Fox Paine & Company

Founded in 1996 by former KKR partner Saul A. Fox, Fox Paine & Company established itself as a prominent West Coast private equity firm. The firm gained a reputation for deal-making ingenuity, often finding profitable opportunities in complex situations that other firms avoided. In its early years, Fox Paine successfully raised two major funds, including a $1 billion Fund II that reportedly produced an internal rate of return of over 30 percent.

The firm's history is marked by a significant legal dispute between its founding partners, Saul Fox and Dexter Paine, which began in 2007 over disagreements regarding the raising of a third fund. This led to a court-mediated settlement where the partners separated their interests. Saul Fox retained the Fox Paine name and control over the investments in Fund II, while Dexter Paine formed a new entity, Paine & Partners (now Paine Schwartz Partners), taking the majority of the original investment team with him.

Since the separation, Fox Paine has focused on managing and maximizing the value of its remaining portfolio from Fund II. The firm's investment history spans sectors such as agribusiness, healthcare, semiconductors, and specialized insurance. Its final legacy investment, Global Indemnity Group, completed its re-domestication to the United States in 2020.