Kurt Lentz

## PROSPECT INFORMATION: Name: Kurt Lentz Title: Private Investor and Independent Sponsor (Investor • Entrepreneur • Operator) Fund: Wedge West Background: Current Focus: Kurt Lentz is a Private Investor and Independent Sponsor based in Costa Mesa, California. He builds and backs durable, cash-generative businesses, focusing on essential B2B and B2C services, distribution/supply-chain, and manufacturing. He partners with owners and operators to create long-term value. His current professional roles include Private Investor at Wedge West, Operating Partner at Panos Partners, and Advisor at New State Capital Partners. Background: Kurt is a senior private equity professional with over 24 years of transaction and operational experience, having closed more than 100 acquisition, divestiture, restructuring, and capital markets transactions across various industries. He has a strong track record in sourcing, underwriting, operational improvement, restructuring, and investment realization. His career is grounded in credit underwriting and value-oriented investing, giving him venerable risk assessment capabilities and significant experience in evaluating and negotiating legal documentation. He holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Economics from Claremont McKenna College (1997-2001) and attended Seattle Preparatory School (1993-1997). Prior to his current roles, he served as Senior Principal (Partner) at New State Capital Partners, Principal at Atlantic Street Capital and Sun Capital Partners, Associate at American Capital, and Analyst at CIBC World Markets. Key Skills: Principal Investments, Investing, Private Investment, Private Equity Funding, Investment Banking, Financial Modeling (20 endorsements), Due Diligence (25 endorsements), Private Equity (19 endorsements), Leveraged Finance (4 endorsements), Mergers, Restructuring (5 endorsements), Debt, Financial Analysis (7 endorsements), Valuation (27 endorsements), LBO (8 endorsements), Buyouts, Mergers & Acquisitions (29 endorsements), Venture Capital (9 endorsements), Portfolio Management (7 endorsements), Capital, Corporate Development (4 endorsements), Start-ups (4 endorsements), Corporate Finance (8 endorsements), Strategy (12 endorsements), Investments (9 endorsements), Alternative Investments, M&A experience (2 endorsements), Business Valuation, Capital Markets, Equities (2 endorsements), Finance (2 endorsements), Business Strategy (4 endorsements), Management (2 endorsements), Strategic Planning (2 endorsements), Financial Structuring, Financial Services, Executive Management (2 endorsements), Business Development (2 endorsements), Doing More with Less (2 endorsements). Posts: - 1 month ago (2026-01-09): "My good friend Stephen A. Flores, CPA is #hiring. Know anyone who might be interested?" - 10 months ago (2025-04-16): "I rarely post myself on here, but given the outreach I wanted to say a hearty thank you to the amazing folks I've been fortunate enough to work with and network with over the years for their well wishes on my birthday and work anniversary. Your messages did not go unnoticed and I feel so fortunate to know so many talented and intelligent folks!" - 10 months ago (2025-04-16) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "On the heels of our $700M Fund IV raise, we continue to grow the New State team. Welcome back, Marc Herdegen, who returns to New State as Senior Principal and will apply his expertise in strategy to creating value across our portfolio. David Keating joins us as Operating Partner, Revenue, focused on top-line growth and revenue ops, bringing our purpose-built, in-house Operating Team to ten people strong. On the Investment Team, we extend a warm welcome to Caroline Weakland, who joins as Vice President. We look forward to continuing our decade plus focus on investing in and scaling founder-owned, lower middle market services-based businesses." - 11 months ago (2025-03-19) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We are excited to announce the close of Fund IV at $700M, exceeding our target in under six months. We are grateful for the trust and partnership of our investors and look forward to working with more founders to scale and build lasting businesses. Read the press release here: https://bit.ly/3DNF6RM #privateequity #fundraising #entrepreneurship #scalingbusinesses #valuecreation" - 1 year ago (2025-01-07) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We're happy to share that The Blackhawk Group has just completed an acquisition of Glendale Aero Services' Maintenance Division. This strengthens Blackhawk's Performance Center network and underscores its commitment to exceptional service and innovation in aircraft modernization. Congratulations, Blackhawk, and welcome Glendale Aero