Investment Firm Speyside Equity Adds Three Principals
Detroit-based Speyside Equity Advisers has added three new Principals to its investment team. The expansion signals a need for professionals with deep operational improvement and value creation skills, mirroring the competencies sought by hands-on boutique consulting firms.
The three new principals—Kyle Cash, Marcus Badger, and Nathan Quattrochi—are tasked with deploying Speyside's third investment fund, which closed at its $300 million hard cap. Their hiring signals the firm's focus on scaling its process-driven method of acquiring, improving, and expanding manufacturing businesses in the North American lower middle-market. Kyle Cash previously served as a Senior Vice President at Erie Street Growth Partners and held positions at Glencoe Capital and Deloitte Corporate Finance. Marcus Badger brings over 18 years of experience in principal investing and private credit, most recently as a Managing Director at Deerpath Capital Management. Nathan Quattrochi joins from Industrial Opportunity Partners, where he was a Vice President, and started his career in the Industrials Investment Banking Group at Wells Fargo Securities. Speyside Equity's strategy centers on a "Fix and Build" model for underperforming assets, making their recruitment a key indicator of the skills needed for operational turnarounds. The firm specifically targets businesses with complexities—be it in their balance sheet, legal structure, or operations—aiming to transform them into well-run organizations. This hands-on approach requires deep expertise in operational transformation and margin improvement. The firm utilizes a proprietary "Portfolio Value Creation System" (PVCS), a framework developed over two decades of managing and improving manufacturing companies. This system provides a structured, phased approach to implementing the operational improvements identified during due diligence, a core competency for enterprise strategy and operations roles. Speyside's focus is on control investments in manufacturing, value-added distribution, specialty chemicals, and food ingredients sectors, typically targeting companies with revenues up to $500 million. Their investment thesis often involves complex situations like corporate carve-outs, industry consolidations, and family-owned businesses in transition.
