Hg builds GP-led secondaries team to back software compounders EU

Hg has created a dedicated GP‑led secondaries unit aimed at widening the firm’s access to mature software and technology‑enabled services businesses held by private equity sponsors. The move signals a strategic pivot: Hg will now pursue single‑asset continuation and sponsor liquidity solutions that play to its sector expertise.

The new group is led by Dushy Sivanithy, who joins from CPP Investments where he spent more than seven years building and running the secondaries franchise, including a single‑asset programme. He is joined by Daniel Ward, also formerly of CPP Investments. Together they bring institutional secondaries credentials and relationships across mid‑market sponsors.

Hg’s management framed the hire as a timely extension of its existing strategy. Steven Batchelor, Managing Partner and Co‑CEO at Hg, noted the market’s move toward specialist managers who combine deep sector knowledge with hands‑on portfolio support. The firm says that combining underwriting discipline with sector focus gives it an edge when structuring GP‑led transactions for software compounders.

The launch comes against a backdrop of rapid expansion in GP‑led secondaries: the segment has grown at roughly 24% CAGR over the last five years and industry estimates place aggregate GP‑led volumes above $100 billion in 2025. That momentum reflects sponsors’ preference to retain high‑quality assets for longer while unlocking liquidity for limited partners.

For Hg, which concentrates on founder‑led and software‑driven businesses, GP‑led secondaries offer an alternative route to scale exposure to proven compounders without the time and cost of originating new deals. The firm’s pitch is that its sector‑specific playbook—commercial diligence, go‑to‑market scaling and governance support—matches the needs of sellers and continuing sponsor teams.

As more generalist secondaries capital chases scale, specialist teams that can underwrite software economics and identify extension capital needs are becoming scarce. Hg’s addition of experienced secondaries professionals positions it to syndicate complex continuation structures, offer flexible capital, and pursue what it describes as partnership‑driven outcomes for GPs and portfolio companies. Observers will watch whether this leads to a formal fundraise or a deal‑by‑deal approach in the near term.