Knox Lane

John Bailey and Shamim Kazemi co-founded the firm in 2019. Bailey previously led consumer investing for TPG Growth, the middle-market and growth-equity arm of the $230 billion-plus TPG platform. Kazemi was a senior investor at TSG Consumer Partners, the consumer-focused private equity firm. Their combined tenure investing behind consumer brands — from food and beverage to multi-unit services — informs the concentrated sector mandate.

Knox Lane targets $50 million to $150 million per investment from its $610 million debut fund. The firm pursues majority or control positions, often stepping in as a company's first institutional capital partner. The check size sits above what lower-middle-market funds can write but below the threshold at which mega-funds can move quickly on a sub-$200 million equity deal.

The firm's mandate covers traditional buyouts, management buyouts, PIPEs, public-to-private transactions, and corporate spin-offs. In practice, the primary sourcing channel is founder-owned and family-run businesses seeking liquidity, a succession solution, or growth capital alongside an ownership transition. That deal-type breadth provides flexibility for structuring acquisitions where the seller's tax, governance, or timeline requirements demand non-standard terms.

Sourcing relies on the partners' networks built over 15-plus years inside two of the most active consumer-focused investment platforms in the United States — TPG Growth and TSG Consumer Partners. The mandate concentrates on companies that are not running formal auction processes but are instead exploring a first institutional partnership. The firm's model depends on intermediary relationships and founder referrals rather than broad-auction participation.

No. As of May 2026, Knox Lane operates a single vehicle — the 2021-vintage $610 million buyout fund. The firm has not launched credit, secondaries, co-investment, or real-asset strategies, nor has it announced a philanthropic foundation or operating subsidiary. The entire GP commitment and track record are concentrated in one fund, which heightens alignment with limited partners.

The firm concentrates on consumer, retail, and services — with confirmed investment in the horticulture and branded plants sector through its acquisition of Monrovia Plants. Technology, healthcare services, financial services, and energy have not appeared in the firm's disclosed deal activity. No formal exclusions list has been published, but the partnership's background and fund size strongly anchor the mandate to founder-led consumer and service platforms.

Investment decisions are made by the two co-founders, John Bailey and Shamim Kazemi, who constitute the firm's investment committee. There is no broader partnership vote, no external investment board, and no parent-organization approval layer. The structure gives the firm speed on proprietary transactions but also concentrates reputational and financial risk on two decision-makers overseeing one fund.