News

PHILADELPHIA, July 1, 2025 – Graham Partners (“Graham” or the “Firm”), a private investment firm targeting advanced manufacturing and technology-enabled services, is pleased to announce it has taken the next step in positioning the Firm for long-term growth and organizational advancement, partnering with PACT Capital Partners (“PACT”). In connection with the completion of PACT’s passive, non-voting, minority balance sheet investment in the Firm, Graham’s day-to-day operations will remain unchanged. The balance sheet investment provided by PACT will infuse long-term capital for growth into the Firm, enabling its investment team members to significantly increase their investments in the Graham Partners funds and their stake in the Firm, supporting the development of initiatives designed to capitalize on the Firm’s sector-focused approach and hands-on operating model. This was an all-primary transaction; there was no secondary sale of interests in connection with this investment.

In conjunction with this transaction, Graham has implemented an organizational plan that will initially extend long-term economic participation, ownership, and value creation opportunities to roughly 30 team members across the Firm, with future opportunities for participation by junior team members. PACT has facilitated this plan by providing capital to enable team members to make growing commitments to future Graham funds. During 2025, Graham is also introducing an internal Management Committee structure, as well as the formation of Centers of Excellence (“CoEs”) designed to drive long-term value creation, operational excellence, and innovation across the Firm and its portfolio companies. These CoEs are being established to serve as hubs of deep expertise and strategic guidance in critical areas such as Investment Strategy, Human Capital, and Technology Enablement, among others. Each CoE will be led by a team of seasoned professionals and will operate cross-functionally in an effort to drive successful investment outcomes, accelerate portfolio company performance, and enhance firmwide capabilities.

Founded by Christian von Schimmelmann and Brian Vickery in January 2025, PACT seeks to partner with high-performing middle-market private capital firms and help them to achieve their strategic objectives. Christian is a veteran GP stakes investor who previously spent 24 years at Goldman Sachs, where he served as Global Co-Head and Investment Committee Co-Chair of its GP Stakes and Seeding Business (Petershill). Prior to co-founding PACT, Brian was a Partner in McKinsey’s Private Capital Practice and led McKinsey’s research and communications efforts in the private markets.

“The Graham Partners team and the Graham Family as a whole have always been among the largest investors in our investment strategies,” Steve Graham, CEO and Senior Managing Partner of Graham Partners said. “This is the first step in what we envision will be a multi-generational program designed to provide long-term economic opportunities for future generations of the Graham Partners team. This balance sheet investment enables our team members not only to increase their investments in future Graham Partners funds, but also to participate in an innovative, multi-generational, structured ownership stake in Graham Partners.”

Steve Graham continued, “We are excited about our plans to institutionalize the knowledge, tools, and best practices we’ve developed over decades and to position the Graham organization and team for the future. We are also excited to build on our long-standing relationship with Christian von Schimmelmann, whom we have known for many years, and to work with Brian Vickery and the PACT team. Our collaboration marks a pivotal step forward for the entire Graham organization, and in our view PACT’s strategic capital investment and partnership with Graham will help drive long-term benefits for our business and our people.”

Christian von Schimmelmann, Managing Partner at PACT, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Graham Partners and back their platform with both capital and strategic support. We are deeply impressed by the firm Steve has built over the last several decades, and we believe Graham Partners has developed true expertise and differentiation across the industrial technology and advanced manufacturing sectors. We believe Graham’s operational legacy and capabilities position them to be highly successful in the current environment, and we look forward to supporting them on this path.” Brian Vickery, Partner and head of PACT’s proprietary imPACT Platform, added, “Our firm seeks to partner with and support high-quality and high-performing middle market managers. Graham represents exactly the type of firm with which we are looking to partner, and we very much look forward to supporting Steve and the rest of the Graham team in their future initiatives.”

Specific terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Houlihan Lokey provided financial advice, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal counsel to Graham in connection with the transaction. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP provided legal counsel to PACT.

About Graham Partners

Graham Partners is a private investment firm principally focused on investing in technology-driven companies in advanced manufacturing and related services that are spurring innovation, resulting in product substitutions, raw materials conversions, and disruptions to traditional end markets. Graham can offer control or minority capital solutions and typically targets companies with EBITDA up to $50 million. Since Graham began managing third party capital roughly 25 years ago, the firm has closed over 160 acquisitions, joint ventures, financings, and divestitures. The committed capital raised since inception through the Graham Partners funds together with Graham-led co-investments totals approximately $6.8 billion as of March 31, 2025, which differs from Graham’s Regulatory Assets Under Management of approximately $4.1 billion as of March 31, 2025. Investors include high-net-worth individuals, college and university endowments, foundations, pension plans, insurance companies, funds-of-funds, and other institutional investors. Based in suburban Philadelphia, the Firm has access to extensive operating resources and industrial expertise and is a member of The Graham Group, an alliance of independent operating businesses, investment firms and philanthropic entities, which all share in the common legacy of entrepreneur Donald Graham.

About PACT

PACT Capital Partners is an independent investment firm focused on providing capital and strategic support to middle-market alternative asset management firms. PACT seeks to partner with high-performing established and emerging private capital firms and help them to achieve their strategic objectives. Headquartered in New York, PACT utilizes its proprietary imPACT platform to assist partner firms in accelerating capital formation, designing and launching new products, improving operations, attracting and retaining talent, leveraging cutting-edge technology, and improving outcomes for underlying portfolio companies.