Andrew Cantwell

Andrew "Andy" Cantwell is CEO and Managing Partner of Carlson Private Capital Partners, where he is responsible for overall strategy, the investment portfolio, and ongoing management. Carlson Private Capital was formed by the Carlson family and launched as a dedicated private investment platform in 2018, with Cantwell appointed President, CEO, and Managing Partner.

Cantwell and Taylor Moore launched the Carlson Private Capital platform for the Carlson family in late 2018. The firm invests non-institutional family capital and positions itself as a long-duration alternative to strategic buyers and traditional private equity for family- and founder-owned companies.

Before Carlson Private Capital, Cantwell was a Partner at Norwest Equity Partners, a Minneapolis-based middle-market private equity firm. Earlier in his career, he worked at Northwestern Mutual Capital and ABN AMRO Bank. Across approximately thirty years in private investing, he has worked with founders and management teams and served on numerous private-company boards across industrial, distribution, consumer, building products, business services, and tech-enabled services sectors.

Cantwell graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In his firm bio, he emphasizes his own family-business background: his great-great-grandfather founded Cantwell Printing Company in Madison, Wisconsin in 1867, and he describes that history as part of how he relates to family and founder-owned businesses.

• Invests family capital in middle-market businesses that are better served by a long-term, flexible partner than by a strategic buyer or traditional private equity fund.
• Focuses on profitable, industry-leading companies in the U.S. and Canada seeking capital and resources for growth.
• Targets $50 million to $500 million of revenue, $8 million to $40+ million of EBITDA, and $20 million to $100 million equity investments.
• Prefers family- and founder-led businesses taking on an outside investor, often for the first time; also works with management teams transitioning from private equity ownership and executives acquiring businesses in industries they know well.
• Carlson Private Capital says its capital is patient and permanent: "Our capital and our decisions have no expiration date."
• Cantwell’s stated approach is long-term and management-friendly: "We understand it takes time to build a great business."
• The firm describes itself as an investor and facilitator, not an operator, and says management teams know their businesses best.