EQT Partners takes majority stake in McGill and Partners

The Swedish private equity fund EQT Private Equity signs a definitive agreement to acquire a majority controlling stake in McGill and Partners, orchestrating a massive leveraged buyout that values the specialty broker at an enterprise value of $1–10bn. Formally announced in September 2026 and executed through the EQT X investment vehicle, this secondary buyout facilitates the complete exit of the target's historical financial sponsor, the global growth investor Warburg Pincus. At the time of the transaction, the acquired brokerage platform had successfully scaled its operations to generate annual revenues in excess of $250–500M. Under the negotiated governance structure, the target's executive leadership (including founder and Chief Executive Officer Steve McGill alongside Chairman John Lloyd) will roll over a substantial portion of their equity, retaining a meaningful ownership stake to ensure operational continuity. The transaction also features a broad-based colleague reinvestment mechanism, establishing a new Equity Participation Plan to preserve the firm's all-employee ownership culture. For the acquiring sponsor, which anticipates this deployment will push the EQT X fund to an 85 to 90 percent investment threshold, the strategic rationale focuses on funding aggressive organic expansion and digital capability enhancements across the United States and international markets. The infusion of fresh institutional capital will directly finance the recruitment of elite specialty broking talent and further upgrade the firm's proprietary artificial intelligence and data structuring platforms. The execution of this complex cross-border financial transaction was supported by a comprehensive roster of specialized advisors. On the sell-side, the exiting sponsor and the target company mandated Evercore, Perella Weinberg, and Unity Advisory for financial advisory services, with Freshfields acting as lead legal counsel. The management team received independent guidance from Liberty Corporate Finance and Mayer Brown. Conversely, the acquiring financial sponsor engaged Ardea Partners as its exclusive financial advisor, relying on Clifford Chance to navigate the legal perimeters of the equity purchase. Subject to customary regulatory approvals, the formal closing of the share transfer is officially slated for the first half of 2027.