Seidler Equity Partners

Seidler takes a flexible approach to ownership, with stakes typically ranging from 30% to 70%; over half of its partnerships are minority positions. It charges zero board, closing, management, or monitoring fees to its portfolio companies. The firm also maintains average debt-to-EBITDA below 2.0x at entry, with more than 50% of deals completed as all-equity transactions, reducing financial pressure on founders.

The firm invests in leading businesses in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It operates from offices in Marina del Rey, California and Sydney, Australia. Its team of over 40 professionals is split between these two locations, supporting partnerships across both North America and Oceania.

Seidler offers an extended runway, with the flexibility to partner for a decade or longer. The firm states it can also work to maximize value over a shorter 3-to-5-year period when that aligns with a founder's goals. Several named partnerships have lasted 7 to 15 years.

Co-Founders Robert Seidler and Eric Kutsenda serve as Managing Partners and lead the firm. The US partnership group includes Leonard Lee, Tobin Ryan, Matt Seidler, Tom Denot, Eric O'Brien, and Scott Yingling. In Australia, partners Conrad Brown, Dan Murray, and Robert Seidler oversee investment activity.

The firm takes a conservative approach to debt. Average debt-to-EBITDA at entry is below 2.0x, and more than half of its partnerships are completed with no debt at all. The firm states that it believes the optimal use of cash for most growing companies is to fund expansion rather than service leverage.

Seidler invests across consumer, manufacturing, healthcare, and business services industries. The firm describes itself as generalist within those broad categories and has completed more than 60 partnerships and over 100 add-on acquisitions. It seeks industry-leading businesses with strong cultures and growth potential.

The firm was founded in 1992 with roots as a family office. Founders Robert Seidler, Eric Kutsenda, and Peter Seidler built the platform around a partnership philosophy that still emphasizes aligned incentives, conservative balance sheets, and patient time horizons. The firm has since grown into an institutional manager with roughly $5 billion in assets under management.