# Water Street Healthcare Partners

Water Street Healthcare Partners is a Private Equity based in Chicago, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Private Equity
- **Headquarters:** Chicago, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Chicago, IL, United States
- **Founded:** 2005
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** waterstreet.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/water-street-healthcare-partners-llc

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 156694
- **SEC file number:** 801-73050
- **Registration status:** Registered
- **Reports private funds:** Yes
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/156694

## About

Water Street is a private equity firm that thinks like a healthcare company, dedicated to building market leaders in healthcare since 2005. The firm manages $9.4 billion of equity capital and specializes in growing middle-market companies in Medical Products and Diagnostics, Healthcare Services, and Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences. Its team has completed more than 180 investments and strategic acquisitions to build 48+ companies contributing to a stronger healthcare system.

## Sectors

- Healthcare Services
- Digital Health
- Medical Devices
- Pharmaceuticals

## People

- Timothy Dugan — Managing Partner
- Rob Womsley — Managing Partner

## Questions

### Who founded Water Street, and what is their background?

Water Street was founded in 2005 by Timothy Dugan, Rob Womsley, and additional partners who previously worked together at One Equity Partners, the private equity division of JPMorgan Chase. Dugan and Womsley brought experience executing control investments across healthcare subsectors and recruited a team that includes former operating executives from Baxter, Cardinal Health, and GE Healthcare. The firm remains led by its original founding partners.

### Does Water Street invest outside North America?

Yes, Water Street has invested in European healthcare companies, including its high-profile public-to-private acquisition of Fagron, a global pharmaceutical compounding business headquartered in the Netherlands. The firm evaluates opportunities across the US and Western Europe, leveraging a network of operating partners with cross-border experience to manage and scale international portfolio companies.

### How does Water Street's holding period differ from a typical private equity fund?

Water Street structures some of its investment vehicles with extended, flexible holding periods rather than the standard 5-to-7-year private equity fund life. This permanent or long-dated capital approach allows the firm to hold healthcare assets for a decade or longer, aligning with the extended timelines required to complete FDA cycles, scale clinical infrastructure, and realize regulatory-driven market consolidation.

### Which notable companies has Water Street owned or exited?

Notable portfolio companies have included Fagron (pharmaceutical compounding), Aspen Surgical (medical products), TIDI Products (acute-care consumables), and Breg (orthopedic bracing), which was later sold to Orthofix. The firm has also backed Pharming Group, a rare-disease biopharmaceutical company that completed a public listing. Water Street tends to build platforms through multiple add-on acquisitions under a single holding.

### Does Water Street raise funds continuously, or on a deal-by-deal basis?

Water Street raises committed capital in discrete fund vehicles, but its philosophy ties each fundraise to a specific healthcare investment thesis rather than a generic capital-gathering cycle. This approach means some funds target a single platform buildout, while others cover multiple investments in a defined subsector such as medical products or pharmaceutical services.

## Related profiles

- [WaterStar Capital](https://altss.com/profile/waterstar-capital)
- [Waterton Global Resource Management](https://altss.com/profile/waterton-global-resource-management)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:08:32.892Z

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