Kohlberg & Company is the private equity firm and family investment vehicle founded by Jerome Kohlberg Jr. in 1987, after his departure from KKR, the firm he co-founded with Henry Kravis and George Roberts. Kohlberg established his own firm to pursue a more values-driven approach to private equity, focusing on middle-market companies and partnership-oriented investing.
Investment Strategy
Kohlberg & Company invests in middle-market companies with enterprise values between $300 million and $1 billion, targeting businesses across consumer, healthcare, industrial, and services sectors. The firm has completed over 85 investments across multiple fund generations, building a track record of steady, risk-adjusted returns in the middle market.
The investment philosophy distinguishes Kohlberg from the mega-fund private equity firms. The firm emphasizes growth-oriented investments, moderate leverage, and strong partnership with management teams. This approach reflects Jerome Kohlberg’s original vision for private equity as a collaborative partnership between investors and operators, rather than a financial engineering exercise.
The Kohlberg family’s personal capital is invested alongside fund LPs, ensuring alignment of interests. The firm also manages the family’s broader investment portfolio, including public equities, fixed income, and real estate, providing diversification across the total wealth picture.
How to Approach
Kohlberg & Company is itself a private equity fund manager, so it does not typically allocate to external funds. However, the firm and the Kohlberg family represent potential co-investment partners for middle-market transactions in their target sectors. Intermediaries with middle-market deal flow in consumer, healthcare, or industrial companies may find collaborative opportunities with the Kohlberg team.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Kohlberg & Company's history?
Kohlberg & Company was founded in 1987 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr. after he departed from KKR, the legendary private equity firm he co-founded with Henry Kravis and George Roberts in 1976. Kohlberg established his own firm to focus on smaller, more partnership-oriented private equity investments in middle-market companies, emphasizing values and long-term relationships over financial engineering.
What is Kohlberg & Company's investment focus?
Kohlberg & Company invests in middle-market companies with enterprise values between $300 million and $1 billion, targeting businesses in consumer, healthcare, industrial, and services sectors. The firm emphasizes growth-oriented investments where it can support management teams in building long-term value, rather than the heavily leveraged transactions that characterized the LBO boom.
How does Kohlberg & Company relate to KKR?
Kohlberg & Company is entirely separate from KKR. Jerome Kohlberg left KKR in 1987 due to philosophical differences about the direction of leveraged buyouts, preferring smaller, more relationship-oriented deals. Kohlberg & Company has maintained this middle-market, values-driven approach, while KKR grew into one of the world's largest alternative investment firms.
