Ridge Capital
Invest Partner Build
Long-term partners to world-class management teams building the next generation of industrial businesses
About Us
Ridge Capital is a New York based private investment firm investing in middle market businesses across the North American Industrial Base. Specific sectors of interest include precision machining and assembly, specialty fabrication, engineered materials, electronic and electrical components, and value-added distribution.
The firm invests in middle market companies and we work to drive significant value creation through prudent capital deployment, active capital management, continuous cost optimization and strategic revenue growth.
We bring a sophisticated operating model and collaborative culture to build companies and drive returns for investors while expanding the overall Industrial Base pie. We are finance and operating executives and we partner with investors and management teams to deliver outsized returns. We structure debt and equity capital individually for each investment.
Our Philosophy
- Select investment opportunities carefully
- Partner with strong management teams
- Focus on operational and infrastructure improvements
- Utilize robust data analysis
- Align incentives to achieve outsized risk-adjusted returns
Operating Principles
- Invest in people
- Lead by asking
- Commit to trust, integrity, and respect
- Demand continuous improvement
Investment Criteria
- Principal customer base and physical operations in the United States or Canada
- EBITDA of at least $10 million for platforms and as low as $1 million for add-on acquisitions
- Entrenched customer relationships and market positions demonstrated by strong margins and consistent growth
- Mission critical products or services (non-commoditized) whether proprietary or built-to-print
Investments
- Precinmac (www.precinmac.com)
- Nautilus Integrated Solutions (www.nautilusintegratedsolutions.com)
*Includes prior investments
Team
Radek is the Founder and Managing Partner at Ridge Capital. He oversees the firm’s strategy and the origination, management, and development of all investment activities. Radek brings over 20 years of private equity investing, investment banking, asset management, engineering, and operations experience to Ridge Capital. His career experience spans general industrial, capital goods, aerospace, and defense sectors. Most recently at Compass Partners Capital, LLC, Radek invested ~$200 million of equity capital in diversified and defense focused precision manufacturing businesses. He led underwriting, capital raising, and supporting management teams. Across platform, add-on, and refinancings, aggregate transaction value was ~$1 billion.
As an investment banker, Radek worked at RBC Capital Markets Global M&A Group, FBR as Head of Capital Goods, Oppenheimer & Co. as an A&D and Industrials banker, and Needham & Co. as an Industrial Technology banker. His transaction experience includes cross-border M&A and debt and equity capital raising for clients in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Prior to investment banking, Radek held technical and management positions with multinational diversified manufacturers of precision components, SKF and RBC Bearings, in North America and Europe.
Radek earned his BSc (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario, and his MBA from LeBow College of Business at Drexel University. Radek is fluent in Polish.
Chris is a results-driven Finance and Accounting Executive with more than 20 years of experience spanning private equity-backed companies, owner-operated businesses, public companies, public accounting, and investment banking. He has led finance and accounting functions for six private equity portfolio companies across multi-site operations, professional services, consumer products, distribution, and apparel.
Throughout his career, Chris has partnered with executive teams, boards, and private equity sponsors to improve financial performance, drive operational efficiencies, and support strategic growth. His experience includes FP&A, financial reporting, accounting operations, KPI and dashboard development, cost optimization, working capital management, financial controls, and building scalable finance and accounting processes.
He brings extensive transaction experience, having led financial diligence, acquisition integration, and financing activities for multiple bolt-on and tuck-in acquisitions, as well as successfully executing debt and equity capital raises.
Prior to his corporate finance leadership roles, Chris developed a strong technical foundation in public accounting with Grant Thornton’s Assurance Group and gained investment banking experience with Merrill Lynch, Oppenheimer, and Milestone Advisors, focused on M&A and capital raising.
