Hg

HG a private Fund manager specializing in software and technology services

Hg is an emblematic European investor in software, and has become one of the world leaders in this sector. With its complementary buyout fund architecture, Hg covers all market segments, from lower mid-market to large cap, with dedicated investment teams. Hg has built up one of the world's most comprehensive private equity organizations dedicated to the software sector, in terms of sub-sector, operational and functional expertise. The quality and depth of its track record make it a keyAltaroc relationship, particularly for co-investing in the software sector.

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Companies

See portfolio companies

Strategy

Buyout

sectors

Healthcare

Services

regional split

Europe

North America

In the selection universe

In the vintage(s)

Hg key figures

1990

year of inception

+75 billion

of assets under management

global offices

+380

professionals

Data as of April 1, 2026. Source: public data from companies’ websites and social media accounts. For the most up-to-date information, we invite our investors to review the reports available in their investor portal.

Source: Public data from companies’ websites and social media accounts. For more up-to-date information, we invite our investors to view the report made available on their space.

About Hg

Hg a private equity firm founded in 1990 as Mercury Private Equity, the private equity (“PE”) arm of Mercury Asset Management, which was part of the British investment bank SG Warburg. In 1997, Mercury Asset Management was acquired by Merrill Lynch, and in 2000, Mercury Private Equity spun off from Merrill Lynch to become Hg (renamed Hg 2017). The firm is now wholly owned by its partners and has offices in London, Munich, New York, Paris, and San Francisco.

Introduction to Fund manager Hg

2:19mn

What sets Hg apart

A very clear investment philosophy

Hg exclusively Hg companies in the software and technology-enabled services sectors, including:

Revenue is highly recurring, and revenue growth is between 10% and 20% per year.
EBITDA margins are high (>30%), and the company can improve profitability over time by accelerating the transition to a cloud-based SaaS model and leveraging artificial intelligence.
The company holds a dominant market position, the market is fragmented, and industry players are highly interested.

Thanks to its presence across three market segments (core mid-market, upper mid-market, and large cap), Hg the full range of market opportunities within the niches that interest it; the teams managing each fund operate independently but effectively pool their knowledge and sector expertise.

Hg has a highly-structured Value Creation Team (> 60 professionals), well-sized to implement the best operational recipes proven by the firm in its 200 previous transactions ("Hg Playbook").

Hg is an ultra-specialized firm with no plans to diversify into other asset classes.

High performance and minimal loss

Since refocusing on software in 2013 with Genesis 7, Hg a strong track record with its Genesis portfolio companies, with performance driven largely by operational growth rather than financial leverage. Genesis invests in mission-critical software companies, characterized by high recurring revenue, a fragmented customer base, strong retention, and profitability already evident at the time of investment. These defensive characteristics explain the very low historical drawdown of the Genesis funds.

Even recent vintages released prior to the sharp rise in interest rates in 2022—despite being launched in a high-price environment—demonstrate robust value creation. This stability across market cycles is one of the key hallmarks of the Genesis brand.

An experienced, stable, and highly specialized team

The Genesis franchise is led by a group of partners with remarkable experience: Jean-Baptiste Brian, Jonathan Boyes, Hector Guinness, Tara Carter, and Joris Van Gool, all of whom specialize in specific technology subsectors. Hg one of the most structured organizations in the market:

Specialization by sub-sector (ERP, legal tech, fintech, healthcare IT, data & analytics…),
One of the largest Data & AI teams in the industry,
An integrated value creation team of 56 functional experts.

The team’s stability, the absence of succession risks, and the steady influx of top-tier talent (e.g., Tara Carter to bolster our “data & analytics” capabilities) further strengthen our execution.

A culture of continuous improvement and the industrialization of value creation

Since 2013, Hg gradually streamlined its operations to focus exclusively on B2B software solutions. This shift has been accompanied by a steady enhancement of internal tools:

Serial Chairs (former CEOs/CFOs) who bring momentum and depth to transformation plans,
Ongoing professional development of functional expertise,
Scaling up data and AI capabilities.

This culture of continuous improvement explains Genesis’s consistent performance across economic cycles and its ability to capture incremental growth opportunities.

The differentiating factors presented reflect the opinions of the Altaroc investment team. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future results.