The family office club deal, once a lesser-known instrument of co-investment and acquisition, has been gaining traction as budgets tighten, the economy becomes less predictable and the cost of just about everything continues to rise in cost. Club deals, at their core, occur when a small group of single-family offices co-invest directly in one specific private asset — whether that be a company, a real estate project, a business or a direct buyout — rather than investing through a fund.
“Club deals are when multiple family offices band together and pool their capital to invest in an asset,” Kimberly T. Smith, partner and global chair of law firm Katten’s corporate department, says. Smith says most people think of club deals as direct deals, where the family offices have a more active participation in the investment. This trend is becoming more common, Smith says, so much so that club deals may constitute half or more of all family office direct investments.
PwC’s most recent Global Family Office Deals Study found that in the first half of 2025, club deals were the dominant deal structure, accounting for 69% of family office investments. But club deals have been trending upward for more than a decade. According to the PwC report, family office transaction flows rose from 58% in the second half of 2015 to a peak of 75% in H1 2023.
One phenomenon Smith says has been driving the proliferation of family office club deals in the past decade has been the rise of independent sponsors. “As independent sponsors are finding direct investment opportunities, they’re often bringing the family offices to the table,” Smith explains. “And then where the deal dynamics lead to the family offices becoming more active in the investment, taking a bigger role in governance and the like, that can sometimes lead to a club deal approach.”
Rocking the Private Equity Boat
With family office club deals on the rise, private equity firms are responding to how capital is being deployed. Because club deals generally involve direct investment by the family office in an asset, they are often competing head-to-head with private equity funds to purchase the same targets, companies or businesses. Smith says this impacts private equity in two ways. “One, there’s just less capital available to them, meaning perhaps a family office historically would invest in these types of assets through a private equity fund, but now the club deal approach allows them to do it directly. So those are dollars being diverted away from the private equity funds,” Smith says. “But then also that competitive element, where, for example, a private equity fund is participating in an auction situation and one of the competing bidders is a family office or a club of family offices — it’s making it more challenging for private equity to get deals done by bringing more potential buyers into the picture.”
Family office club deals won’t sink the private equity boat, however, because private equity can band together in a similar way to make an investment happen (it’s just less common). Family offices have the option of making club deals a strategy from the start, whereas Smith sees private equity firms banding together on an investment as an evolution to their investment approach.
Looking at Acquisitions: Club Deals Versus Co-Investments
For family offices looking at completing an acquisition, club deals and co-investments are often options on the table. So what’s the difference? “When I think of a co-investment, that tends to be more passive. So perhaps an independent sponsor has a signed LOI for an acquisition, they need to raise another $100 million of equity, they’re going to go out and approach family offices to provide that capital. A co-invest is probably a family office cutting a check for a minority slug of that equity and doing so in a more passive approach. I think a club deal tends to seek a bigger stake of the target or the company and a more active approach to the investment, where they’re wanting a seat at the table, board representation or possibly even board control, depending on the relative investment size to the overall value of the company,” Smith says.
An analysis of the FO Pro Deal Round-Up columns published so far in 2026 shows club deals popping up as a recurring thread throughout the year, taking a handful of distinct forms. Family offices have banded together with other family offices and wealthy individuals to chase trophy assets, particularly in sports: Blue Pool Capital and Bolt Ventures backed Germany’s SailGP team, while IKON Capital, Bolt Ventures and Main Street Advisors jointly acquired MotoGP’s Tech3 team.
In a few cases, multiple family offices tied to the same business community have pooled capital into a single platform as well. For example, Gross Labs, the single-family office of professional musician and entrepreneur Nick Gross, partnered with Russell Westbrook Enterprises (the NBA superstar’s family office) and venture firm Echo Investment Capital for an eight-figure investment in a 50-acre sports, music and education district in Oklahoma City, anchored by the MAPS Multipurpose Stadium.
Notably, some of these club deals have put family offices directly alongside private equity firms rather than in competition with them. MasGroup partnered with BaseCamp Equity and Plexus Capital to back the ownership transition of Superior Roofing, a Colorado commercial roofing contractor. And in the BWE mortgage banking sale, Springmont Capital — tied to the Morgan Properties family — joined institutional buyer Bayview MSR Opportunity Fund to take majority control, a structure that looks much like a traditional private-equity buyout with a family office in the investor seat rather than on the sidelines.
Specially Equipped for Club Deals
The advantages of family office club deals reside in the approach, Smith says. For investors, the club deal accomplishes a few things. “It allows them to allocate risk in a way that’s helpful. It allows them to chase after more valuable assets to deals at a higher level that they wouldn’t be able to do by themselves. It may allow them to bring partners on for strategic reasons,” Smith says. “So, if they’re pooling capital with another family office or investor who has strategic relationships in the industry, whether that’s something that can help in a commercial arrangement or perhaps an outside director with very specialized knowledge, there can be things brought to the table by partners that maybe the investor wouldn’t have if they were just doing the deal by themselves.”
Furthermore, family offices have unique advantages to operating under a club deal, such as investment flexibility private equity doesn’t always have. This can range from parameters placed on private equity, like what industry it can invest in or how much capital can be put to work in general or on a specific basis. “Often, private equity LPs want well-defined focus on the investments made through the fund. Family offices don’t usually have those parameters, so they can have a lot more flexibility to flex up market or go down market and buy something with a little more hair on it, and really chase after whatever investment they find attractive based on its unique qualities, merits and characteristics versus trying to fit something within those predefined parameters that the private equity fund is getting from its limited partners,” Smith says.
Finding the Right Fit for a Family Office Club Deal
For family offices reading this who are interested in trying a family office club deal for the first time – the question becomes: Who do we know and how can we band together for a club deal?
Meeting like-minded family businesses takes trust, time and dedication. Finding one that fits for a club deal may seem rare only until you realize how many family offices are in a similar position looking for similar results. Smith says situations where family offices can come together for a club deal are only sparse to those who don’t look for such opportunities. Any prerogative, from everyday business deals and social opportunities to events, conferences, webinars and beyond – the opportunities to get together with other family offices to talk about club deals is limited only by the time of day and the amount of work you are willing to dedicate to it. “The more you can put yourself out there and make it known what you’re looking for, what types of investments you find attractive and what could help you get those investments done, the more you’ll get on people’s radars and have the ability to make those connections and have opportunities come to you,” Smith says.
Smith says family offices looking into club deals should prioritize their alignment on investment goals. “You want to make sure that you’re going into the investment with a partner or partners who want the same things, will approach the lifecycle of the investment in the same way to try to minimize the potential for disputes or misalignment going forward.”
Next, Smith says to define “the rules of the road.” “When you’re going into an investment, things are generally very positive,” Smith says. “Everyone’s looking at the strengths of the business, looking at models that necessarily yield very good financial results, strong IRR – but things don’t always play out that way. You want to make sure you’ve really put thought into, ‘if this goes sideways, or worse, things take a downward turn, what will happen? What if we don’t agree with our partners on what to do in those situations?’ The more specific the documents can be about how to navigate those challenges, the better for everyone because it makes the dispute less likely. The last thing you want to do is find yourself in a situation where you’re deadlocked with your partner or stuck in a situation where you need an approval to do something that you think is important for the business and you can’t get that approval because the documents don’t give you that right or the parties can’t agree.”
While these aren’t the sunniest of topics to consider when going in on a new and exciting investment, protecting yourself, your family office and your capital is important to keep in mind when searching for another family office to go in on a club deal with. Having a seat at the table goes a long way in answering outstanding questions, working through scenarios and, ultimately, protecting the family office while growing it for generations to come.