Services' maintenance team! Read the full press release here: https://bit.ly/3W4Q4Iv #privateequity #growth #valuecreation" - 1 year ago (2024-12-12) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "Last week, we hosted our annual meeting in sunny Newport Beach, CA. It was a privilege to connect with our partners and share the value creation underway at New State and across our portfolio. Thank you to everyone who joined us - we look forward to many more opportunities to collaborate and grow together. #privateequity #valuecreation #partnership" - 1 year ago (2024-10-30) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "New State Operating Partners Kristin Brown Patrick and Steve Mayotte were part of the value creation conversation at PEI's 2024 Operating Partner Forum in NYC last week. Kristin ran a think tank workshop for Human Capital/Talent Operating Partners and Steve participated in a panel about leveraging technology to enhance revenue growth, efficiency and scalability. Great work, Kristin and Steve, and thanks for all you to do drive value in partnership with our portfolio company teams. #privateequity #pei #valuecreation" - 1 year ago (2024-09-26) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We are excited to announce our platform investment in The Expo Group, a leading architect of trade shows and live events across North America. We look forward to collaborating with management on expanding the company’s service offerings and capabilities, driving organic growth, and executing on strategic M&A opportunities. Welcome to the New State family, Expo Group! Read the full press release here: https://bit.ly/3ZECiP9 #PrivateEquity #Growth #Partnership #NewStateCapital" - 1 year ago (2024-08-26) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "Our team continues to grow! Please join us in congratulating Adam McDowell on his promotion to Principal. Adam joined New State as an Associate in 2019 and has made significant contributions to the firm over multiple promotions. We look forward to seeing the even greater impact Adam will have as a Principal. Please also join us in welcoming Adam Carey and Alexander Medearis, both new Associates on the investing team. Adam joined us from ORIX Capital Partners and Alex joins us from Capstone Partners. #privateequity #team #talent #growth" - 1 year ago (2024-08-19) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We are excited to announce our latest platform investment in Universal Plant Services, a leading provider of mission-critical aftermarket and MRO services for industrial rotating equipment. We look forward to collaborating with the UPS team to capitalize on both organic growth opportunities and driving value through M&A. Welcome to the New State family, UPS! Read the full press release here: https://prn.to/4dohUpx #PrivateEquity #IndustrialServices #Growth #Partnership #UniversalPlantServices" - 1 year ago (2024-05-23) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "It was an action-packed 24 hours in NYC for New State’s 9th Annual CXO Conference, and we have many people to thank for making it such a dynamic and impactful event. Thanks to our investors who joined us for cocktails and to our partners at Crowe who sponsored a wonderful evening. Jay Bartlett and Julie Bedard from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) – your session on best practices for activating change was greatly appreciated by the attendees, as were your stories, Marc Herdegen, on successfully driving change at NWN Carousel. A huge thanks to Jason Jordan, author of "Cracking the Sales Management Code", for your lively and applied session on sales management excellence and reverse engineering business results. Most of all: thank you to our management teams for your engagement and creative and strategic thinking at the CXO Conference, and for all you do, every day, to make change and growth happen with your teams. #valuecreation #privateequity #partnership #changemanagement #salesexcellence" - 1 year ago (2024-04-24) (reposted from Steve Mayotte): "It was great to have 20+ leaders from our New State Capital Partners portfolio companies, along with the experts at Baker Tilly Digital, for a CXO on building a #digitaltransformation strategy. Participants shared insights and best practices on using #digital to drive faster growth and scalability, #datascience and #ai to deliver actionable insights, and organizational #changemanagement to lead their most important asset - people - through transformation. So many exciting ways to drive #valuecreation using #digital tech across the portfolio! A big thank you to everyone that attended and to our partner Baker Tilly US for sponsoring the event. #privateequity" - 1 year ago (2024-03-28) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "Congrats