Next Wave Partners

Managing partners Jonathan Brod and Dean MacKenzie lead the firm. They work with investment manager Greg Leathem and draw on senior adviser Nick Watkins. The team combines financial, strategic, and operational expertise, and the firm states it integrates ESG considerations into all mainstream investment decisions.

Next Wave targets four specific situations: owner-manager succession, non-core corporate carve-outs, technology-driven disruption in mature industries, and backing exceptional entrepreneurial teams. The firm also maintains an international network of like-minded growth-capital investors across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, which it uses both for deal sourcing and to support portfolio companies' cross-border expansion.

The core strategy targets a four- to five-year hold, but the firm also manages a Patient Capital portfolio where holds have ranged from two years to more than a decade. Exit routes include full or partial sales to trade, strategic or financial buyers, and IPOs. Exit planning is embedded from the first meeting ahead of an investment, with management teams expected to contribute to the exit strategy through regular board discussions.

Next Wave invests directly into platform companies and supports them with follow-on capital for bolt-on acquisitions. Its portfolio companies have completed over 30 bolt-on acquisitions. The firm's international network functions as a co-investment and knowledge-sharing group, but there is no public indication that Next Wave acts as a fund-of-funds or commits to third-party managers.

The firm focuses on growth-stage and buyout opportunities in established UK businesses with demonstrable and sustainable profitability. It invests in expansion, late-stage growth, management buyouts, carve-outs, and complex restructuring situations, targeting companies with an enterprise value of £25–100 million and deploying £15–75 million per platform.