TZP Group

Samuel Katz, TZP's Founder and Managing Partner, leads the firm’s investment committee and has final authority on all capital deployment. He works alongside Partner Daniel Gasper, who manages day-to-day deal execution and portfolio operations. The partnership is deliberately small — typically five to six senior professionals — which concentrates decision-making and avoids the consensus drag common at larger platforms.

TZP targets companies with $5 million to $15 million in EBITDA — what the firm calls 'the lower-middle sweet spot.' Katz believes this segment is structurally inefficient: too complex for individual buyers, too small for mega-funds, and populated by founder-owners seeking both liquidity and an experienced operational partner. Average equity checks range from $10 million to $50 million for control or significant-minority stakes.

TZP relies heavily on a proprietary network of former Apax alumni, industry executives, and regional intermediaries cultivated since 2007. The firm actively targets founder-owned businesses before they reach broad auction, often engaging owners 12–18 months before a formal process. Katz has described the sourcing model as relationship-driven, emphasizing direct outreach to owners in fragmented industries like residential services and niche consumer products.

TZP has historically been a traditional buyout-and-build investor, pursuing majority recapitalizations and founder liquidity events. In January 2024, the firm launched TZP Growth Partners, a separate strategy targeting smaller growth-stage companies in technology-enabled services — suggesting a formal expansion into minority and growth equity alongside the core buyout practice.

TZP typically holds portfolio companies for five to seven years, longer than the industry standard three-to-five-year horizon. This extended hold period is intentional — it allows the firm to execute multi-phase operational turnarounds, including management team builds, pricing optimization, and regional expansion roll-ups, before pursuing exit.

TZP exclusively pursues direct control and significant-minority investments in operating companies. The firm does not operate as a fund-of-funds manager, nor does it allocate committed capital to external general partners. Limited partners gain exposure solely through the firm’s own platform investments.

TZP avoids capital-intensive industries like heavy manufacturing and commodity-linked energy. The firm also does not invest in regulated financial services or biotechnology — preferring asset-light service and consumer businesses where operational improvements, rather than capital deployment, drive returns.