to the team at KMS, LLC on the launch of KMS Brands! Led by industry veteran Scott Jackson, Brands expands KMS' offerings to its customers and creates opportunities to develop deeper relationships with its retail clients. The KMS Brands booth at the The Inspired Home Show in Chicago looked great; thanks to IHS for being the scene of the Brands launch. #valuecreation #wholesale #inspiredhomeshow" - 1 year ago (2024-03-05) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We're happy to share that BluWave, LP has once again recognized New State Capital Partners as a Top Private Equity Innovator. The award places us among the top 2% of PE firms for the third year in a row, with specific recognition for innovation and excellence in transformative value creation. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ec49ud3s #TopPrivateEquityInnovator #valuecreation" - 2 years ago (2024-02-19) (reposted from PAX Services Group): "Last week, we announced our partnership with Cram Roofing Company, Inc. and we couldn't be more thrilled to continue on the path of growth. Cram Roofing President Mark Eichelbaum said it best when he said, "We’re excited to build on the foundation and vision of our founder, Gary Cram, by partnering with a company that shares not just our business offerings, but our mission of establishing and maintaining long-term relationships by exceeding customer expectations. Joining PAX and becoming part of its growth story is a great way to honor the firm’s legacy and future." If you missed the full release, check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gPsUnr3R" - 2 years ago (2024-02-06) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We're pleased to announce that we've exited our investment in NWN Carousel. It's been terrific working with Jim Sullivan, CEO, and the talented extended team. We wish NWN Carousel the very best as they begin the next stage of their journey with American Securities. Read the press release here: https://bit.ly/3SLxILl #privateequity #valuecreation" - 2 years ago (2024-02-01) (reposted from PAX Services Group): "We're thrilled to announce our recent acquisition of Cram Roofing Company, Inc., a San Antonio-based company known for its exceptional roofing solutions. Our senior management team is staying put, and we're eager to welcome CRAM Roofing to the PAX family. CRAM Roofing, founded in 1986, specializes in re-roofing, maintenance, and 24/7 emergency repairs. They have a strong presence in both federal and commercial markets and are highly regarded for their customer service and ability to handle complex projects. This partnership aligns perfectly with our core strategy and will help us expand our footprint in Texas. We look forward to leveraging CRAM Roofing's expertise and infrastructure to better serve our clients. Thank you to everyone involved in making this happen! Read more HERE: https://prn.to/3w90vAo #PAXServicesGroup #Acquisition #RoofingSolutions #TexasMarket" - 2 years ago (2024-01-04) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "Happy New Year! At New State, we're ringing in 2024 with exciting news about our team. We welcome two new hires - Jason Levy joins us as Vice President and Yanre Wu joins us as an Associate - and Victoria Smorodinova has been promoted to Vice President from Senior Associate. Please join us in welcoming Jason and Yan, and in congratulating Victoria on her well-deserved promotion. Read the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/e5TYx_Up" - 2 years ago (2023-12-19) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "Meet the pups of New State. The best thing about the holidays is spending time with loved ones, and yesterday, we got to spend time in the office with our canine family. Wishing you joy with your loved ones this holiday season!" - 2 years ago (2023-12-11) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We had a great day with our team, portfolio company management, and investors out in California for our 2023 annual meeting. Here's a glimpse. Thank you to everyone who joined us! #agm #agm2023 #partnership" - 2 years ago (2023-11-16) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We are excited to announce that Will Swayne has joined us as a senior member of our Investment Team. Will has been a friend of the firm for many years, and prior colleague. Read the full announcement here: https://prn.to/3sBHlBU. Welcome, Will!" - 2 years ago (2023-11-14) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We are excited to share a glimpse of our new office space. Just a few miles from our original location and still nearer to Main Street than Wall Street, we made the move to accommodate our continuously growing team. We look forward to seeing you here soon." - 2 years ago (2023-08-24) (reposted from