Venture Capital Takes Janus Henderson and GBTG Private for $13.9B in New AI Rollup Strategy

According to CNBC, venture capital firms including General Catalyst and Long Lake have taken two major companies private in the past six months as part of an emerging strategy called the AI rollup. In December, General Catalyst and Trian took asset manager Janus Henderson private for $7.6 billion. In May, Long Lake agreed to acquire American Express Global Business Travel for $6.3 billion at a 65% premium.

Unlike traditional private equity, which sells enterprise software tools to companies, venture firms are buying legacy businesses outright and rebuilding them around artificial intelligence from within. According to General Catalyst managing director Madhu Namburi, the model is called "service as software," applying software-as-a-service economics to services businesses. Long Lake operates a proprietary AI platform called Nexus tailored to specific workflows in industries such as healthcare, accounting, insurance, and travel — sectors where software adoption has historically lagged.