Wafra Inc. today announced a strategic investment in Citation Capital, a private equity firm specializing in partnering with founder- and family-led businesses. The investment comes from Capital Constellation, a collaboration of the world’s premier institutional investors backing the next generation alternative investment firms, advised by Wafra.
Citation, founded in 2023 by Tiffany K. Hagge and Lydie B. Hudson, specializes in mid-cap buyout investments in the services, industrial and select consumer sectors in North America. The Citation team has a track record of successfully deploying substantial capital in resilient businesses while preserving and compounding the legacies of families and founders. In October 2023, Citation announced its first investment, acquiring a majority stake in “better for you” snack manufacturer Cibo Vita, and in March 2024, formalized a partnership with Ownership Works to implement broad-based shared ownership programs within its portfolio.
“We are proud to welcome Wafra as our partners, and believe this investment underscores conviction in Citation, our strategy and the culture that Lydie and I have intentionally built alongside our team,” said Tiffany K. Hagge, Co-Founder, Managing Partner at Citation. “As we partner with families and founders to scale and enhance their legacies, we are thrilled to be part of the Capital Constellation platform, which has an exceptional global reputation in identifying and backing premier managers.”
Lydie B. Hudson, Co-Founder and President of Citation, added, “This strategic partnership will support the long-term ambitions of Citation as we continue to scale our firm. We are excited to be aligned with a leading investment platform like Capital Constellation and look forward to collaborating with the Wafra team and the exceptional underlying investors in the Constellation strategy to continue executing on our vision and investment thesis.”
“We have been very impressed with Citation and what Tiffany, Lydie and the team have achieved to date,” said Adel Alderbas, Chief Investment Officer of Wafra and President of Capital Constellation. “Constellation looks to back the most innovative and exciting emerging managers in the market; Citation has forged a differentiated strategy in the middle market, and we believe it is well positioned to build and thrive over decades to come.”
“The Citation team brings something different to the market in their dedicated focus on founder and family-owned opportunities,” said Gustavo Cardenas, Managing Director at Wafra. “This is a firm that is exactly what Constellation looks for – a founder team that has worked and invested together for a sustained period and highly attractive initial acquisitions that demonstrate they have the ability to source and execute differentiated investments.”
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP served as legal advisor to Wafra. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Citation.
About Citation Capital
Citation is a next generation private equity firm specializing in control investments in founder and family-owned businesses across the services, consumer and industrial sectors in North America. Founded in 2023, the firm is built on shared values and a relentless focus on performance, generating value through a hands-on, differentiated approach. Citation is headquartered in Dallas, TX, with an additional office in Greenwich, CT.
About Wafra
Wafra is a global alternative investment manager with approximately $30 billion of assets under management across a range of alternative assets, including strategic partnerships, real estate, and real assets. By providing flexible and accretive capital solutions and focusing on long-term partnerships, Wafra aligns and partners with high quality asset owners, companies, and management teams. Headquartered in New York, Wafra has additional offices in London and Bermuda. For more information, please visit www.wafra.com.
About Capital Constellation
Advised by Wafra and founded in partnership with a select group of institutional asset owners, Capital Constellation is an innovative partnership, designed as a collaborative asset owner platform with significant capital and expertise from some of the world’s premier institutional investors. Capital Constellation pursues a private equity strategy to launch and accelerate the next generation of alternative asset management firms. The platform fosters partnerships with talented investment teams that can create aligned, substantial and lasting benefits for both asset owners and alternative asset managers.
