Blackford Capital, a middle market private equity firm based in Grand Rapids, announced the appointment of Ken Wagner as CFO, where he will lead the firm’s finance, accounting, regulatory, compliance, reporting and controls functions.
He will also oversee portfolio company due diligence and provide deals team support. Wagner will report to Blackford managing partner and COO Paul Doyle.
Wagner joins Blackford from Coastal Group, where he served as CFO with Coastal’s then-CEO Paul Doyle to create nearly $80M of equity value in four years. Prior to that, Wagner and Doyle worked together at GHSP, a Tier 1 automotive supplier of advanced shift systems and smart pump systems.
Prior to these positions, Wagner held a number of progressively responsible executive level positions in operations and finance with Magna and Donnelly Corp. companies Magna Mirrors Corp., Magna Electronics Inc., and Magna E-Car Systems.
“We continue to make significant investment in our executive leadership team. As part of our commitment to delivering maximum growth and value creation for our investors we are laser-focused on leveraging our talents when and where they can be most effective,” says Martin Stein, founder and managing director of Blackford Capital. “Ken’s proven experience will help accelerate our ability to deliver the executive financial oversight, operational expertise and process excellence necessary to drive maximum returns.”
Wagner earned a bachelor’s degree from Hope College.
“I’m delighted to join Martin and the dynamic Blackford Capital team at this time in the firm’s growth cycle,” says Wagner. “This is a terrific opportunity for me to work with Paul again. We are already developing plans to implement new processes and procedures to improve the firm’s efficiency and effectiveness, and to provide portfolio company oversight and standardization of reporting and controls, as well as guide CFO talent enhancement.”
