Klar Partners

What Klar Partners does

Klar Partners is an independent, mid-market private equity firm founded in 2020 and headquartered in London, with additional offices in Stockholm, Munich and Zurich. The firm invests across the Nordic, DACH and Benelux regions, targeting control investments of €25–250 million in companies with €50–500 million of revenue in two principal sectors: mission-critical services and industrial technology. Its stated investment approach combines operational improvement, digitalisation, ESG and sustainability, servitisation and buy-and-build strategies, with a target of greater than 2.5x MOIC / 25% IRR gross returns per investment.

KLAR operates a traditional PE fund model. Fund I closed at its €630 million hard cap in March 2021, and Fund II closed at €870 million in June 2024, a 40% step-up that brought cumulative capital raised since inception to approximately €1.5 billion. Revenue is generated through conventional PE economics: annual management fees (typically 1.5–2% on committed capital) and performance-based carried interest on fund profits above the preferred return hurdle. The firm is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (reference 923319), is a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, and classifies Fund II under SFDR Article 8.

The firm's product is its 10 platform investments spanning building safety (Ventro Group, Konzmann, Nimlas), property damage restoration (Ocab), underground infrastructure (ITS Kanal Services, Swoosh), managed IT services (hallo,), SaaS for utilities (Enerim), in-vitro diagnostics (Bühlmann Laboratories), electrical test and measurement technology (GMC-Instruments), and solar energy solutions (NWT Group). Collectively these portfolio companies employ over 10,000 people. KLAR supports these businesses through a dedicated in-house Catalyst Team with capabilities in growth, AI operations, and portfolio monitoring. Customers in the traditional sense are the firm's limited partners — public pensions, endowments, foundations, fund of funds, family offices and insurance companies from Europe and North America — sourced through direct institutional relationships and the placement agent Evercore Private Funds Group.

Name

Klar Partners

Legal name

KLAR Partners Ltd

Website

https://www.klarpartners.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Klar Partners is an independent London-based mid-market private equity firm investing €25–250M in mission-critical services and industrial technology companies across the Nordic, DACH, Benelux and UK regions, with ~€2B AUM across two funds and 10 platform investments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Equity / Investment Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Business Services (B2B) Growth Equity (FSANACAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Industry-Specialist Buyout (Sector-Focused) (FSANABAE)

Keywords

• Mid-market private equity
• Buyout investments
• Institutional fund management
• Mission-critical services investing
• Industrial technology investing

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Management Fees: Annual management fees charged on committed capital under management, typically ranging from 1.5-2% annually for private equity funds.
2. Carried Interest: Performance-based carried interest (typically ~20%) from fund profits above the preferred return/hurdle rate, representing the primary upside for the GP.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Klar Partners is an independent, mid-market private equity firm that raises and manages investment funds (Fund I €630M closed March 2021; Fund II €870M closed June 2024) and makes control equity investments of €25m–€250m in Northern European mid-market companies with €50–500m of revenue. The firm focuses on mission-critical services and industrial-technology businesses across Nordic, DACH and Benelux regions, applying a transformational investing approach that combines leadership selection, digitalisation, ESG/sustainability, servitisation and buy-and-build strategies to grow market leaders.

Product overview

Klar Partners is an independent, mid-market private equity firm (not a product company) that invests in mission-critical services and industrial technology companies across Northern Europe. The firm does not offer a unified product platform but manages a portfolio of 10+ portfolio companies operating in distinct sectors: IT managed services (hallo,), building safety (Ventro Group), electrical test & measurement technology (GMC-Instruments), technical building installation (Nimlas Group, Konzmann Group), in-vitro diagnostics (Bühlmann Laboratories), underground infrastructure services (ITS Kanal Services, Swoosh), solar energy solutions (NWT Group), property damage restoration (Ocab), and SaaS for utilities (Enerim). Each portfolio company operates independently with its own product/service offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• KLAR Partners Fund I Debut mid-market private equity fund with €630 million of committed capital, closed at hard cap in March 2021. Targets control buyout investments in mission-critical services and asset-light industrial sectors across Nordic, DACH and Benelux regions; subscribed by institutional LPs including public pensions, endowments, foundations, asset managers, insurance companies, fund of funds and family offices.
• KLAR Partners Fund II Second-generation mid-market private equity fund with €870 million of committed capital at final close in June 2024 (40% larger than Fund I). Classified as SFDR Article 8, it continues the firm's strategy of control investments of €75–200m+ in mid-market mission-critical services and industrial-technology businesses across Nordic, DACH and Benelux; subscribed by globally diverse top-tier institutional investors from Europe and North America.

Quantifiable outcome

• Target gross returns >2.5x MOIC / 25% IRR per investment

Named customers11 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Macfarlanes LLPcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 23 March 2021Legal counsel for Fund I. Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel for Fund II.
• UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKLAR Partners is a signatory to UN PRI, demonstrating commitment to responsible investment practices and ESG integration.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Triton Partners: Stockholm-headquartered mid-market PE sponsor investing in business services and industrial companies across Northern Europe; KLAR's senior team is largely ex-Triton, making it a directly comparable strategy.
• IK Partners: London/Stockholm-based mid-market European PE firm investing in business services and industrial tech with control buyouts in the same Nordic/DACH/Benelux footprint as KLAR Partners.
• Waterland Private Equity: European mid-market PE investor in business services and 'buy & build' champions across Benelux, DACH and the Nordics; directly comparable strategy and regional focus to KLAR.
• Altor Equity Partners: Nordic and DACH-focused mid-market PE firm investing in business services and consumer/industrial companies; directly comparable sector and geography mandate to KLAR.
• Summa Equity: Oslo-based thematic PE firm investing in mission-critical services and resource efficiency across the Nordics; comparable size and platform strategy to KLAR (Fund II ~€870m vs. comparable summa vehicles).
• Stirling Square Capital Partners: Pan-European mid-market PE firm focused on business services and industrial tech with control investments; comparable mandate and ticket size to KLAR Partners.

Broad incumbents

• Veritas Capital: Larger US/EU PE firm focused on technology-enabled mission-critical services to government and commercial customers; overlaps with KLAR's mission-critical services thesis at a larger scale.
• Nordic Capital: Large Nordic-headquartered PE firm focused on healthcare, technology, financial services and industrials; overlaps with KLAR in Northern European mid-to-upper-mid-market business services investing.

Regional players

• Litorina: Stockholm-based Nordic mid-market PE firm investing in business services and industrial technology with similar sector and ticket-size focus as KLAR.

Others

• Lone Star Funds: Global alternative investment firm with private equity operations; one of KLAR's senior team members (Tim Käsbach) came from Lone Star, and its European buyout activity provides adjacent market context for KLAR's mid-market deal flow.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/klar-partners

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A4 records

Investments7 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Klar Partners