Silver Lake’s Expanding Portfolio: The Information’s Tech Briefing

Greetings!

Financial crises are great opportunities for investors with cash to burn. They’re able to grab opportunities that others fear to touch. Exhibit A is Silver Lake, which on Monday spent another $750 million investing in India’s Jio Platforms, following closely Facebook’s investment in the same firm.

Silver Lake’s deals team has been working overtime in the past few weeks. Aside from Jio, the private equity firm has agreed to lend money to or invest in Expedia, Airbnb, Twitter and Waymo—just in the past two months. 

Silver Lake, of course, has been tech-focused since its earliest days. But it looks likely to emerge from the current crisis with a more diversified portfolio—and potentially more powerful. It’s one of a few investors in that situation. Another is Elliott Management, which has made several investments recently—including in Twitter, which it took a stake in alongside Silver Lake.

Look for these firms, among others, to play an increasing role in the reshaping of companies (and potentially industries) over the next year or two.—Martin Peers 

And onto the news...