Apax Unpacked
31st March 2026
Carve-outs: where complexity becomes opportunity
Carve-outs sit at the harder end of private equity - operationally complex, often avoided, and frequently mispriced as a result.
At Apax, they are some of the most interesting opportunities we see. As our Enterprise Practice Lead and Partner Marty Guinoo puts it, these are often "corporate orphans": businesses overlooked within larger organisations, but with significant potential once given focus and independence.
That potential is rarely easy to unlock. Carve-outs succeed (or fail) on execution.
Three areas tend to determine the outcome: whether employees are retained and stabilised, whether the customer experience remains uninterrupted, and whether the lead-to-cash engine continues to function from day one. If any of those falter, value erodes quickly.
Leadership alignment and extreme focus on what really matters is critical.
Too many priorities create noise. Mixed messages create drag. Lack of alignment creates risk.
The complexity sits in the detail. What transfers and what doesn't? Which contracts move across? How do systems, people, and processes disentangle from the parent, and how quickly can they be rebuilt?
Teciem is a case in point. The treasury and capital markets business unit which was carved out from Finastra, brought complexity into sharp focus: roughly 1,400 employees across 46 countries, more than 300 regulated customers, and no enterprise software or infrastructure transferring with the business. Around 144 new hires were needed, alongside a new corporate IT stack and the operational plumbing to keep payroll, benefits, contracting, collections and payments running.
The principle was simple: stabilise employees, secure customer acceptance, and keep lead-to-cash running from day one.
In other cases, the starting point is even more stripped back. In the carve-out of MyCase, a legal practice software provider, the Apax Funds acquired little more than a product and two people in the back-office. From there, the work involved separating the codebase, rebuilding infrastructure, installing leadership, and constructing the business from the ground up.
"It's one of my favourite carve-outs because it was complex," Marty recalls. "We essentially acquired a product and built an entire company around it from scratch."
After evaluating more than 120 carve-outs over the past decade, one lesson stands out: these situations don't fail on strategy; they fail on execution. Getting that right requires the right combination of carve-out experience and deep functional expertise, applied with focus from day one.
Hear from Seth Brody and Marty Guinoo directly
Behind the Deal: Oncourse Home Solutions
Carve-outs only create value if the business can be rebuilt for growth. Oncourse Home Solutions shows what that looks like in practice.
Previously a non-core division of American Waterworks, Oncourse provides protection plans for essential home infrastructure, covering events that are low frequency, but high cost when they occur.
Following separation, the focus was on rebuilding the business with intent:
- Reconstituting leadership and strengthening the senior bench
- Scaling business development with a more disciplined sales and go-to-market model
- Investing in marketing to restart customer growth
- Expanding partnerships to increase household reach Improving pricing, retention, and customer lifetime value
More recently, with support from the Apax Capital Markets team, Oncourse completed a $1.66bn whole business securitisation, unlocking access to investment-grade debt, the lowest cost of capital available in sponsor finance.
Read more about the Whole Business Securitisation
Watch the full Behind the Deal video
Apax Foundation: 20 years and a renewed focus
This year marks 20 years of the Apax Foundation. Two decades of supporting organisations that expand access to opportunity.
As the Foundation enters its next chapter, it has refreshed its strategy to sharpen its focus and deepen its impact. The emphasis is on backing high-potential organisations, building long-term partnerships, and applying the same disciplined approach we bring to investing.
You can learn more about the Foundation’s work and new direction here.
News and Views from across Apax
Harjot Dhaliwal was named in The Wall Street Journal’s Women to Watch list, recognising her leadership as Head of India and the value of global perspectives in private equity.
We hosted our Annual Investor Meeting - Thank you to everyone who joined us for discussions, small-group sessions, and informal exchanges across our global network.
Steve Kooyers published an article on the impact of AI and personal agents on online marketplaces, discussing how leaders can turn disruption risk into advantage.
The Apax Digital Fund sold Faculty, a leading UK-based AI native services and products business, having helped it quadruple revenue in the four years of ownership.
The Apax Funds made a strategic investment in iD Fresh Food, backing a category-defining ready-to-cook brand with significant growth potential.
Apax Digital was named one of GrowthCap’s Top Growth Equity Firms of 2025, recognising our focus on judgment, partnership, and scaling businesses with purpose.
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Disclaimer
This publication reflects the views of Apax Partners LLP (together with its affiliates, “Apax”) as of the date of publication and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not an offer of solicitation to purchase or sell any financial instrument or service to any person in any jurisdiction. It does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest in any Apax fund. No representation or warranty, either express or implied, is provided in relation to the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of the information contained herein. None of the information herein has been independently verified and neither Apax nor any other person accepts responsibility for the publication. Past performance referred to herein is not indicative of future results and there is no assurance that any Apax fund will achieve its objectives or avoid significant losses. This publication may contain forward looking statements, including in relation to the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of companies referred to herein; any such statements are subject to various assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict. This content should not be treated as research or advice relating to legal, taxation, ERISA, financial, investment or accounting matters, or as a recommendation by Apax and readers are strongly advised to consult their own professional advisers concerning their own circumstances or any investment concepts mentioned in this publication.