Princeton Equity Group Raises $1.3 Billion Fund III at Hard Cap

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Princeton Equity Group Raises $1.3 Billion Fund III at Hard Cap

2026-09-29 20:32 Last Updated At：20:51

PRINCETON, N.J. & DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 29, 2026--

Princeton Equity Group (“Princeton” or the “Firm”), a private equity firm focused on partnering with leading franchisor and multi-location businesses, today announced the first and final closing of Princeton Equity Partners III, L.P. (“Fund III”), with $1.3 billion in total commitments.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260929755908/en/

Fund III was significantly oversubscribed in just two months and is more than twice the size of its predecessor. The fund received substantial continued support from Princeton’s existing limited partners alongside new commitments from U.S. and international institutional investors, including pension plans, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, insurance companies and asset managers.

Fund III will continue the strategy Princeton’s team has pursued since 2006. Princeton seeks to partner with talented entrepreneurs who have outstanding companies and then support them with the Firm’s capital; extensive industry expertise; dedicated operating resource group, GrowthEdge TM; and the proprietary AI-enabled technology platform utilized by the Firm, FusionPoint TM.

“For nearly two decades, our team has partnered with high-quality, often founder-led, management teams who care deeply about building market-leading, franchisor and multi-location businesses,” said Jim Waskovich, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Princeton Equity Group. “These companies combine great people, strong unit economics, recession resiliency, and an ability to stand the test of time. Fund III gives us an even greater ability to support these kinds of businesses and their leaders.”

“We’re grateful for the continued support of our existing investors and pleased to welcome new institutional partners to Fund III,” said Doug Kennealey, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Princeton. “The fund marks a meaningful expansion of our investor base, particularly in Europe, along with new relationships with global consultants and leading endowments. We see this support as confirmation of both our longstanding partnerships and Princeton’s differentiated position with institutional investors globally.”

Princeton’s team has invested in over 30 leading franchisor and multi-location businesses including Amped Fitness, Barry’s, D1 Training, Ellie Mental Health, European Wax Center, Five Star Franchising, KidStrong, Massage Envy, Pirtek, StretchZone, and Strickland Brothers.

Lazard served as exclusive placement agent for Fund III. Proskauer Rose LLP served as legal counsel to Princeton.

About Princeton Equity Group
Princeton Equity Group is among the most experienced franchisor and multi-location investors in the United States, managing approximately $3.0 billion in assets, including Fund III commitments. Princeton views each investment as a long-term, supportive business partnership with founders and management teams. Over a 20-year history, Princeton’s team has developed specialized operating and proprietary resources to help its partner companies scale. For more information, visit www.princetonequity.com.

Wind whips Mexico’s northern Pacific coast, and some streets flood as Hurricane Polo bears down

PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico (AP) — Wind whipped Mexico’s northern Pacific coast and water began to flood some streets Monday as Hurricane Polo bore down on Baja California Sur, threatening flash floods and mudslides. Meanwhile, Hurricane Nolo could still bring torrential rain to parts of Hawaii even as the storm edges away from the state.

In Puerto San Carlos, a fishing town of about 5,700 people, high tides and pounding waves from Polo were breaching sea barriers as residents worried for their homes in the mostly empty town. Hundreds of people in the region evacuated, hunkering down in nearby shelters in schools and other facilities.

“Civil Protection told those of us here in San Carlos to evacuate because this is a high-risk area. With the current tides, the expected waves and the wind, the earthen barriers they built (to prevent flooding) could give way,” Rocío Sánchez, a fisherwoman, said.

Polo was a Category 1 storm with top sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) Tuesday but is expected to weaken later on Tuesday as it moves inland, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It’s expected to produce 6-12 inches (about 15 to 30 centimeters) of rain across parts of Baja California Sur.

Forecasters said it would hit the Mexican mainland after lashing Baja California Sur, and that life-threatening winds and flash floods were expected. It could bring heavy rain and flooding to parts of the U.S. Southwest later in the week.

