Rick Sullivan

Rick Sullivan is Managing Partner and Co-founder of Gainline Capital Partners LP, a value-oriented private equity firm headquartered at 700 Canal Street, 5th Floor, Stamford, Connecticut. Gainline’s team page lists him as “Managing Partner, Co-founder,” and the firm’s 2026 fact sheet includes him on the senior investment team.

Gainline’s debut fund, Gainline Equity Fund LP, closed in May 2019 at $155 million. The announcement said the firm was led by Allan Weinstein and Rick Sullivan and had already completed two platform investments: Southern Furniture, Inc. and Integrated Energy Services, Inc. Sullivan was quoted in that release describing Gainline’s differentiated sourcing approach as coming from “a large network of relationships built over many decades of experience” and an in-house origination function.

By July 2023, Gainline closed Gainline Equity Fund II LP at its $400 million hard cap, above its $300 million target. The firm’s 2026 fact sheet says Gainline had approximately $1.9 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2026 and was actively investing out of Fund II.

• Gainline seeks to be the first institutional investor in platform investments and to partner with founder- and family-owned businesses, as well as corporate carve-outs.
• The firm generally targets North America-based middle-market platforms with $5 million to $50 million of EBITDA, with no minimum EBITDA for add-on acquisitions.
• Gainline primarily pursues majority/control transactions, with a flexible hold period often described as 3 to 7 years.
• Sector focus includes business services, niche manufacturing, consumer, and logistics and transportation services.
• Gainline’s stated approach is “Founder Friendly,” “Execution Expertise,” “Comfort with Complexity,” and “Structure and Alignment,” including conservative leverage and management incentive alignment.
• The firm says it seeks to professionalize businesses using its value creation playbook and provide strategic guidance, executive networks, acquisition/financing support, and other resources.
• This is not a seed/angel investor profile based on verified sources; Gainline presents itself as a middle-market private equity firm.