General Atlantic hires Durham for tech buyouts-sources

© Reuters.

By David Carnevali

(Reuters) - Private equity firm General Atlantic has hired veteran technology dealmaker Jonathan Durham to expand in corporate buyouts, an area in which it has done little because of its focus on growth equity investments, two people familiar with the matter said.

General Atlantic sees opportunities to acquire more technology companies after valuations in the sector plunged this year in the wake of market turmoil fueled by rising interest rates and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the sources said.

The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential. General Atlantic declined to comment while Durham did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The New York-based firm has made 406 investments since its launch in 1980, yet it has acquired only 14 companies, according to data provider Crunchbase.

General Atlantic will continue to deploy its capital primarily in growth equity investments and has no plans at this stage for a dedicated buyout fund, the sources said.

Durham spent 17 years at technology private equity firm Silver Lake before leaving it earlier this year. There he worked on leveraged buyouts such as the $11.3 billion acquisition of financial software maker SunGuard, as well as growth equity investments, including financial technology startups Plaid Inc and Klarna Bank AB, according to his Linkedin profile.

General Atlantic, which has about $79 billion of assets under management, is known for its investments in high-profile startups such as Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) Inc, Airbnb Inc and ByteDance, the owner of short video app TikTok. Its current portfolio includes about 200 companies, according to its website.

General Atlantic's hiring of Durham is the latest among growth-equity investors seeking more buyout capabilities.

Lead Edge Capital, based in New York and Santa Barbara, California, earlier this year hired Dan Lynn from Francisco Partners to boost its buyout strategy.