The government of the northern Mexican state of Sonora on Monday night announced it would suspend all “nonessential” activities, including school, sports and nonessential work, in the state capital and more than a dozen municipalities due to the incoming hurricane.

Residents in Baja California Sur were anxiously bracing themselves. Margarita Bobadilla and her family were sheltered in a local school, saying it was safer than weathering the storm in her wooden house.

“Material things can be replaced, but family can’t. My children and I decided to come here last night, and now we’re waiting to see what happens.”

Others lingered in their mostly emptied town of Puerto San Carlos, crossing their fingers the light flooding and powerful winds would be the worst of Polo.

Laura Velázquez, national coordinator of Mexico’s Civil Protection Agency, reported that Polo would make landfall later in the afternoon. With Polo approaching Mexico, the Mexican navy said it had personnel ready across the northern Pacific coast and deployed three vessels that could ship aid to coastal communities isolated by the storm. Local authorities along the Baja California Peninsula said they had shelters at the ready.

At a Monday morning news briefing, Velázquez urged residents to stay off the streets and seek shelter if their homes are at risk. She said travel will be suspended in the area where the hurricane was expected to make landfall and that ports across the region would be closed.

At the same time, Tropical Storm Rachel was brewing over Mexico’s southwest coast. The hurricane center said Tuesday that Rachel had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (96.6 kph) and was located about 265 miles (425 kilometers) southwest of Lazaro Cardenas. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, but the center said Rachel is forecast to become a hurricane during the next day or so.

Storm activity in the Pacific has been above average during what is already the peak of hurricane season, according to National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Oravec. He said that pattern is consistent with El Niño years, when the Pacific often sees more tropical storms and hurricanes.

While Polo is slated to weaken over northern Mexico, tropical weather was also supposed to deal a one-two punch to the U.S. Southwest.

The region has already been saturated by heavy rain over the past months, and regions like New Mexico and Grand Canyon were hit by devastating floods earlier this month. Now, the remnants of Polo are forecast to track east across the region, expected to douse Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Texas with inches of rain.

That’s a good chunk of the 8-12 inches (about 20-30 centimeters) the arid area of canyons and rocky expanses with little vegetation usually gets in a year. Such terrain is already conducive to flash flooding, sudden torrents that can sweep down canyons and other low-lying areas with little warning. The new tropical weather adds more risk, said Andrew Mangham, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.

“We’re getting caught up here in a very, very short time,” Mangham said. “And that’s not really what we want. We want nice rains, you know, all summer long.”

Nolo, meanwhile, was well southwest of Hawaii and moving away from the Big Island as the weekend drew to a close. The Category 3 storm drenched communities in south and southeastern parts of the Big Island over the weekend, prompting some highway closures on Saturday evening and Sunday as rushing water and boulders blocked roadways.

Maximum sustained winds were near 115 mph (185 km/h), with higher gusts, the hurricane center said Tuesday, but the storm is forecast to weaken over the next couple of days.

Hawaii National Guard members rescued 19 people from flooding over the weekend, the U.S. National Guard said in a post on Facebook.

Damage assessments are still underway as Nolo moves northwest. While it’s keeping its distance from the main Hawaiian Islands, it’s approaching Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a marine conservation area northwest of the islands, according to the National Hurricane Center. It could bring dangerous conditions to the area starting Tuesday, the center reported.

Thousands of households and businesses on Maui lost power for a time, but by Monday afternoon, service had been restored to nearly all of them, according to poweroutage.us. The majority of the outages were related to storm damage, according to statements from Hawaiian Electric.

Hawaii residents were still recovering from several other natural events this year, including spring Kona low storms, a May earthquake, Hurricane Lala in August and Hurricane Lowell in September. Those events affected more than 1,290 homes, according to the state, and caused nearly $700 million in damage and recovery costs.

Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Photojournalist Eduardo Verdugo contributed from Puerto San Carlos, Mexico, reporter Julie Walker reported from New York, reporter Mead Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado. Videojournalist Eugene Garcia and photographer Gregory Bull contributed from Hilo, Hawaii.