, healthcare services, and business services. Known portfolio companies have included The Crown Group, a Michigan coating-services provider, and B.W. Rogers, an engineered-components distributor. High Road's mandate spans the United States, with a particular concentration in the industrial Midwest, Southeast, and Southwest, where it can access family-held businesses that have not been extensively shopped. High Road closed its third fund in 2017 with approximately $320 million in commitments (per public record filings). The firm typically pursues add-on acquisitions to its platforms and has a track record of selling to strategic acquirers and larger private equity funds. In 2019, High Road sold portfolio company PPC Flexible Packaging to Morgan Stanley Capital Partners. The firm operates from its Greenwich headquarters, where the partners historically led all deal sourcing, though the exact headcount is not publicly disclosed. The partnership model is High Road's structural differentiator. Four named partners—Fitzsimmons, Connell, Jeff Goodrich, and David Lowry—share what appears to be genuine co-leadership of the firm after 17 years, avoiding the single-founder chokepoint that creates succession risk in many sub-$500 million fund managers. The partnership's longevity and flat hierarchy provide a predictable underwriting counterparty for intermediaries who sell founder-owned businesses.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
2007
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Greenwich
Corporate office
Greenwich, CT, United States
Principals
Robert Fitzsimmons
Managing Partner
William Connell
Partner
Jeff Goodrich
Partner
David Lowry
Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at High Road Capital Partners?
The four named partners—Robert Fitzsimmons, William Connell, Jeff Goodrich, and David Lowry—operate as a collaborative investment committee. Fitzsimmons and Connell are co-founders; all four appear on the firm's public record as partners. No single individual is designated as sole CIO, which reflects the partnership structure that has been consistent since the firm's founding in 2007.
What size companies does High Road target?
High Road pursues platform acquisitions in the lower middle market with EBITDA between $3 million and $12 million. The firm then executes add-on acquisitions to build those platforms. This band is materially smaller than the middle-market targets of firms like H.I.G. or Audax, which puts High Road in a less-crowded part of the market.
How does High Road source its deals?
The firm sources heavily through business brokers, regional intermediaries, and proprietary relationships with founder-owners. Its geographic concentration in the industrial Midwest and Southeast gives it access to family-held companies that have not been through formal auction processes. High Road does not participate in pooled fund commitments—all the firm's capital is deployed directly into its own platform and add-on deals.
Which sectors does High Road explicitly avoid?
High Road does not target technology startups, consumer brands, restaurants, real estate, or financial services. Its mandate is narrowly written around industrial technology, niche manufacturing, value-added distribution, and business services. The partners avoid sectors where sustainable competitive differentiation is difficult to underwrite inside a three-to-five-year hold.
What is High Road's fund structure?
High Road raises traditional closed-end private equity funds from institutional limited partners. Its third fund closed in 2017 with approximately $320 million in commitments (per public record filings). The firm has not publicly disclosed a subsequent fund close, and current AUM is undisclosed.
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