Capabilities
Capital and counsel, in four useful forms
Harthwaite is a private holdings firm and advisory practice. We are deliberate about doing a few things well — acquiring companies to hold, advising owners on the decisions that matter, backing growth with patient money, and holding real assets that earn through cycles.
Acquisition · Permanent capital
We buy companies to keep them
Through our permanent capital, we acquire majority stakes in profitable, founder-led companies and hold them for the long term — there is no fund clock forcing a sale.
Most owners we meet are not looking for an exit so much as a partner: someone to take the pressure off, provide succession where it is wanted, and let the business keep doing what it does well. That is the case we are built to make. We invest from our own balance sheet, which means we can be patient about growth, generous about reinvestment, and untroubled by holding a great company for decades.
What’s included
- Full or majority acquisition of privately held companies
- Succession and partial liquidity for founders who want to step back gradually
- Carve-outs and corporate divestitures of non-core divisions
- Buy-and-build support for platform companies ready to consolidate a market
- Permanent balance-sheet backing — no fixed fund-life pressure
Who it suits
Owner-managed companies with real customers, dependable cash flow, and a management team — existing or emerging — that wants to keep running the business. Particularly those where the founder’s timeline and a traditional investor’s timeline simply do not match.
When to call us
When you are beginning to think about the next five to ten years — long before any sale. The strongest outcomes start with a relationship built years ahead of a transaction.
Strategy · Transactions · Capital
Counsel for the decisions that define a generation
Not every conversation is about an investment. Our advisory practice helps owners, boards and family principals think clearly about the largest decisions they will ever make.
Selling a business you have spent a lifetime building is rarely a financial decision alone. Neither is raising capital, restructuring a balance sheet, or handing the company to the next generation. We bring the perspective of a long-term owner — not a transaction-hungry intermediary — and we will tell you plainly when the right answer is to do nothing at all.
What’s included
- Strategic counsel on ownership, succession and exit timing
- Buy-side and sell-side transaction support and negotiation guidance
- Capital structure and financing advice, including refinancing and recapitalisations
- Family office and principal advisory for private wealth in operating businesses
- Independent board and chair support for privately held companies
Who it suits
Founders weighing their options, boards navigating a transition, and families coordinating ownership across generations. Also investors and executives who want a confidential, conflict-free sounding board before committing to a course of action.
When to call us
At the moment a question forms — “should I sell?”, “how do I fund this without losing control?”, “what does the next generation need?” Early counsel is inexpensive; late counsel is expensive in every sense.
Minority investment · Patient growth capital
Minority stakes for founders who want to stay in control
For scaling, capital-efficient businesses, we take thoughtful minority positions — growth and venture capital that comes with patience, not a deadline.
We back ambitious founders who want fuel for growth without surrendering the steering wheel. Our minority investments are sized to matter but structured to respect control: sensible governance, no aggressive preference stacks, and an understanding that great companies are built over years rather than quarters. Where we can help beyond the cheque — introductions, hiring, governance — we do; where we cannot, we stay out of the way.
What’s included
- Minority growth equity for revenue-generating, scaling companies
- Founder-friendly structures that preserve control and optionality
- Follow-on capital from a patient, permanent balance sheet
- Strategic and operational support where it is genuinely wanted
- Access to our portfolio network across services, industry and property
Who it suits
Capital-efficient businesses with a proven offer and a clear path to more of it — particularly those run by founders who value independence and want an investor whose interests are aligned over a long horizon.
When to call us
When you have a real business and a specific use for growth capital — not a concept in search of funding. A conversation earlier than that is welcome too; relationships are cheap to start and expensive to rush.
Property · Operational real assets
Income and stability through real assets
A measured allocation to operational property and real assets anchors the portfolio, providing income and ballast through economic cycles.
We hold selective interests in property and operational real assets — the kind of holdings that produce steady income and hold their value when other markets turn. These positions are chosen for durability and relationship rather than leverage, and they round out a portfolio whose first purpose is to compound without drama over a very long horizon.
What’s included
- Selective commercial and operational property interests
- Income-producing real assets held for the long term
- Co-investment alongside trusted operating partners
- Low-leverage, cycle-resilient positioning
Who it suits
Partners and co-investors who value long horizons, conservative financing, and a counterparty whose word holds across cycles. This is a small, deliberate part of what we do — quality over quantity.
When to call us
When you have a specific opportunity that fits a patient, income-oriented owner, or when you are seeking a stable counterparty for a holding you would rather not sell into a thin market.
Unsure which of these fits?
Most owners are — the lines between selling, raising and seeking advice blur quickly. Tell us what you are weighing and we will point you to the right path, even if that path does not involve us.