Steve Mayotte): "Successfully implementing new technologies is one of the most challenging endeavors in any business, requiring the right strategy & partners, focused execution, and commitment to drive change. The stakes - and rewards - are even higher when we're talking about undertaking a digital transformation. That's why it was so awesome to see the CDS team in action with 360 Cloud Solutions planning their implementation of NetSuite, a leading integrated cloud business software suite. The platform will enable CDS to transform their operations and improve scalability to support exciting growth. CDS, the premier provider of multi-vendor OEM maintenance and support services for data centers, has all the pieces in place for a successful NetSuite implementation: an experienced partner, an exciting business case, and a team prepared to drive change. Great job CDS team! I'm looking forward to seeing how the implementation of NetSuite and the broader tech roadmap will make an already great company even better. Joe Cozzolino, Scott Matey, Brian Reagan, Bryceon Sumner, Kevin OKeefe, Amy Parise, Carmen Soto, Joshua DeSousa, Sarah Zambrano and many others! #teamwork #valuecreation #datacenter #digitaltransformation" - 2 years ago (2023-08-01) (reposted from Shaun Vasavada): "Congrats to the team at PAX Services Group on their new brand. The rebrand from Patuxent Roofing & Contracting reflects and enables PAX Services Group's strategy to be the premier exterior services provider for institutional, industrial, commercial, and multi-family building clients. Geographic expansion, capabilities expansion - PAX is on its way. Can't wait to see what they do next! https://lnkd.in/eJ4n2CxK" - 2 years ago (2023-06-27) (reposted from Megan Galvin): "Ever wonder what happens to the cardboard boxes retailers like Walmart load and unload every day? I found out this month when I saw paper recycling in action at The Wilmington Group Recycling Management Resources (RMR) facilities in Louisville KY and Barrington NJ. Each year, The Wilmington Group recycles almost 2M tons of fiber, saving 6.6M cubic yards of landfill space, 120B gallons of water, and 34M trees. The teams across Wilmington’s 10 RMR facilities are doing outstanding work to further increase processing capacity, which should help to save even more trees. Hard hats off to the RMR teams for this important work! David Schmidt Justin Blevin Paige Denton Brian T. Galdino Claro Brett Lurie New State Capital Partners Elena Rohner #recycling #paper #paperindustry #valuecreation #operationalefficiency #louisvilleky #philadelphia" - 2 years ago (2023-05-18): "We are looking to add a Business Development professional to our growing team (details attached)!" - 3 years ago (2023-01-09) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We are very proud of our team, and pleased to announce the promotions of Shaun Vasavada, Victoria Smorodinova and Clare McIntyre - congratulations! We also recently welcomed Elena Rohner and Alex Dunn to our investment team. We look forward to sharing more of the team's accomplishments over the year." - 3 years ago (2023-04-19) (reposted from Frank G. Bardonaro, Jr.): "We had an amazing day with our executive leadership and our New State Capital Partners in Scottsdale this week. So proud to work with our industry experts focused on Safety, Sustainability and long term growth. After a full day of presentations we had time to unwind together! #leadership #sustainability #safety #growth #greatteam" - 3 years ago (2023-05-01) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We continue to grow and reinvest in our team. A warm welcome to Megan Galvin, who is joining as Senior Operating Partner, Revenue, and Margeaux Fortin, who is joining as an Analyst, after a summer internship with us last year." - 3 years ago (2023-03-15) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We are pleased to share our portfolio company Patuxent Roofing and Contracting's expansion into the #Texas market, and completion of the company's 1st add-on, L.D Tebben. Congratulations to the team and management for early execution on our key strategic initiatives of geographic expansion as well as M&A." - 3 years ago (2023-01-03): "Exciting news continues into the New Year for New State and AVEX!" (resharing New State Capital Partners' post: "We are excited to start off 2023 announcing the transformative acquisition of Blackhawk Aerospace, which will join our anchor investment AVEX, as part of our NS Aviation platform.") - 3 years ago (2022-12-27): "Happy Holidays to all!" (resharing New State Capital Partners' post: "Happy holidays from the New State team. 2022 marked another year of growth, and capped nearly a decade of investing in high quality, entrepreneurially-led businesses. We look forward