Apax Partners will shutter its Menlo Park operations –a trend?

Apax Partners is planning to close its Menlo Park office at year-end, in what could be the beginning of a notable trend.

It is rare that anyone closes an office and moves away from Silicon Valley, and this is just the latest sign that things are getting tough in venture capital, and that some players are giving up on it. Apax is a large player, with eight other offices around the globe. The news was reported by PE Week Wire today.

Some of the staffers are leaving • like partner Paul Vais • while others will relocate to New York. The move is part of Apax’s continuing shift away from venture capital investing. There were some internal conversations about keeping a California presence in order to better participate in tech buyouts, but the ultimate decision was that such deals could be done by teams based in New York.

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