REASON FOR THE SEARCH

Lindsay Precast is building out their middle management and senior management team. Their current COO will be taking on a new role within the business. They are looking to gain a new COO who has Private Equity and multi-site experience so that the business can have greater support. Alongside this, they are looking for extra support in acquiring add-on acquisitions.

THE PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM

MiddleGround Capital is a Private Equity firm that invests in B2B companies in the industrial and specialty distribution sectors in the lower-middle market in North America. Their team is comprised of individuals who have been trained and have significant experience working for world-class organizations like Toyota Motor Corporation. The team has over 230 years of collective operational experience, ranging across numerous roles in an organization, from working on the shop floor as hourly production workers to working as executive managers in leadership positions at Fortune 100 companies. They have a strong understanding of the problems that employees face while working in industrial businesses and they know how to combat them.

The firm brings its skills and knowledge in Private Equity, consulting, investment banking, and capital market experience to each portfolio company. Their team has been trained and has significant experience working for both bulge bracket and middle market firms, such as JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Harris Williams. Collectively, they have held more than 40 Board of Director positions for middle market businesses. The firm believes that its hands-on approach, in-house operational expertise, and the friendly and hard-working demeanor of its team differentiate them from the rest of the competition. They partner and align themselves with management teams to execute a customized value-creation program that drives equity value back to their investors as well as management.

THE PORTFOLIO COMPANY

Lindsay Precast is a U.S.-based concrete manufacturer with a robust line of precast products. For more than 60 years, they have been North America’s premier concrete manufacturer specializing in precast concrete products, and since the mid-1990s, they have sharpened their strategic focus to include steel fabrication. They provide the best experience to their customers, which include state and municipal government entities, banks, utility companies, renewable energy companies, and the military.

Their precast concrete products protect property with storm drainage systems and the environment with septic systems. Their product line has grown from five items in 1961 to more than 200 precast concrete products manufactured today, including utility products, security vaults, vault doors, bridges/boxes and arches, sanitary and storm manholes, catch basins, architectural products, pump stations and commercial sewage plants, and agricultural products.

Lindsay Precast currently has 7 sites in 5 states with its HQ in Gainesville. The company was purchased in November 2021 by the Private Equity firm.

THE SEARCH REQUIREMENTS

Raw Selection was mandated to headhunt a COO from the precast concrete products industry. They needed someone who had a deep understanding of the industry, had an operational background, and could deliver results. The talent would have to have the relevant P&L exposure to drive revenue from $200 million to $400 million and run multiple sites across various states.

WHY RAW SELECTION

MiddleGround Capital was struggling to secure talent with experience in precast concrete products. They also found relocating someone to the HQ in Florida a difficult challenge. They were also trying to meet the expectations from a Founder who would sit on the board and be very involved with this hire at the tertiary interview stage.

Raw Selection stepped in to find talent who would relocate and had the right P&L level of responsibility and relevant custom products precast products exposure experience. We deep-mapped the market, qualified candidates' concerns every step of the way, and drilled down on the particular experience each candidate had to ensure they met the expectations.

THE PROCESS

To secure the candidate, Raw Selection followed their extensive 15-step process to ensure a great match was found for the vacancy.

Raw Selection went above and beyond in this search for a COO by following through with the 15-step process, performing a direct competitor hunt and a historic competitor hunt. We also did a deep dive using market research, Grata, Google search, and industry journals.

Overall, Raw Selection completed a very successful search within 5 weeks. Lindsay Precast now has a COO to drive the business forward and bring it to new heights.

Raw Selection commenced every search by discussing and understanding the full search requirement and brief. Raw Selection’s Senior Associate, Sean Butt, led the search and worked with Principal, Jack Burns, who, with the cooperation of Rick Brawn, the hiring manager at MiddleGround, built out a full picture of the company, the employees, the culture, and exactly the type of profile that was needed to succeed in this position.

Raw Selection followed our extensive 15-step search process, identifying 86 potential profiles, which were fully evaluated and then cut down to a shortlist of 8, all of whom had been fully interviewed and measured for culture fit.

Raw Selection identified an exceptional individual, Chris Beecher, who was subsequently hired for the role.

Securing the necessary COO profile, Lindsay Precast now has an individual who can competently run operations to meet desired revenue and EBITDA targets. On the back of this successful search, MiddleGround selected Raw Selection as their preferred search partner, resulting in more search mandates for Raw Selection.

THOUGHTS ON THE CANDIDATE

"The newly hired candidate for the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Lindsay Precast is an exceptional talent who has displayed outstanding capabilities throughout the recruitment process. Notably, they excelled in the pin site assessment, demonstrating their expertise and competence in this specialized area. It is worth mentioning that their knowledge and experience are particularly valuable as they are operating within a highly specific and niche space. Their remarkable performance and unique skills make them an excellent fit for the COO role at Lindsay Precast."

Sean Butt, Senior Associate, Raw Selection

GET IN TOUCH

Raw Selection favors a meticulous approach to talent research. Our process for selecting the right talent means we can boast a 100% success rate for all our retained and engaged C-Suite clients, with 96% of placed candidates still in their roles after 12 months.

If you are looking for new talent, please get in contact with Sean or Jack today, at sean.butt@raw-selection.com or jack.burns@raw-selection.com