Platform company
A platform company is the first acquisition a private equity firm or independent sponsor makes in an industry, bought to serve as the base for further acquisitions. It usually has the management team, systems and scale to absorb smaller businesses, which the owner then buys as add-ons. Buy-and-build strategies depend on the platform to combine those businesses into something worth more than the parts.
In DFX data
Private equity transactions are typed as platform acquisitions or add-ons, and the platforms list shows the companies sponsors hold as platforms.