Audax Private Equity Completes 1,500th Add-On Acquisition

Business Wire

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”), a capital partner for middle and lower middle market companies, today announced that the firm has reached a new milestone for add-on acquisitions, having completed its 1,500^th acquisition since inception in the third week of April. The add-on, FCH’s acquisition of Sanitary Solutions Group, was completed on April 14, 2026, and made public earlier in May.

“As a first generation Buy & Build firm, add-on acquisitions represent a core component to how we seek to accelerate value creation across our portfolio through the disciplined execution of the Audax Value Agenda^TM,” noted Young Lee, Partner and Co-President of Audax Private Equity. “It’s incredibly rewarding to reach such a significant milestone and believe it speaks to the capabilities put in place over the past 25-plus years to help our portfolio companies try to create, enable, and protect value in a systematic and repeatable way.”

Audax Private Equity, since its founding in 1999, has invested in more than 180 middle market platforms across five core areas of specialization: Business Services, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrial Services & Technologies, and Software & Technology. In 2022, Audax launched its Origins strategy to invest in the lower middle market as a complement to the firm’s middle market Flagship strategy, and launched Audax Strategic Capital the following year to help other middle market sponsors invest behind the performing assets in their portfolios.

These strategies leverage the resources and expertise available through the Audax Private Equity platform, with a Strategic Resources Group whose team numbers over 60 functional experts and generalist consulting resources. This team seeks to help enhance and optimize go-to-market strategies, add-on due diligence, and post-merger integration, as well as help drive value enablement initiatives to create a foundation for growth and value protection efforts to manage risk across the investment lifecycle. The Business Development team, with a national reach, is also critical to both source new platforms and accelerate M&A efforts even before close.

For than 10 straight years, Audax Private Equity has ranked among the top 10 most active PE acquirers in the U.S., according to league tables published annually by PitchBook. In 2025, the firm ranked No. 6 among the most active acquirers, with over 100 add-ons during the calendar year. Audax also received other honors that help to support the persistence and consistent deployment of the Buy & Build strategy across market and economic cycles. Most recently, in May, the sale of Stout was recognized among Mergers & Acquisitions Journal’s 2026 Deals of the Year coverage, which cited the company’s rapid expansion under Audax ownership, during which time Stout completed 10 add-on acquisitions.

“While M&A helps to fuel our approach, and we bring differentiated capabilities to help effect a Buy & Build strategy, at its core, we try to partner with exceptional management teams and give them the resources necessary to realize their vision for growth,” added Keith Palumbo, Partner and Co-President of Audax Private Equity. “The sale of Stout last year provided a compelling example of the outcomes possible through our partnership with management and the execution of the Audax Value Agenda. We’re incredibly proud of this latest milestone and the relationships that have made it possible over the past 25-plus years.”

ABOUT AUDAX PRIVATE EQUITY:

Headquartered in Boston, with offices in San Francisco, New York, London and Hong Kong, Audax Private Equity is a leading private equity platform focused on investing across the North American middle market. Our objective is to accelerate value creation through our Buy & Build strategy and the Audax Value Agenda™, a holistic framework that seeks to create, enable, and protect value across every stage of the investment lifecycle. As of January 2026, Audax Private Equity had approximately $19.5 billion of assets under management and, since its formation in 1999, has invested in more than 180 platforms and more than 1,500 add-on acquisitions. For more information, visit www.audaxprivateequity.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

DISCLAIMER:

The aforementioned recognition should not be considered an endorsement of Audax or its funds by the authors or distributors of the rankings or honors; these honors are not necessarily representative of any one client’s experience with Audax; and is not necessarily indicative of Audax’ future performance. These award programs are not intended to be a recommendation or investment advice, and do not take into account the specific objectives or circumstances of any particular investor or suggest any specific course of action.

PitchBook: Published on February 27, 2026, and tracking activity over the calendar year, the league tables included in PitchBook’s rankings are compiled using the count of completed deals for the specified deal type, region and other criteria. Only publicly disclosed transactions and/or transactions confirmed by PitchBook’s primary research team are included. For private equity, the rankings include all PE investment types (buyouts as tracked by PitchBook, growth and investor buyouts by management), excluding real estate investments. No financial considerations were made to either be considered or promote the rankings. To learn more, please see here: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/global-league-tables-2025-annual

Mergers & Acquisition Journal: Published on May 4, 2026, Mergers & Acquisitions Journal’s deals of the year program considered U.S. middle market transactions that closed between the dates of January 1, 2025 and January 31, 2026. The selection process was based on deals that stood out from others, were either pioneering or innovative, demonstrated leadership, in addition to other factors. No financial considerations were made to be selected. A nominal licensing fee was paid to promote the award win. To learn more, please see here: https://www.themiddlemarket.com/news-analysis/mergers-acquisitions-names-its-2026-middle-market-deals-of-the-year