KKR, a global investment firm, announced a strategic partnership with Amit Agarwal, a former senior executive of Thermo Fisher and Omega Engineering, and Andy Silvernail, KKR Executive Advisor and the former Chairman and CEO of IDEX Corporation, to acquire and build businesses in the Testing, Inspection, and Certification (“TIC”) industry.
KKR’s Ascendant strategy is committing up to $250 million in funding for the new executive-led platform, which will have a flexible mandate to invest in leading TIC outsourced services and instrumentation manufacturing and distribution capabilities for attractive end-markets. Agarwal will lead the platform as Chief Executive Officer, working closely with Silvernail, who will serve as Chairman, the statement said.
“I am thrilled to collaborate with Andy and the KKR team to find, acquire and develop attractive businesses in the TIC industry, which is a more than $330 billion global market across instrumentation and services,” said Mr. Agarwal. “We believe our experience growing highly innovative and technical businesses positions us as a value-add strategic partner to TIC companies that provide specialized tools and services for sectors benefiting from attractive long-term tailwinds. I’m particularly encouraged by KKR’s approach to creating lasting value through shared ownership and employee engagement, which resonates with my approach to leadership.”
Silvernail, Agarwal and KKR plan to build a scaled TIC platform through multiple acquisitions and driving breakthrough operating performance. “I am excited to work together with Amit to build a leading business in the TIC industry. This is an attractive space, benefiting from mission critical products and services, favorable long-term growth trends and a fragmented market structure across both instrumentation and services,” said Silvernail.
The platform is part of KKR’s Ascendant strategy, which invests in middle market businesses in North America as part of KKR’s Americas Private Equity platform. KKR Ascendant pursues investments across seven dedicated industry vertical teams and seeks to deploy the full resources of KKR to support management teams in growing market-leading businesses, the statement said.
“We look forward to working with Andy and Amit, both proven leaders and innovators, to acquire high quality businesses and build a scaled player in the TIC industry with an integrated suite of best-in-class capabilities,” said Brandon Brahm, Partner and Co-Head of KKR’s Ascendant strategy. “Executive-led platforms are an important element of our middle-market strategy and we believe KKR’s ability to recruit world-class talent creates exciting opportunities to build great companies in attractive, but historically fragmented industries.”
Silvernail brings over two decades of experience leading and managing large global companies and he became an Executive Advisor at KKR in 2022. He previously served as Chairman and CEO of Madison Industries, one of the world’s largest privately held companies and before that was Chairman and CEO of IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) from 2011 to 2020. Silvernail has also held executive positions at Rexnord Industries, Newell Rubbermaid and Danaher Corporation. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Stryker Corporation.
Agarwal has over two decades of experience at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (“Thermo Fisher”), most recently serving as Vice President of the company’s Water & Lab Products division. He joined Thermo Fisher in 1997 and over his career had held various senior leadership roles globally, including leading the company’s Australia / New Zealand business, Laboratory Solutions India, and Cole-Parmer. In 2020, Agarwal joined OMEGA Engineering, previously a division of Spectris plc as President and CEO. In this role, he developed and implemented a strategy focused on introducing innovative products and establishing leadership in chosen applications for high-growth segments.
Agarwal currently serves as a Trustee on the Board of Spectris Foundation, a STEM-focused charity based out of the U.K.
HrNxt.com Newsdesk has researchers and writers with an excellent domain knowledge about the talent ecosystem, and the business environment. The team keeps a tab on the latest happenings in the ecosystem to bring most relevant news and insights for our readers. You can connect with our newsdesk at newsdesk@hrnxt.com.