Rory Devlin

Rory Devlin is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Columna Capital, a London-headquartered lower mid-market private equity firm he helped establish in 2009. He has more than 25 years of experience spanning private equity, banking and operational management, and is one of four co-founders of the firm alongside Andrea Frecchiami, Vilmos Pongrácz and Michael Tose, a partnership that collectively brings over 100 years of investing experience.

Before Columna, Devlin was a Partner at ESO Capital and an Executive Director at distressed/special-situations investor D.B. Zwirn. Earlier in his career he was the CFO and co-founder of Surplex, an industrial-auction/marketplace business, giving him operating as well as investing experience. He began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs.

Devlin holds a BA (Hons) from Trinity College Dublin and a Master's in Management from ESCP Europe (studying across its Paris, Oxford and Berlin campuses). He is fluent in English, French, German and Spanish — a profile that fits Columna's pan-European, multi-jurisdiction deal-making across Italy, France, Spain and Switzerland.

As Managing Partner, Devlin is a public face of the firm, representing Columna at industry events such as IPEM 2024 in Paris (Venture & Growth Equity Summit) and giving sector interviews (e.g., a December 2024 Investors in Healthcare interview). He led messaging around the June 2024 final close of Fund III at €290 million — the firm's largest fund to date.

• Invests in profitable, growth-oriented European lower mid-market companies, typically with revenues in the ~€15–100m range (recent platforms often around €20–30m revenue), aiming to at least double the size of the business over the hold.
• Pursues a buy-and-build / growth platform strategy — acquiring a platform and accelerating it through add-on acquisitions and organic growth into a European or global sector leader.
• Sector emphasis on healthcare, animal health/veterinary, insurance & business services, technology, industrials and agri-food; healthcare and animal health are the most heavily represented in the portfolio.
• Positions itself as an "entrepreneurial" partner, emphasizing long-term partnership with founders/management beyond a pure financial transaction — branded around "Investing in ambition, building with purpose."
• In his own words on the Fund III raise: *"This successful fundraise is a testament to the confidence our investors have in our team, investment strategy, and ability to deliver excellent risk-adjusted returns."*
• Backed by a returning institutional LP base (~75% re-up rate from Fund II), including institutions, family offices, endowments and high-net-worth individuals across the US, UK, France, Switzerland, Italy and South Africa.