Providing World-Class Operational Support
Hermitage Equity Partners is an operationally-oriented private equity firm. As such, we have assembled an outstanding team of Operating Partners in order to assist the management teams of our portfolio companies in business optimization and growth. All of the firm’s Operating Partners have successfully built and grown companies, generating significant wealth for themselves and their investors in the process. Through these experiences, our Operating Partners have a deep understanding of the profitability and growth drivers of their respective industries and enjoy mentoring other executives. Their role is to help our management teams achieve comparable successes in their own careers.
The Operating Partners of Hermitage Equity Partners are active in our evaluation of, investment in and oversight of our portfolio companies. Our Operating Partners serve on the boards of the firm’s portfolio companies and share their industry expertise, business insights and relationships with our management teams. Where appropriate, our Operating Partners will work closely with our management teams to implement important value-creating projects for our portfolio companies and establish appropriate responsibilities and timelines for their execution.
Our experience tells us that no two business situations are the same, but most share common problems and opportunities that can be addressed by consistent approaches. We understand how to apply that learning to enhance our portfolio companies.
In addition to the individuals profiled in the “Team” section of our website, we are proud to introduce the management teams at our portfolio companies to our Operating Partners in the following industries:
Food & Beverage
Hermitage Equity Partners has Operating Partners with significant expertise in the food and beverage sector. For example, one of our Operating Partners began his career trading commodities on the Chicago Board of Trade; was an early practitioner in prepared foods with Tyson, where his division was one of the most profitable in the entire company; turned around an operationally-challenged sauces and dressings company into a $60 Million industry innovator that was successfully exited to a strategic buyer; ran an $800 Million prepared foods business unit for Pilgrim’s Pride, where he also delivered record profitability; and generated record earnings as CEO of a $100 Million seafood company. Another Operating Partner enjoyed a very successful 30-year career with The Cola-Cola Company, including serving as in-country CEO for Coke in multiple countries in Europe and Asia and finishing his career as CEO of Minute Maid, a $2 Billion business unit whose portfolio of beverage brands also includes Hi-C, Five Alive and Fruitopia.
Healthcare
Hermitage Equity Partners has Operating Partners with significant expertise in the healthcare sector. For example, one of our Operating Partners managed the billing department consolidation of all self-pay and small balance payor accounts for HCA Healthcare after the company had completed a wave of acquisitions and is the founder of HCA’s $22 Billion group purchasing organization HealthTrust Purchasing Group, equipping him with deep relationships with purchasing departments across the healthcare industry. Another Operating Partner has a 30-year career in medical device sales and sales management positions, primarily with Medtronic, where he held enterprise-level responsibility for managing Medtronic’s largest US customer relationships. Finally, a third Operating Partner is a long-serving past President of a $2.0 Billion multi-state division of HCA that was consistently one of the largest and most profitable divisions in the entire company.
Aerospace
Hermitage Equity Partners has an Operating Partner with significant expertise in the aerospace sector. This gentleman purchased a generic machine shop with no QA system and built it into an industry-leading aerospace machined parts company that grew from $2 Million to $20 Million revenue in 7 years, with no acquisitions and despite the Great Recession, prior to exit. During this process, this gentleman took his company from zero backlog to 75% LTA contracts with Boeing, Airbus, GE Energy, Triumph, GKN, NASA, Lockheed, etc. His company had business on every Boeing platform involving 5-axis titanium machining and was a Boeing GOLD supplier with 99.98% on time delivery.
Oil & Gas
Hermitage Equity Partners has an Operating Partner with significant expertise in the oil and gas sector. This gentleman has over 35 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, both as an officer at companies such as Schlumberger and Transocean and as an entrepreneur, including having built one of the most successful directional drilling contractors in the Permian Basin. This gentleman has managed drilling operations on three different continents, both off-shore and land, and is an early pioneer and practitioner of directional drilling technologies.
Technology
Hermitage Equity Partners has an Operating Partner with significant expertise in the technology sector. This gentleman is currently CEO of a software company that does business in 90 countries. Under his leadership, this company has achieved a world class net promoter score of 86, increasing from 65 over a three-year period, and earned both a Stevie Award and a Golden Bridge Award, two of the most prestigious customer service excellence awards in business. Prior to joining the software company, this gentleman was a regional sales manager for Cisco Systems.