CommVault CEO: Private Equity is About Growth

In a blog post for Forbes, President and CEO of CommVault, N. Robert Hammer, replies to critics who criticize private equity for political gain. Having run companies funded by private equity, Hammer provides insights into how private equity firms take broken companies and turn them around. In 1998, CommVault, the company Hammer now runs, was in terrible shape and in need of a boost. Private equity invested in the company because investors saw an opportunity to transform the business into a profitable enterprise.

Citing his experience at CommVault, Hammer explains that private equity:

“provided the breathing room that allowed us to think beyond where our customer’s needs were today and focus on where the market was heading tomorrow. We also obtained new, additional financing from other private equity firms and corporate investors that enabled us to invest heavily in R&D to cultivate next generation products, support and services.”

Today, CommVault is a highly profitable, publicly-traded technology innovator with more than 1,500 employees and 16,000 customers.

Furthermore, Hammer explains that the benefits of private equity go well beyond any individual investment.  Private equity, he says, “plays a vital role in our economy, creates jobs and tax revenue and spawns businesses and innovation.”

You can read Hammer’s full blog post by clicking here. To learn more about how the private equity business model really works, watch our video “What is Private Equity.”