L Catterton Overview
L Catterton is a private equity firm with over 250 investments in brands in all segments of the consumer industry.
Since its founding, L Catterton has focused exclusively on supporting iconic and trusted consumer brands such as Birkenstock, Nature’s Variety, and Peloton.
At the core of the firm’s category-first approach, they are looking to understand what really matters to consumers so they can subsequently identify consumer categories and companies that would benefit from those preferences of consumers.
Catterton was established in 1989 as “Catterton-Simon Partners” by Carl Frischkorn (Catterton Family), Frank Vest and J. Michael Chu, together with former William E. Simon (former US Secretary of the Treasury).
In January 2016, Catterton, LVMH, and Financière Agache started their partnership.
This partnership combined Catterton’s existing private equity operations in North America and Latin America with LVMH and Groupe Arnault’s pre-existing European and Asian real estate and private equity operations. The merged firm is now called L Catterton”.
L Catterton AUM
According to the publicly available record of L Catterton, the firm has around $30 billion in assets under management.
L Catterton Interview Process & Questions
The interview process can change from time to time for each candidate. However, the general nature of the interview process for L Catterton (or a firm like it) tends to remain the same in most cases.
- You’ll go through 4 to 6 rounds of interviews.
- The junior investment professionals or the HR team will lead the initial rounds, while the more senior staff take care of the later rounds.
- It could take several weeks before the firm selects the right candidate for the role (unless it is “on-cycle” or “on-campus recruiting)
Interviews at L Catterton will be a combination of behavioral questions, fit questions, and technical / investing questions.
For interview preparation resources, check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide.
Why L Catterton
Interviewers almost always ask this question: “Why this firm?”
It’s one of the most common and important questions you’ll encounter. If you’ve done networking prior to the interview and met amazing people from the firm, this is the perfect opportunity to mention whoever you’ve made connections with and share how they positively influenced your decision to apply.
Taking some time to research the firm will also help you come up with relevant answers during interviews. For this, I highly recommend listening to interviews with its founders, investors, and employees.
For starters, here’s a great interview with Chinta Bhagat, Managing Partner at L Catterton:
More interviews
- Fireside chat with Luigi Feola, Managing Partner at L Catterton Europe
- Interview with Farah Khan, Partner at L Catterton
- Interview with Michael Farello, Managing Partner at L Catterton (NYC Tech Minute)
L Catterton Case Study
Interviewees often get asked to conduct a case study during interviews. Firms use case studies to evaluate the candidate’s level of technical knowledge and communication skills.
Typically, case studies at firms like L Catterton center around investment recommendations and financial modeling. However, junior roles may also be required to do a cold calling case study as well.
I’ve discussed case studies in great detail inside my Growth Equity Interview Guide. Feel free to check it out.
L Catterton Salary & Compensation
Based on Glassdoor’s data, analysts and associates who work at L Catterton receive an estimated total pay of $98,434 and $121,019 per year, respectively. These figures represent the median salary and can slightly differ depending on the candidate’s experience, education, and skills.
Analyst
Associate
L Catterton Careers, Jobs, & Internships
If you’re interested in joining L Catterton, check out our job board to view all open roles for them and other similar firms.
L Catterton Portfolio & Investments
According to Crunchbase, L Catterton has made 154 investments across seven funds. Some of their notable deals include IBS Beauty, Restaurant365, and Drools.
Notable Transaction: Urban Egg
Urban Egg is a restaurant that serves scratch-made breakfast, brunch, and lunch food items that puts a modern twist to classics so their customers can have a distinct culinary experience.
The company uses only the freshest and highest-quality ingredients to make sure that each customer starts their best day at Urban Egg.
Since opening their doors in Colorado Springs, Urban Egg has constantly spread out and is already operating at eight locations throughout Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Denver, and Johnstown.
On April 27, 2023, L Catterton made a significant investment in Urban Egg. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to Jon Owsley, Co-Managing Partner at L Catterton, daytime dining has proven to be resilient and shows consistent year-over-year growth, and Urban Egg has built a strong customer relationship, hence, the strategic investment.
Next Steps
To make sure you maximize your chance of getting selected for the role when you interview at L Catterton (or a firm like it), I highly suggest you check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide.
Growth Equity Interview Guide is a self-paced online course that contains step-by-step video lessons which cover growth modeling, valuation, case studies, and all other topics that firms typically ask during interviews.
Get the course and make your preparation easier and more effective!