Expedition Capital Partners

Founder Michael Hendrie leads investment decisions. He spent five years as a vice president at Code Hennessy & Simmons focused on manufacturing and infrastructure buyouts, and earlier worked in Goldman Sachs's Industrials Group. The firm's website lists two additional associates, Stephen and Matt, who source and underwrite deals, but ultimate authority rests with Hendrie and the operating partners he recruits for each platform.

ECP structures transactions as majority recapitalizations, management buyouts, or corporate divestitures using preferred and common equity, asset purchases, or stock purchases. The firm favors board control and often compensates selling owners with a mix of cash, earnouts, seller notes, and profit-sharing arrangements intended to keep them involved during a transition period. Capital is sourced from a proprietary network of debt and equity investors rather than a single committed fund.

ECP's model hinges on pairing its own capital with experienced operators who step into senior management roles post-acquisition. Unlike a conventional sponsor that backs existing founders, ECP identifies an executive with industry expertise, installs that person as CEO or president, and supports them at the board level. Examples include CEO Jay Smith at TFA Logistics, CEO Lou Pellegrino at BP Business Solutions, and CEO George Eurick at United Tactical Systems.

Yes. Its own website states it is open to co-investments with other private equity firms. Notable co-investors in ECP platforms have included Tecum Capital, Ironwood Capital, Firmament, PGIM Private Capital, Clearlight Partners, Prospect Partners, Centerfield Capital Partners, and Cardinal Equity Partners across its logistics, waste-management, and consumer-goods platforms.

ECP targets North American companies with a minimum of $2 million in EBITDA, positive cash flow, and a sustainable competitive advantage. It concentrates on lower-middle-market services and manufacturing businesses where owners are seeking liquidity, a management buyout is feasible, or a corporate parent wants to divest a non-core division. Typical holding periods range from three to seven years.

The firm describes itself as generally industry-agnostic but lists specific areas of interest: business services, consumer products and services, distribution and logistics, education and training, healthcare, infrastructure, manufacturing, and waste and recycling. Sectors not listed, such as pure-play software or biotechnology, have not appeared in its disclosed portfolio.

ECP has never publicly disclosed a traditional fund-level AUM. The firm finances transactions through a proprietary network of debt and equity investors it has cultivated since 2009, supplemented by institutional co-investors on a deal-by-deal basis. This network-based financing structure resembles an independent sponsor model more than a blind-pool fund, which is why committed-asset figures are absent from public disclosures.