Private equity firm Hg has agreed to acquire OneStream in an all-cash deal valued at about $6.4 billion, paying $24 per share, the company announced on Tuesday. OneStream CEO Tom Shea told me in an exclusive interview that the deal is about gaining speed.

“We really feel strongly that, in the next 24 to 36 months, the AI world, especially within finance, is going to be defined, and there are going to be emerging winners and losers in that space,” Shea said.

Alongside Hg, General Atlantic, and Tidemark will join as minority investors. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. Michigan-based OneStream has more than 1,700 customers globally, including Toyota, Capital One, and UPS.

Hg is taking OneStream private less than two years after its Nasdaq debut in July 2024 under majority ownership of KKR, with an IPO that priced at $20 per share and valued the company at around $4.6 billion. OneStream faced some headwinds in the public markets due to macro conditions, growth-valuation tension, and practical AI ROI questions in finance. Nonetheless, the company reported $568 million in annual recurring revenue in 2024 and is broadening its suite of AI-powered tools for corporate finance, with AI bookings up about 60% year over year in the third quarter, according to Shea.

He described the buyout as an opportunity to focus more aggressively on AI-driven innovation with a long-term focus rather than a quarterly one.

“For 90% of our existence, we have been a privately held company, with great partners, like with KKR, and evolved to being a very viable public company,” said Shea, a co-founder of OneStream, which launched in 2012.

Hg’s longer-term perspective will help put OneStream “back in the driver’s seat to control the velocity by which we can invest in AI,” he said, adding that the firm shares “fundamental alignment, trust, and belief in the vision and the opportunity.”

A finance leader to guide the next phase of growth

OneStream is also reshaping its leadership to match its AI ambitions. John Kinzer, a longtime OneStream board member and former CFO of HubSpot, became interim CFO on Jan. 1, succeeding Bill Koefoed. The company has launched a search for a permanent finance chief.

Kinzer said Hg recognizes something the public markets have largely overlooked—that AI value creation depends on structured data and domain expertise, not just large language models.

“Everyone is obviously very excited about AI, but they’re thinking that everything’s going to be done through an LLM, so all the money is going to 10 to 20 companies,” he told me. He argued that customers will need platforms that actually let them realize AI’s value, and that OneStream’s foundation of financial and operational data positions it well to play that role.

His immediate priority is to position the company for sustained expansion. “I took HubSpot public and scaled it over the next five years, and I see some similarities here at OneStream,” Kinzer said. Along with strategic alignment, he is focused on making sure investments go “to the areas that will generate the highest returns—right now, that’s AI.”

For now, Shea and Kinzer are working as close strategic partners during the transition. Shea is looking for a CFO who can help scale the company to $1 billion in revenue and beyond, and who is “highly aligned” with that trajectory.

He stressed that while the buyout represents a significant corporate shift, it does not alter OneStream’s mission or independence. “There’s no deviation in our long-term vision,” Shea said. “Shared value creation will continue to guide everything we do—for our investors, employees, and customers.”

Have a good weekend.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Leaderboard

Notable moves this week:

Patti Kangwankij was appointed CFO of Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ: MQ), the modern card issuing platform, effective Feb. 9. Kangwankij will succeed Mike Milotich as CFO, who was appointed Marqeta’s CEO in September. Kangwankij will join Marqeta from real estate technology company Roofstock, where she serves as CFO. Before that, she was head of payments finance and strategy at Stripe. 

Jason Chung was promoted to CFO of Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT), effective March 1. Chung succeeds Colin Yee, who has served as the company’s CFO since 2022. Chung currently serves as Riot’s EVP and head of corporate development and strategy. He will assume leadership of Riot’s finance organization while continuing to oversee corporate development and investor relations. 

Cheing Lye-Ping (Penny) was appointed CFO of Alps Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ALPS), a biotechnology research and health care platform, effective Jan. 5. Cheing has over 30 years of experience. She previously served as the CFO of a property development company, the CEO of Premier Asia Capital Sdn. Bhd., and headed the corporate affairs department of Equine Capital Berhad, a property development company.

Cindy Soriano was promoted to CFO of DELFI Diagnostics, Inc., effective immediately. Soriano previously served as VP of investor relations. Before joining DELFI, she held senior finance leadership roles across the life sciences sector, including leading the finance organization at Zogenix through its acquisition by UCB and post-transaction integration. Earlier, Soriano held various leadership roles at BioMarin Pharmaceuticals. 

Ann Reis was appointed CFO of Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRE), a biorefining company, effective Jan. 6. Reis joins Green Plains from Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, where she served as CFO, chief accounting officer, and assistant secretary of the board of directors. She has more than 20 years of experience, including leadership roles at Lincoln Financial Group and ConAgra Foods. Reis succeeds Phil Boggs.

Spencer Hart was appointed CFO of Loop Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: LOOP), a clean technology company, effective Jan. 15. Hart will also remain a member of the board of directors. He brings over 30 years of experience, most recently as a senior managing director and senior advisor at Guggenheim Securities.

Jeffrey Lee was appointed EVP and CFO of ProAmpac, a flexible packaging and material science company, effective Feb. 9. Lee succeeds Eric Bradford, who has served as ProAmpac’s CFO since 2012. Lee joins ProAmpac from Cornerstone Building Brands, where he served as EVP and CFO for more than six years. Before Cornerstone, Lee was SVP and CFO of Wilsonart International. 

Jean-Frédéric Viret was appointed CFO of SpyGlass Pharma, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company. Viret brings over two decades of corporate finance experience. His most recent roles include serving as CFO of NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. and Blade Therapeutics, Inc. Before Blade, Viret was CFO at Coherus BioSciences, Inc., now Coherus Oncology.

Daniel Gabbay was appointed EVP and CFO of Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE: HR), effective Jan. 12. Since 2024, Gabbay has served as a managing director in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group of RBC Capital Markets. Before RBC, he served as a managing director in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group at Barclays.

Big Deal

“Harnessing the power of gen AI in private markets” is a new report by McKinsey that looks at how private equity and other private-markets investors can use generative AI effectively, while also warning about its limitations and risks. The report suggests building processes to cross-check AI-generated insights against internal notes, expert interviews, and structured data, using misalignments as signals for where deeper due diligence is needed.

Going deeper

Here are four Fortune weekend reads:

"Amazon demands proof of productivity from employees, asking for list of accomplishments" by Jake Angelo

"The U.S. naval blockade of Venezuela has cost $700 million already—and is rising by $9 million daily" by Jordan Blum

"Amazon is cutting checks to millions of customers as part of a $2.5 billion FTC settlement. Here’s who qualifies and how to get paid" by Sydney Lake

"For jobless Gen Z, healthcare is the place to be as blue-collar hiring outstrips office jobs, says ADP’s top economist" by Eleanor Pringle

Overheard

"Negotiations have always been a part of life. Whether it involves your teenager’s curfew, your team’s priorities, or your board and the future, every negotiation comes down to the same vital tenets: credibility, balance, stamina, and persistence."

—Sudhakar Ramakrishna, president and CEO at SolarWinds, writes in a Fortune opinion piece titled, "I’m the SolarWinds CEO. Here’s why a $4.4 billion move to go private was right for us."