uses see tpg disambiguation . tpg capital type private industry private equity predecessor texas pacific group founded 1992 founder david bonderman james coulter william s. price iii headquarters fort worth texas san francisco california united states products leveraged buyouts growth capital venture capital total assets us 75 billion website www.tpg.com tpg capital abbrev . for texas pacific group is an american investment company it is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the world focused on leveraged buyouts growth capital and leveraged recapitalization investments in distressed companies and turnaround situations . tpg also manages investment funds specializing in growth capital venture capital public equity and debt investments . the firm invests in a broad range of industries including consumer retail media and telecommunications industrials technology travel leisure and health care . the firm was founded in 1992 by david bonderman james coulter and william s. price iii . since inception the firm has raised more than 50 billion of investor commitments across more than 18 private equity funds . 1 tpg is headquartered in fort worth texas and san francisco california . 2 the company has additional offices in europe asia australia and other parts of north america . contents 1 private equity funds 2 history and notable investments 2.1 founding 2.2 texas pacific group in the late 1990s 2.3 texas pacific group in the early 2000s 2.4 tpg and 2006 2007 buyout boom 2.5 tpg and the credit crisis 2.6 post recession activity 3 newbridge capital 4 criticisms 4.1 hellas telecommunications 2015 5 notable employees 6 references 7 external links private equity funds edit tpg has historically relied primarily on private equity funds pools of committed capital from pension funds insurance companies endowments fund of funds high net worth individuals sovereign wealth funds and from other institutional investors . as of the end of 2008 tpg had completed fundraising for over 20 funds with total investor commitments of over 50 billion . the firm manages investment funds in a number of distinct strategies including tpg s flagship leveraged buyout funds venture capital funds particularly focused on biotechnology investments distressed debt and other credit strategies invested through a series of funds raised in 2007 3 asian and latin american funds including the firm s newbridge and tpg asia fund family other private equity funds . this includes tpg s t3 partners funds which invest in technology focused deals alongside the firm s main buyout funds . 4 5 tpg star has a broad investment mandate including buyouts venture capital and growth capital however all of its investments are at the smaller end of the range compared to tpg s traditional investments . 6 fund vintage year committed capital m tpg s flagship leveraged buyout funds texas pacific group partners 1994 721 texas pacific group partners ii 1997 2 500 texas pacific group partners iii 2000 3 414 texas pacific group partners iv 2003 5 300 texas pacific group partners v 2006 15 000 tpg partners vi 2008 19 800 venture capital funds tpg ventures 2001 339 tpg biotechnology partners 2002 70 tpg biotechnology partners ii 2006 402 tpg biotechnology partners iii 2008 550 distressed debt funds tpg credit management i 2007 1 000 tpg credit strategies 2007 443 newbridge and tpg asia funds newbridge investment partners 1995 120 newbridge latin america 1995 300 newbridge andean partners 1996 150 newbridge asia ii 1998 392 newbridge asia iii 2001 724 newbridge asia iv 2005 1 500 tpg asia v 2008 4 250 other private equity funds t3 partners 1999 1 000 t3 partners ii 2001 378 tpg star 2007 1 500 source preqin 1 history and notable investments edit history of private equity and venture capital early history origins of modern private equity the 1980s leveraged buyout boom the 1990s leveraged buyout and the venture capital bubble the 2000s dot com bubble to the credit crunch v t e founding edit the texas pacific group as it was originally known was founded in 1992 by david bonderman james coulter and william s. price iii . prior to founding tpg bonderman and coulter had worked for robert m. bass making leveraged buyout investments during the 1980s . in 1993 coulter and bonderman partnered with william s. price iii who was vice president of strategic planning and business development for ge capital to complete the buyout of continental airlines . 7 at the time tpg was virtually alone in its conviction that there was an investment opportunity with the airline . the plan included bringing in a new management team improving aircraft utilization and focusing on lucrative routes . by 1998 tpg had generated an annual internal rate of return of 55 % on its investment . texas pacific group in the late 1990s edit in 1997 tpg completed fundraising for its second private equity fund with over 2.5 billion of investor commitments . in june 1996 tpg acquired the at & t paradyne unit a multimedia communications business from lucent technologies for 175 million . 8 also in 1996 tpg invested in beringer wine ducati motorcycles and del monte foods . tpg s most notable 1997 investment was its takeover of j. crew . tpg acquired an 88 % stake in the retailer for approximately 500 million 9 however the investment struggled due to the relatively high purchase price paid relative to the company s earnings . 10 the company was able to complete a turnaround beginning in 2002 and complete an initial public offering in 2006 . 11 the following year in 1998 tpg led an investor group in a minority investment in oxford health plans . tpg and its co investors invested 350 million in a convertible preferred stock that can be converted into 22.1 % of oxford . 12 the company completed a buyback of the tpg s pipe convertible in 2000 and would ultimately be acquired by unitedhealth group in 2004 . 