NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO and WASHINGTON, June 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Martis Capital Management, LLC (Martis Capital), a healthcare-focused private equity firm, and Kudu Investment Management, LLC (Kudu), a provider of permanent capital solutions to independent asset and wealth managers worldwide, today announced that Kudu has made a minority investment in Martis Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Martis Capital, based in San Francisco and Washington, DC, is a founder-friendly capital partner for healthcare companies. Managing partners Barry Uphoff, Mario Moreno, and Owen Davis will continue to lead the employee-owned and controlled firm.
Since 2011, Martis Capital has raised nearly $2.2 billion globally from a diverse group of prominent institutional investors and family offices, strategic partners, and healthcare entrepreneurs. It seeks to consistently invest in growing middle-market companies across targeted segments of the North American healthcare sector. The firm closed its fourth fund, Martis Partners IV, LP, on June 6, 2023, with approximately $779 million in capital commitments, exceeding its target of $700 million.
“The new partnership with Kudu is a significant step forward in our firm’s development, bringing a supportive team with broad asset management industry expertise, a global network of relationships, and potential access to capital for future growth,” said Uphoff, founder of Martis Capital.
Martis Capital invests in buyout and growth equity opportunities in middle-market companies that provide innovative and cost-effective products and services within the services and outsourcing, information technology, and consumer and wellness subsectors of the North American healthcare industry.
“Martis Capital has built an enviable track record,” said Charlie Ruffel, Kudu’s chairman. “It’s difficult to overstate both the merits of the leadership team and the depth of opportunity in front of them.”
Since it was founded in 2015, New York-based Kudu has invested in 24 asset and wealth managers headquartered in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Australia. Kudu-affiliated asset and wealth managers now collectively invest approximately $74 billion, as of March 31, 2023, on behalf of individual and institutional investors worldwide in traditional and alternative strategies and market segments. Kudu’s capital partners are White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd., Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), and Martello Re.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP was legal counsel and Houlihan Lokey, Inc. was financial advisor to Martis Capital. Seward & Kissel LLP served as legal advisor to Kudu.
About Martis Capital
Based in San Francisco and Washington, DC, Martis Capital is a founder-friendly capital partner for growth-oriented healthcare companies. Martis Capital seeks to invest in companies that provide innovative and cost-effective products and services within targeted segments of the North American healthcare sector. Since 2011, Martis Capital has raised nearly $2.2 billion from a global base of institutional clients. For more information, visit Martis Capital or LinkedIn.
About Kudu Investment Management
Kudu provides long-term capital solutions—including generational ownership transfers, management buyouts, acquisition and growth finance, as well as liquidity for legacy partners—to independent asset and wealth managers globally. Kudu was founded in 2015 and is backed by capital partners White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM), MassMutual, and Martello Re. For more information, visit Kudu.