This paper contributes to the study of efficient governance of public–private partnerships (PPPs) through an inductive comparative case study of threeriding schools in Sweden. Each school is a three-party PPP between a private firm, ademocratic nonprofit association, and a municipality. The results indicate thatefficient PPPs mixing private, collective, and communal interests can be establishedthrough an adaptive governance strategy. The private firm can shield the democraticassociation from market influence through adapting to market conditions; themunicipality can create a governance strategy; and the democratic association canfocus on providing riding services and fostering democratic governance.