to working together in 2023!") - 3 years ago (2022-08-24) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "We are pleased to announce our acquisition of AFIMAC Global, a corporate carve-out from Dalton First Financial. Our investment in AFIMAC marks our fifth deal in nine months." - 3 years ago (2022-07-06) (reposted from New State Capital Partners): "Congratulations to our portfolio company, Martinez Steel, on a successful refinancing and upsize, as the company grows geographically and expands its contract fabrication business. Martinez serves as a key part of California's #infrastructure projects." - 3 years ago (2022-05-10): "Very pleased to announce the successful structuring of an ESOP transaction with the fantastic team at Klein Hersh! #ESOP" (resharing New State Capital Partners' post: "Congratulations to the entire team at Klein Hersh - we look forward to continued growth and our collective success. Tremendous lift by John Beauclair and Shaun Vasavada structuring this complex #ESOP transaction.") - 3 years ago (2022-04-26): "Thrilled to be partnered with the team at Patuxent Roofing & Contracting!" (resharing New State Capital Partners' post: "We are excited to announce our partnership with Patuxent Roofing & Contracting, our 3rd platform investment out of Fund III and 4th platform investment in the past 5 months.") - 3 years ago (2022-03-23): "Appreciate the recognition from the fantastic folks at BluWave! https://lnkd.in/dMjrKkYu" (resharing New State Capital Partners' post: "We’re pleased to be recognized by BluWave as a top 50 PE innovator. The ranking was based on our due diligence and value creation processes, as well as our ESG initiatives. #Top50PEInnovators") - 4 years ago (2022-02-10): "Check out our new, freshly-updated, digital presence #branding, #digitalpresence" (resharing New State Capital Partners' post: "We are excited to share our new branding, including updated website. Take a look, and follow us on LinkedIn for more updates. www.newstatecp.com") - 4 years ago (2021-11-12): "Very excited to announce our investment in, and partnership with, Wilmington Paper Corp.!" (resharing New State Capital Partners' post: "We are very excited to be partnered with Wilmington Paper. https://lnkd.in/gyTRrvS4") - 4 years ago (2021-09-29): "Continuing our effort to partner with independent sponsors. We look forward to seeing folks in Dallas! https://lnkd.in/ddZ8rJ9u" (resharing New State Capital Partners' post: "We’re looking forward to seeing all our friends in Dallas next month. https://lnkd.in/dyXAWMy") - 4 years ago (2021-05-03): "Very excited to be part of the growing platform at New State Capital Partners. We have significant capital available to support the growth of middle market businesses across the Industrial, Business Services, and Consumer sectors." (resharing New State Capital Partners' post: "https://lnkd.in/eSCv2K6") - 4 years ago (2021-03-17): "Exciting expansion of Mako with the addition of Rabco!" (resharing David Blechman's post: "We’re excited about this new growth investment at Mako. https://lnkd.in/eeRH2vM") - 5 years ago (2020-12-02): "Excited to announce another portfolio company investment for New State Capital Partners! https://lnkd.in/gPkMVeh" - 5 years ago (2020-11-17): "Excited to announce New State's latest investment in Klein Hersh!" - 5 years ago (2020-04-16): "We at New State Capital Partners have the resources and capital available to assist companies through this period of disruption" (resharing David Blechman's post: "During this difficult and uncertain time New State Capital Partners would like to try to assist companies in need of support. We have a flexible-mandate, draw-down structure with more than $200M available and we can make investments up to $60M. For more information contact me directly or visit : https://www.newstatecp.com") - 6 years ago (2019-12-06): "" (resharing David Blechman's post: "Thanks to all the New State Capital portfolio leadership who joined us this week at our annual C-Suite conference to discuss operational best practices and speed of execution. Now let’s get out there and implement!") Fund details: - Description: I build and back durable, cash-generative businesses. My focus spans essential B2B and B2C services, distribution / supply-chain, and manufacturing businesses. I partner with owners and operators to create long-term value. - Website: https://kurtlentzinvestor.netlify.app/ - Location: Costa Mesa, California, United States - Lead qualification: Research: - Query: =Wedge West Kurt Lentz recent investments fund thesis - Answer: Kurt Lentz is a partner at Wedge West, focusing on building and backing durable, cash-generative businesses. He has experience in venture capital and private equity. Wedge West is a firm involved in investment management.