Prospect Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm founded in 1998 that invests in pre-middle market companies with target EBITDA between $3 million and $10 million. The firm has completed over 175 transactions across more than 100 unique SIC codes, demonstrating diversified sector experience spanning specialty services, niche manufacturing, value-added distribution, food products, and consumer goods.
The firm's investment strategy centres on identifying high-potential platform candidates and building value alongside management teams. Prospect Partners targets businesses with typical revenue between $15 million and $100 million, seeking to construct platforms through add-on acquisitions and operational improvement. The investment team brings 110 years of collective experience to capital deployment and portfolio company development.
Prospect Partners operates with a stated operational philosophy emphasising structured support over conventional financial engineering. The firm describes its approach as providing "intelligence, not interference," combining hands-on partnership with management autonomy. This positioning reflects a focus on understanding entrepreneurial challenges in scaling operations and aligning capital deployment with the operational needs and mindset of founder-led and family-owned businesses in the pre-middle market segment.