1995 founder tom gores chairman & ceo headquarters beverly hills california united states products investments private equity funds leveraged buyouts website platinumequity.com platinum equity llc is an american private equity investment firm founded by tom gores in 1995 . the firm focuses on leveraged buyout investments of established companies in the u.s. and europe . 1 the firm is headquartered in los angeles california with regional offices in boston new york city london and singapore . in 2010 it ranked 31 on forbes largest private companies list for 2010 2 and 1 on the 2010 los angeles business journal list of la s largest private companies . 3 the firm manages three private equity fund vehicles platinum equity capital partners and platinum equity capital partners ii and 4 the firm recently completed raising platinum equity capital partners iii a 3.75 billion buyout fund . contents 1 history 2 investments 2.1 information technology 2.2 logistics and distribution 2.3 industrials 3 references 4 external links history edit platinum equity was founded in 1995 by tom gores . the firm s first acquisition was lsi a company that generated computer graphics to re create accidents for courtroom testimony . after purchasing it for 200 000 platinum equity focused on servicing existing customers and returning the company to profitability . 5 over the next five years between july 1996 and september 2001 the firm made 32 acquisitions with 226 million and realized 940 million on those investments . these acquisitions included a call center foresight software networking gear racal electronics and voice and data service williams communications . 5 businessweek ranked the firm number 10 on its 1999 list of the country s top 20 private it organizations based on 1998 revenues . 6 7 during this period of acquisition growth additional partners joined the firm and several other joined through key acquisitions starting in 1999 . 8 9 10 the firm s first fund platinum equity capital partners was raised in 2004 and had a 62.5 % net internal rate of return as of june 30 2009 . 11 for the second fund platinum equity capital partners ii which closed in september 2008 despite uncertainty in the financial markets . the firm initially sought a 1.5 billion leveraged buyout fund and nearly doubled it by raising 2.75 billion . 12 13 in 2009 during the financial crisis platinum equity acquired 14 companies in the first 11 months of 2009 eight of them full buyouts . 12 investments edit since 1995 platinum equity has acquired over 115 businesses across a broad array of industries including information technology telecommunications logistics and distribution industrials manufacturing media real estate and automotive . those acquisitions represent more than 27.5 billion in aggregate annual revenue at the time of acquisition . 14 information technology edit in october 2004 the firm completed the acquisition of compucom systems inc. which was one of the largest public to private transactions in 2004 . 15 then in december 2004 the company acquired general electric s it solutions division . the merger brought compucom to 1.7 billion in annual revenue and more than 500 million in services . 16 the business was sold to court square capital partners in 2007 . 17 logistics and distribution edit in 2002 platinum combined health care products a division of royal philips electronics and diagnostic imaging a subsidiary of pss world medical into a single company called sourceone healthcare technologies . both companies were distributors of radiology products like film chemicals and lead shields . together they had 1.3 billion in revenue making sourceone dominant in the very fragmented 11.5 billion marketplace in which it competed . 18 merry x ray acquired sourceone healthcare technologies from platinum equity in november 2005 . 19 industrials edit pna group a metals processor was acquired in may 2006 from tui ag . at the time of acquisition pna included three companies . while in platinum equity s portfolio pna gained a seasoned metals ceo maurice s. nelson jr. and added three locations . 20 platinum equity sold pna group to publicly traded reliance steel & aluminum co. nyse rs in august 2008 for 300 million . the purchase price together with the 181 million in accumulated profits represented 27 times platinum s original investment of 17.5 million just two years earlier . 21 references edit platinum equity . forbes . retrieved july 29 2014 . 31 platinum equity . forbes.com . retrieved 2011 02 13 . angeles los 2010 10 19 . 2010 largest private companies list . los angeles business journal . retrieved 2011 08 14 . deborah crowe september 3 2008 platinum equity closes 2.75 billion private equity fund.los angeles business journal . a b steven bertoni october 19 2009 . ready to play . forbes magazine . larry armstrong june 21 1999 . the leading private info tech companies . businessweek online . phyllis berman july 9 2001 . buyout buccaneer . forbes . platinum equity lists partners officers . meadville tribune . september 14 2007 . alden to sell metrorolical and imaging operations . boston business journal . december 20 1996 . platinum equity lists partners officers . meadville tribune . september 14 2007 . repolishing platinum readers say section . forbes magazine . november 2 2009 . a b russ banham january 5 2010 . cfos to watch keeping the deals coming . treasury & risk . the private equity breakdown 4q 2009 . pitchbook . company profile platinum equity completes acquisition of ge it solutions ; former general electric unit will be integrated with compucom systems inc . bnet . december 1 2004 platinum equity buys ge s it solutions . varbusiness . december 4 2004 . platinum equity completes sale of compucom systems to affiliate of court square capital partners . tmc news . october 3 2007 . phyllis berman january 22 2003 . tom gores x ray vision . forbes . merry x ray acquires sourceone healthcare technologies from platinum equity . bnet . november 21 2005 . steven b. weiner july august 2008 issue . fresh eyes . forward magazine . deborah crowe april 30 2009 . platinum equity buys it company . los angeles business journal . external links edit official website platinum equity linkedin profile v t e private equity and venture capital basic investment types buyout venture mezzanine growth secondaries equity co investment history history of private equity and venture capital early history of private equity private equity in the 1980s private equity in the 1990s private equity in the 2000s terms and concepts buyout financial sponsor management buyout divisional buyout buy sell agreement leveraged recapitalization dividend recapitalization venture angel investor business incubator post money valuation pre money valuation seed money startup company venture capital financing venture debt venture round structure private equity firms and funds limited partnership limited liability company carried interest management fee publicly traded private equity business development company venture capital trust private investment in public equity pipe pledge fund investors corporations institutional investors pension funds insurance companies fund of funds endowments foundations investment banks merchant banks commercial banks high net worth individuals family offices sovereign wealth funds crowdfunding related financial terms aum cap table capital call capital commitment capital structure distribution waterfall ebitda envy ratio high yield debt ipo irr leverage liquidation preference m & a pme taxation of private equity and hedge funds undercapitalization vintage year private equity and venture capital investors private equity firms venture capital firms angel investors portfolio companies retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title platinum equity & oldid 740035754 categories private equity firms of the united statescompanies established in 1995companies based in beverly hills californiahidden 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