Mark Breckheimer

Mark L. Breckheimer is a Managing Director at Akoya Capital and serves as the firm’s Industrial Distribution Sector Leader. Akoya announced his joining on January 6, 2016, describing him as a senior executive with more than 38 years of professional experience, including leadership roles as President of Kloeckner Metals’ Heavy Carbon Group and President of Primary Steel.

At Kloeckner, Breckheimer was involved in completing and integrating numerous acquisitions. Akoya’s announcement credited his leadership with helping the group become the third-largest metal distributor and processor in the U.S. by volume, increasing value-added business by 65%, and delivering a four-times EBITDA improvement during his tenure.

Before Kloeckner, Breckheimer was President of Primary Steel LLC and held earlier roles of increasing responsibility there. Akoya says Primary Steel grew from three locations with under $100 million in sales to seven locations with more than $500 million in sales, while EBITDA margins increased from 3% to 12%. In 2007, Primary Steel was sold to Klockner Namasco with Breckheimer, the management team, and private equity partners involved in the sale.

MarketScreener reports that Breckheimer holds a BSBA from Bucknell University and that he served as Chairman of the Board of Akoya portfolio companies NSA Industries and Momentum Manufacturing Group before exit.

• Focuses on lower-middle-market industrial companies where Akoya has deep operating expertise through sector leaders.
• In industrial distribution, Akoya states it is focused on the “value-added segment of industrial distribution,” especially where manufacturers are outsourcing distribution to serve smaller customer needs and improve inventory management.
• Akoya’s 2016 industrial-distribution criteria called for platform companies with $20M–$125M enterprise value, at least $3M EBITDA, a broad client base, and strong vendor relationships; the current firmwide criteria are $25M–$200M revenue and at least $4M EBITDA, with no EBITDA minimum for add-ons.
• Breckheimer’s operating lens appears centered on lean management, leadership-team development, product-line growth, digital strategy, acquisitions, and integration.
• Akoya’s model combines sector leaders, management teams, co-investors, and value creation plans; Breckheimer described Akoya’s differentiator as “identifying, buying and growing businesses through active senior leadership.”