How to gun for KPS?
Incoming Big 3 RX+turnaround consultant SA. Open to re-recruiting for FT IB.
Would be grateful if anyone has any info on KPS: headhunter, firms/groups they hire from, process, etc.
Very interested in turnaround/distressed shops - what firms are similar to KPS in that regard?
Not sure specifically re: KPS, but would also check out Cerberus and Searchlight if you are interested in shops that play in distressed / hairy situations
Some similar names for you (some more similar than others): Apollo, Platinum (and spinous), HIG, One Rock, Wynnchurch, Monomoy, Lone Star, Blue Wolf.
hey thank you so much! in case you're affiliated with one of the above, i'd be very grateful if I could ask you a few questions, if you could please pm me
My info is a few years dated so may not be the case anymore. KPS uses SearchOne for recruiting. They're a very small HH and cover a few clients. I would say they are annoying to work with because they are very particular about every initial interest you share for an opportunity. My experience is they call up your references and check up on you with your team in the early stages of an opportunity which is unheard of. Other HHs will usually only reference check you at the very end of a process right before they offer you so I would be careful working with them if you are trying to keep your recruiting intentions with your current employer private. That said, the bar for KPS interest is quite high for them since it's a big client for them. They will make you fill out some prompts for why KPS specifically and why manufacturing investing. If you don't have any manufacturing experience they will even decide to exclude you from joining the KPS process. I'm not sure if that's a KPS-specific ask or the HH's way of filtering out candidates.
Other posters have provided good names for distressed/value investors but I would say KPS is in a different world of their own since they are primarily only investing in manufacturing businesses. The others are relatively more generalist in their industry approach, not to say these others guys are investing in every industry possible but they are more open to looking at other subverticals than just manufacturing.
Are they cooked with the new tariff package?
No if anything they are going to do better than ever
They use search one. Back in my day I remember they had a first round model test that was difficult and time constrained with some ambiguous instructions and you had to hardcode the financials in from a pdf.
KPS prioritizes industry experience far more than distressed / turn around experience. They all but require you to have some level of experience with a manufacturing deal.
One of their partners was on Private Equity Deals podcast and it sounded like they view themselves as investors of very mature manufacturing companies (which are often distressed) as opposed to actual distressed PE shops like. They seem to hire a lot of industrial bankers from MM/lower tiered BBs so it does seem like they priortize people with lots reps in MM Industrial M&A.
It is one of the most coveted seats at one of the best-performing funds (every fund is top-quartile). Not too suck KPS off, but there's a reason they can charge higher than 2/20... one of the best returns on the street + not a toxic hellhole either and room for advancement, maybe amongst the single best PE seats right now.
You will be competitive for KPS from any BB/EB or at least get looks... just like most UMM/MFs. Very likely, those bankers from the MM/lower-tier BBs that got the offer are probably better than most other BB/EB bankers or have something that stands out. WSO needs to get off its high horse of firm ranking; it's not like lower-tier BB kids don't end up at UMM firms, oftentimes anyway, not sure why KPS gets called out for it when other funds don't.
Not sure why you took my comment as me dunking on KPS because of where they hire their associates. I just said they seem to be extremely targeted in terms what experiences they like to see from their candidate. It is an extremely coveted seat no one is denying that
As far as I know they don't just charge above 2/20, they let LPs choose between 2/20 and 1/30.
Look up TurnSpire Capital, spinout of KPS. ~$300mm fund but will be $1b+ in the next 2 vintages.
What head hunter covers Turnspire?
Hey thank you so much!
Would love to get some more info, any chance you’re affiliated with them? If so, could you please PM me?
Del
You should look at Atlas Holdings based out of Greenwich, CT. Have been slightly more under the radar than other groups mentioned above in recent years. Similar strategy but historically less "good to great" (what KPS does more of now) and have really stuck to the "bad to good" deep value / distressed bucket. Have stayed in the mid-market space whilst KPS has migrated upwards in fund size and now has both a mid-market and credit platform. Atlas is more firmly concentrated in Industrials (Pulp & Paper, Automotive etc) while KPS has some non-Industrial exposure such as Luxury Consumer. Returns are excellent at both shops.
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