Our History
Castanea Partners was founded in 2001 by Brian Knez and Robert Smith, former co-CEOs of Harcourt General and The Neiman Marcus Group, following the sale of Harcourt General. Included in Castanea’s launch were Paul Gibbons, former Treasurer of both Harcourt and Neiman Marcus, and Steven Berg, an investment professional from Bain Capital. Their strategy was to create an operationally focused private equity firm dedicated to investing in lower middle market companies within specifically defined industry verticals.
Today, we are investing out of our third fund, Castanea Partners Fund III, a $575 million institutional fund targeting both middle and lower middle market. We have grown to seven investment and operating partners, and a full team of approximately 20 professionals.
We are committed to the belief that our deep industry knowledge is a significant differentiating factor when compared to other private equity firms. Our proven operating, private equity, consulting and investment banking expertise enhances our ability to: i) source opportunities, ii) conduct effective and efficient due diligence, iii) build and maintain strong management team relationships and iv) seek top-level returns for our investors.