Four longtime south Louisiana companies have been acquired in the past three months , all by out-of-state private equity firms, raising alarms among civic leaders about the loss of corporate decision-making in the local economy.

But flying under the radar are a small group of homegrown private equity firms that in recent years have raised billions of dollars, bought their own out-of-state companies and are starting to create a local investment ecosystem that is turning heads outside of Louisiana.

Bernhard Capital Partners, founded a decade ago in Baton Rouge, is by far the largest. It has raised more than $5.5 billion in five investment funds and owns 21 companies, including Delta Utilities, which recently bought Entergy’s natural gas business.

New Orleans-based Black Bay Partners lau

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