Lower-middle-market investor Kian Capital Partners has hired Jimbo Izlar as a new vice president.
Mr. Izlar will be based in Atlanta, and he will be active with investment sourcing and screening, due diligence, transaction execution and portfolio management.
“An integral part of Kian’s investment thesis is providing first institutional capital to founder/owner-operated businesses and working alongside their management teams to drive scale via genuine partnerships,” said Rick Cravey, a co-founder and partner at Kian. “Jimbo brings significant experience partnering with innovative entrepreneurs and a career-long history of helping businesses navigate the complexities and nuances of what would be a first-time sponsor-led transaction to accelerate growth in a thoughtful, intentional way. We are excited to bring him on board during a significant time of growth at Kian and look forward to the value he will bring to our portfolio company management teams.”
Prior to joining Kian, Mr. Izlar was with KLH Capital beginning in 2016 where he was involved in transaction structuring, deal execution and portfolio company management with direct experience with specialty service, value-added distribution and niche manufacturing businesses. Mr. Izlar has a BA in History and Economics from The University of North Carolina and an MS in Commerce from the University of Virginia.
Charlotte and Atlanta-based Kian makes both control and minority investments of $7 million to $30 million of equity and subordinated debt in companies that have revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDA of $2 million to $15 million. Sectors of interest include consumer, services, specialty manufacturing, and value-added distribution. In May 2023, Kian held a final, oversubscribed, and hard cap closing of Kian Growth Partners III LP (KGP III) with $400 million of capital. Kian’s second fund closed at its hard cap in March 2018 with $250 million of capital.
“Kian’s culture is a unique and compelling combination of humility, drive and curiosity that has enabled the team to be highly successful in executing on its investment mandate,” said Mr. Izlar. “The culture transcends the entire organization and positively impacts the firm’s key relationships with its portfolio companies and limited partners. There is deep alignment among the team, supporting one another to assess and achieve the best possible outcomes. The firm’s recent closing of KGP III with $400 million of funding is both a testament to the team’s culture and success. I am thrilled to join the team at such a pivotal time in the firm’s journey.”
To date, Kian’s third fund has made two platform investments with the buys of Team Air Distributing, a Nashville-headquartered wholesale distributor of OEM-branded HVAC equipment, parts and supplies to residential and commercial contractors (June 2023); and the firm formed PARC Auto as a new platform in the general automotive repair space and acquired a Meineke Car Care Center franchisee that operates 15 Meineke automotive care centers in the Louisville, Kentucky metropolitan area (August 2023).
Over the past 18 months, Kian has added other professionals to its team with the hirings of Jordan Lee as a principal (August 2022); Thomas Bullock (May 2022), Doyle Silvia (May 2022), and Luke Cromwell (July 2023) as associates; and Mikaela Palma (May 2022) as a senior accountant.
© 2023 Private Equity Professional | November 8, 2023
