About Us.

Transforming underperforming businesses into well-run organizations.

Speyside Equity makes control investments in middle-market businesses with histories of profitability. Targeted portfolio companies often possess balance-sheet, legal, environmental, labor, or transactional complexity causing financial or operational stress.

Speyside Equity focuses on creative transaction structures. We are comfortable investing in carve-outs of large multinational companies, industry consolidations, family-owned businesses, bankruptcies and work-outs, and other special situations. Target investments typically have revenues of up to $500 million, but we can exceed that range on a case-by-case basis.

Our senior investment team members have extensive transactional, operations, and turnaround experience from their roles at Speyside and prior positions.

History

Founded in 2004 to acquire underperforming businesses and transform them into valuable investments.

2005

Kevin Daugherty, founding partner and sole original member of Speyside Equity Pre-Fund I, bootstrapped the purchase of an $80 million corporate carve-out, served as its CEO (2005-2012), and generated a $54 million gain on a $300 thousand investment for a 180x Gross MOIC.

2010

Improved operations from the first deal provided cash for further platform investments in complex transactions and distressed situations—where creative structuring could provide acquisition solutions and a hands-on approach would be effective in transforming the businesses.

2012

Eric Wiklendt joined Speyside Equity as a member of the investment team and, subsequently, as an operating partner.

2016

Speyside Equity closed on its first institutional fund of $130 million.

2016

Nicholas Lardo joined Speyside Equity as a member of the investment team.

2023

Speyside Equity closes $620 million Continuation Vehicle of Opta Group with Elliott Investment Management.

Speyside Equity has completed the first closing on its third institutional fund, a value-focused, operationally‐oriented buyout vehicle to acquire lower middle‐market manufacturing and distribution companies headquartered in North America with identified opportunities to enhance EBITDA margins through business transformation. The Fund II team is Eric Wiklendt, Kevin Daugherty, and Nicholas Lardo.

Speyside Equity Opportunity Fund LP is a $620 million continuation fund formed in August 2023 to support future growth initiatives of Opta Group, an amalgamation of two Speyside Fund I portfolio companies, Opta Minerals and SKW. The continuation fund allows Speyside to continue its partnership with Opta while fueling the Company’s next phase of growth. The anchor investor is Elliott Investment Management L.P., and the Speyside Equity team is Eric Wiklendt, Kevin Daugherty, and Nicholas Lardo.

Speyside Equity Fund I LP is a $130 million institutional fund formed in 2016 to make control investments in mature, historically profitable businesses that:

Are undergoing financial or operational stress
Possess some form of balance sheet, legal, labor, or transactional complexity
Are underperforming their potential

Fund I takes an operationally intensive approach to transforming underperforming businesses, resulting in nine platform investments and 12 bolt-on acquisitions. The Fund I team included Kevin Daugherty, Eric Wiklendt, Nicholas Lardo, Rob Sylvester, and Jeffrey Stone.