Blue Wolf Capital Management LLC (“Blue Wolf”), the New York-based private equity firm, today announced seven additions to its investment team, effective immediately. Van Walbridge, former Chief Executive Officer of Mobile Tool International, a specialty vehicle manufacturer, and Walter Stasik, Chief Executive Officer of Genesis Worldwide II, Inc., a capital goods manufacturer, have joined Blue Wolf as operating partners; Andrew Schwartz, formerly of J.P. Morgan Securities, has joined the firm as an associate; and the firm has formed a Strategic Advisory Board, which will be led by four individuals with experience in business, restructuring, government and labor.
“This is an exciting time at Blue Wolf, and these additions underscore the highly successful year we had in 2007,” said Adam Blumenthal, Managing General Partner of Blue Wolf. “Blue Wolf creates value by working in situations that others pass up, by resolving complex situations involving government, labor, or financial and operating distress. The Blue Wolf team – its investment staff, its operating partners, and now, its strategic advisors – is unique among middle-market private equity investors in its political sophistication and in the reach we can bring to situations in which managing complex relationships is crucial to the preservation and creation of value. We are very pleased to welcome these highly respected individuals to our team, as they will enable us to execute on our strategy even more effectively across a broader range of situations.”
Blue Wolf completed two transactions in 2007: the acquisition of Montauk Energy Capital, LLC, a green energy company based in Pittsburgh, from Duquesne Light Holdings, Inc. in a $133 million transaction (which won Buyouts magazine’s “Small Deal of the Year” award), and the creation of Finch Paper Holdings, LLC, a Glens Falls, NY specialty paper manufacturer and the largest private employer in New York State’s Adirondack State Park, in a $245 million transaction. Several of the new operating partners and strategic advisors played critical roles in these transactions.
Strategic Advisory Board
Blue Wolf’s Strategic Advisory Board will initially be comprised of four individuals with experience in business, restructuring, government and labor, further enhancing the firm’s business and political acumen as it continues to execute on its specialized strategy. The four initial members of this Strategic Advisory Board are Pierre Chao, Managing Partner and Co-founder of Renaissance Strategic Advisors LLC and well-known defense industry analyst; Dall Forsythe, former New York State Budget Director; Leslie Koch, President of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, a former executive of Microsoft, Corporation and former CEO of New York City’s Fund for Public Schools; and Louis R. Tomson, former President of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
Two CEOs Join as Operating Partners
As operating partners, Stasik, 61, and Walbridge, 62, will assist Blue Wolf with due diligence, managing and advising portfolio companies, assisting Blue Wolf in evaluating, structuring and effecting prospective investments, and in managing investments it has made. Stasik and Walbridge bring a range of managerial, financial and political experience and relationships from which the Fund will benefit.
Stasik successfully turned Genesis around after it emerged from bankruptcy, managing relationships with multiple unions in the wake of a complex restructuring. He has also held a number of senior management positions in other industrial firms, including Vice President for Voest Alpine Industries and Chief Operating Officer for Danieli Corporation. Blue Wolf founding partner Josh Wolf-Powers, who worked with Stasik at Genesis, in which Wolf-Powers was an investor, said, “We’re very excited at the set of experiences and skills Walt brings to Blue Wolf. There are many opportunities for companies to rebuild with a combination of capital and operating judgment, and Walt will be enormously helpful to Blue Wolf as we build our portfolio. He already has been very helpful at Montauk.”
Walbridge led a successful employee buyout of Mobile Tool International in 1995 and tripled its revenues over the next five years. Blumenthal, who was also an investor in the Mobile Tool transaction, said, “Van is a tremendous asset to Blue Wolf. His deep experience leading companies in both turnaround and growth situations, and in managing both unionized and non-union manufacturing operations, has already been extraordinarily helpful in our portfolio, providing critical input into the management of Finch. We look forward to a long relationship.”
Stasik and Walbridge join former Hawaiian Airlines trustee Joshua Gotbaum, who joined Blue Wolf as an operating partner one year ago and served at Blue Wolf’s request as Chief Restructuring Officer of Platform Learning, Inc., in which Blue Wolf had made an investment.
Schwartz, 26, formerly of J.P. Morgan Securities, joins Blue Wolf as an Associate. Schwartz will assist with due diligence on prospective transactions, execution of transactions, and management of portfolio companies. While at J.P. Morgan, Schwartz was an analyst in the firm’s Investment Banking Division.
About Blue Wolf
Blue Wolf, founded in 2005, makes control equity investments in middle-market companies in which managing relationships with governments, labor unions, creditors and other complex constituencies is critical to maximizing value. In the past 15 months, Blue Wolf has made three investments, one of which it has exited. Its two remaining portfolio companies are Montauk, one of the largest and most successful landfill gas developers in the United States, and (along with Atlas Holdings LLC) Finch Paper, a highly respected brand in the premium paper market.