General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a US-based global private equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies.
It has approximately $17 billion in assets under management and more than 80 investment professionals based in New York, Greenwich, Palo Alto, São Paulo, London, Munich, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Singapore. 
It has a high profile in the exchange industry, with a portfolio including investments in NYSE Euronext, the New York Mercantile Exchange, the National Stock Exchange of India and the Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange. Bill Ford, the CEO, was previously a board member of NYSE Euronext and the NYMEX.
== History ==
The firm was co-founded in 1980 by Steven Denning as a family office investment firm to invest the funds of the Atlantic Philanthropies established by Charles Feeney, founder of the Duty Free International retail chain. Other capital partners were added later. 
Denning, a former McKinsey & Co consultant, initially focused on the real estate, energy and information technology sectors. The property and oil and gas arms were spun off, and the group expanded from IT into other growth sectors, establishing its first overseas office in London in 1998. It relies on "limited" partners - usually wealthy families - rather than general rounds of fundraising.
General Atlantic has a portfolio value of around $8bn in more than 50 companies, split evenly between the US and other countries. The firm invests across the life cycle of its holdings, typically in 10-12 new companies a year with tranches ranging from $75m to $400m.
Bill Ford, a former Morgan Stanley executive, joined in 1991, became president in 2005 before being appointed as CEO in January 2007.
In May of 2014, General Atlantic agreed to acquire OptionsHouse from PEAK6 and separately to acquire a majority interest in tradeMONSTER from its shareholders. GA then will combine the two companies and take a majority stake in the new combined company.
In April 2019, Deutsche Boerse announced the acquisition of Axioma for $850 million. Axioma, a cloud-based portfolio and risk management software firm, will be folded into Deutsche Boerse's STOXX index business. General Atlantic is a minority investor in the deal.
== Key People ==
*William Ford, CEO
*Steven Denning, Chairman
== Exchange Investments ==
The firm’s first foray into exchanges was a $125m investment in Archipelago Holdings, the Chicago-based electronic platform which later merged with the NYSE Group, now part of NYSE Euronext. The investment was announced in November 2003.
General Atlantic agreed to acquire a 10 percent stake in the New York Mercantile Exchange for $135m in September 2006, though the deal was not ratified amid shareholder opposition until March 2007, with the price raised to $170m. The firm did not participate in the November 2006 IPO because of a lock-up agreement.
The firm’s focus on India saw it acquire a 5 per cent stake in the National Stock Exchange of India in January 2007, with NYSE Euronext, Goldman Sachs and an affiliate of Softbank taking stakes in a deal valuing the exchange at $2,3bn. .
In September 2007, it agreed to pay R$1bn for a 10 percent stake in the Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange as part of the Latin American’s group’s IPO, which was launched on November 30, 2007. The deal includes a two-year lock-up on the stock.
== References ==
Category:Private Equity