Vestar Capital Partners Announces Promotions
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – January 14, 2014 – Vestar Capital Partners, a leading U.S. private equity firm, announced the promotions of Michael Gross and Winston Song to vice president.
“Mike and Winston are exceptional professionals,” said Dan O’Connell, CEO of Vestar. “They have each made significant, valuable contributions not only in their investment sector specialties but also to the overall firm’s success. We congratulate them, and look forward to their future contributions for the benefit of our investment partners.”
Mr. Gross, a member of Vestar’s Financial Services and Diversified Industries groups, joined the firm in 2008. Previously, he was a member of the Financial Institutions Group at Credit Suisse Securities, where he advised a diverse set of financial institutions in the bank, insurance, asset management, and financial technology sectors.
He holds a BS degree in Business Administration, with majors in Finance and Accounting, from Indiana University. He also holds an MBA degree from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
Mr. Song works in the Consumer and Healthcare groups at Vestar. He rejoined the firm in 2011 after completing graduate degree studies. He first joined the firm in 2006 from Lehman Brothers’ Global Leveraged Finance Group, where he worked on a variety of M&A and private equity-related high yield and leveraged loan financings. Mr. Song began his career with CSFB Strategic Partners, Credit Suisse’s private equity secondary fund.
He holds a BA degree in Economics-Political Science from Columbia University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Finance Monthly Interview with Vestar Managing Director Brian O’Connor
Vestar Managing Director Brian O’Connor discusses the firm’s latest Consumer acquisitions and his outlook on the Consumer space with the editors of Finance Monthly magazine.
Download a PDF of the interview here.
Vestar Portfolio Company Press Ganey Acquires Technology Firm
Press Ganey Acquires Technology Firm to Enable Real-Time, Point-of-Care Patient Feedback
January 06, 2014
Innovative Platform Broadens Press Ganey’s Suite of Patient Experience Solutions
South Bend, Indiana – Press Ganey, the leading patient experience improvement firm, announced the acquisition of On The Spot Systems®, a point-of-care survey technology firm that enables organizations to capture real-time patient feedback. The acquisition advances Press Ganey’s Patient Voice™portfolio for health care organizations by adding Point of Care to existing modes of mail, phone and eSurvey. Point of Care expands feedback via any tablet or mobile device enabling providers to improve patient engagement across the continuum of care.
“We are excited to bring this next-generation technology to our clients as they look to capture feedback across the entire care experience and achieve greater care coordination,” said Patrick T. Ryan, CEO, Press Ganey. “This solution complements our existing suite of services as it allows providers the ability to understand their patients’ experiences in real time and gives organizations the information to perform critical service reliability and recovery measures.”
The software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based solution allows provider organizations to customize surveys for targeted improvement efforts. Patient feedback is immediately emailed to a triage point for service recovery or operational improvement. Actionable data is presented through an online analytics platform featuring innovative dashboards, word clouds, scorecards and trend reports, which can be exported or scheduled for delivery by email.
“Our vision at On The Spot was to develop a solution that would provide richer data delivered through a cutting-edge system,” said Ken Kimmel, President, On The Spot Systems. “Real-time feedback contains deep insights into the patient experience, which when understood in concert with additional patient feedback sources, has the transformative ability to reshape the health care industry. There is no one better positioned to make this a reality than Press Ganey.”
Jim Wagner Named CEO of Roland Foods
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – January 3, 2014 – Roland Foods Corporation (“Roland Foods”) today announced that James Wagner, 44, has joined the company as chief executive officer, effective immediately.
Charles E. Scheidt, a member of the company’s founding family and chairman and CEO of Roland Foods, remains with the company as chairman. “Jim Wagner has a great background for Roland Foods, exactly what we had in mind when we shared our intention to appoint a new CEO this past summer,” said Mr. Scheidt. “His successful track record as a senior executive spans exceptional accomplishments in sales, marketing, purchasing, and new product development in the specialty foods industry. Jim is a talented leader who will help Roland Foods accelerate its growth and continue its excellent customer service.”
“In the specialty foods business, Roland Foods is an iconic brand, a highly successful company in a sector with a strong growth outlook,” said Mr. Wagner. “Specialty foods has a powerful upward trajectory, both near- and long-term, and I believe that Roland Foods can significantly expand its already strong leadership position. I am very familiar with Roland Foods high standards of excellence across-the-board, and it’s an honor to be working at the company. Roland Foods has a great team, and I believe that our talent and product lines form a solid foundation for growth.”
Prior to joining Roland Foods, Mr. Wagner served as chief operating officer at The Chefs’ Warehouse. Before becoming COO of The Chefs’ Warehouse, he held a number of positions within the company, including chief commercial officer, director of Business Development, and vice president of the West Coast operations. Mr. Wagner led significant business optimization projects and sales performance initiatives, resulting in substantial margin and revenue enhancement and, ultimately, a successful initial public offering on NASDAQ.
Before joining The Chefs’ Warehouse in 2005, Mr. Wagner worked as an independent consultant to a number of start-up companies, including the launch of TrueChocolate, a chocolate-processing company. He was also a principal at Jump Communications and a vice president at Clear!Blue; both companies provide business consulting services.
Mr. Wagner received a B.A. in History from the University of California, Berkeley in 1993.