13 as the decade came to a close tpg was once again fundraising for its third private equity fund . this time however tpg was raising not only a new buyout fund but also a new fund t3 partners that would invest alongside the main fund in technology oriented investments . in 1999 tpg invested in piaggio s.p.a bally international including bally shoe and on semiconductor . tpg has also become recognized for its dedicated operations group that has become a major part of the process from investment to sale in many of their portfolio companies . the group is led by dick boyce and involves itself in tricky turnaround situations operations improvement and other tasks that help create value in the company . other major private equity firms have begun to develop operations group as well attempting to recreate the model at tpg but most have had trouble creating as expansive a program . texas pacific group in the early 2000s edit in 2000 tpg and leonard green & partners invested 200 million to acquire petco the pet supplies retailer as part of a 600 million buyout . 14 within two years they sold most of it in a public offering that valued the company at 1 billion . petco s market value more than doubled by the end of 2004 and the firms would ultimately realize a gain of 1.2 billion . then in 2006 the private equity firms took petco private again for 1.68 billion . 15 that same year in 2000 tpg completed the controversial acquisition of gemplus sa one of the leading smart card manufacturers . tpg won a struggle with the company s founder marc lassus for control of the company . 16 also in 2000 tpg completed an investment in seagate technology . in 2001 tpg acquired telenor media a norwegian phone directory company for 660 million and shortly thereafter acquired a controlling interest in the third largest silicon wafer maker memc electronic materials . 17 in july 2002 tpg together with bain capital and goldman sachs capital partners announced the high profile 2.3 billion leveraged buyout of burger king from diageo . 18 however in november the original transaction collapsed when burger king failed to meet certain performance targets . in december 2002 tpg and its co investors agreed on a reduced 1.5 billion purchase price for the investment . 19 the tpg consortium had support from burger king s franchisees who controlled approximately 92 % of burger king restaurants at the time of the transaction . under its new owners burger king underwent a major brand overhaul including the use of the burger king character in advertising . in february 2006 burger king announced plans for an initial public offering . 20 tpg s san francisco offices at 345 california street in november 2003 tpg provided a proposal to buy portland general electric from enron . however concerns about debt and local politics led to oregon s public utilities commission regulators to deny permission for the purchase march 10 2005 . oregon public utility commission march 10 2005 . order no. 05 114 pdf . retrieved february 1 2008 . tpg ventured into the film business in late 2004 in the major leveraged buyout of metro goldwyn mayer . a consortium led by tpg and sony completed the 4.81 billion buyout of the film studio . the consortium also included media focused firms providence equity partners and quadrangle group as well as dlj merchant banking partners . 21 the transaction which was announced in september 2004 was completed in early 2005 . also in 2005 tpg was one of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout of sungard in a transaction valued at 11.3 billion . tpg s partners in the acquisition were silver lake partners bain capital goldman sachs capital partners kohlberg kravis roberts providence equity partners and blackstone group . this represented the largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover of rjr nabisco at the end of the 1980s leveraged buyout boom . also at the time of its announcement sungard would be the largest buyout of a technology company in history a distinction it would cede to the buyout of freescale semiconductor . the sungard transaction is also notable in the number of firms involved in the transaction the largest club deal completed to that point . the involvement of seven firms in the consortium was criticized by investors in private equity who considered cross holdings among firms to be generally unattractive . 22 23 tpg and 2006 2007 buyout boom edit in early 2006 as tpg was completing fundraising for its fifth private equity fund and the buyout boom was entering full swing tpg co founder bill price announced that he would scale back his work at the firm to focus on personal pursuits including his holdings in wine vineyards . 24 on december 1 2006 it was announced tpg and kohlberg kravis roberts had been exploring the possibility of a record 100 billion leveraged buyout of the second largest retailer in the u.s. home depot . 25 although this massive buyout was never actually completed tpg was a leading investor during the 2006 2008 buyout boom completing some of the largest transactions in this period . investment year company description ref . neiman marcus 2005 tpg together with warburg pincus acquired neiman marcus group the owner of luxury retailers neiman marcus and bergdorf goodman in a 5.1 billion buyout in may 2005 . 26 27 freescale semiconductor 2006 tpg together with the blackstone group the carlyle group and permira completed the 17.6 billion takeover of the semiconductor company . at the time of its announcement freescale would be the largest leveraged buyout of a technology company ever surpassing the 2005 buyout of sungard . 28 harrah s entertainment 2006 on december 19 2006 tpg and apollo management announced an agreement to acquire the gaming company for 27.4 billion including the assumption of existing debt . 29 30 sabre holdings 2006 tpg and silver lake partners announced a deal to buy