Private equity today demands more than access to capital. As investors and managers are getting increasingly interested in finding partners who bring in both financial discipline and industry knowledge, impact only becomes meaningful when firms engage actively with management and help their businesses grow through tough market situations. Founded in Toronto, Canada, Onex has built its approach around this balance. With four decades of investment experience, the firm creates investment opportunities for global clients, including public and private pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, family offices and high-net-worth individuals. It combines investment expertise with active partnership to help businesses pursue long-term growth.

A Partnership-Driven Model

As a Canadian alternative asset manager with private equity and credit platforms, Onex has developed a private equity business centered on Onex [TSX: ONEX] Partners and ONCAP, its two principal private equity platforms. Its private equity activities are primarily conducted through Onex Partners and ONCAP, a specialized middle-market platform. Onex Partners targets upper-middle-market and larger transactions. It concentrates on areas including aerospace and aviation, business services, financial services, and packaging and industrials. In those sectors, the platform combines industry expertise with management collaboration to pursue growth strategies. Investments such as WestJet illustrate the firm's approach to working with leadership teams on business priorities and expansion opportunities.

ONCAP, on the other hand, focuses on lower-middle-market companies across North America, with a particular emphasis on consumer, industrial and services businesses. The platform works alongside management teams on growth initiatives, operational improvements and acquisitions that can expand a company's capabilities and market position.

The investment model followed by Onex centers on working alongside management teams rather than taking a passive ownership position. Onex brings sector knowledge, operational experience and strategic resources, helping businesses and their leadership teams identify opportunities, improve execution and strengthen competitive positions. It emphasizes applying those capabilities throughout the investment period, not simply at the point of acquisition.

Specialization is central to Onex’s approach. Rather than pursuing opportunities across every industry, the firm focuses on sectors where it has developed relevant knowledge, relationships and investment experience. This allows its investment teams to assess businesses through a more informed operational lens.

Strategy Rooted in Experience

In private equity, Onex’s strategy draws on decades of investment experience, a global network and a focus on businesses with strong fundamentals. The firm describes its approach as entrepreneurial and collaborative, with alignment among investment professionals, management teams and investors at its core.

The way Onex approaches value creation is well defined by its alignment. The company co-invests with its partners to align its incentives through the entire investment cycle. The teams at Onex work with its portfolio organizations in addressing strategy and growth opportunities, which, as a result, creates a structure built around shared objectives.

Experience has also been built over multiple economic cycles, which, in turn, guides the firm’s investment discipline. Private equity requires a balance between growth ambitions and market uncertainty. Onex applies industry knowledge and detailed analysis to identify situations where operational improvements, strategic positioning and management expertise can contribute to long-term performance.

Scale adds yet another important distinction. Onex manages capital across its investment platforms and serves institutional investors, pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and other global capital providers.

Further reinforcing the model, Onex emphasizes accountability, intellectual honesty and ownership across its teams. These principles shape how opportunities are evaluated, partnerships are developed, and decisions are carried through during periods of ownership.

Translating Strategy into Results

A private equity model ultimately has to translate investment expertise into business performance. Across its portfolio, Onex has partnered with founder-led businesses, established enterprises and companies navigating periods of expansion or change, applying strategic investment and operational support to different growth situations. Beyond private equity, the firm operates credit and other investment platforms that provide customized capital solutions. Doing so, its teams gain exposure to different financing structures and market environments.

The scale of its private equity activities is reflected in the firm's investment history. Onex reports that its private equity platforms have invested in 132 businesses and completed more than 1,000 add-on acquisitions, with the total value of those investments surpassing USD 120 billion.

Convex also illustrates how an Onex investment can evolve over time. After Onex Partners announced the sale of Convex in 2025, Onex Corporation completed its acquisition of Convex alongside a strategic investment from AIG in February 2026. Onex now holds a 63 percent equity stake in the specialty insurer and reinsurer.

These examples reflect an investment model built around sector specialization, management partnership and active ownership rather than simply providing capital. Through a model shaped by experience and execution, the company continues to utilize private capital to support businesses in their growth journey, keeping long-term success at the core of its focus.

Onex is recognized as the Top Private Equity Firm in Canada 2026 for its four decades of investment experience, sector specialization and active partnership with management teams. Its track record of 132 platform investments and more than 1,000 add-on acquisitions further reflects the scale and depth of its private equity activities.