Mark Poff

Mark R. Poff is a long-tenured private equity investor at Swander Pace Capital, a San Francisco–based middle-market buyout firm specializing in consumer-products companies. He joined SPC with its very first fund in 1997 and became a Managing Director, accumulating more than two decades of buyout and private equity experience. (More recent investor databases list him as a *former* Managing Director, suggesting he has stepped back from the firm, though his firm email remains on record.)

Before SPC, Mr. Poff worked in the private equity consulting practice of Bain & Company in San Francisco, where he led commercial due-diligence projects for private equity sponsors. Earlier, he was a consultant with L.E.K. Consulting in Los Angeles and London, specializing in valuations, privatizations, and acquisition advisory. He holds an MSc in Economics (finance concentration) from the London School of Economics and a B.A. in Economics, summa cum laude, from the University of California, Davis.

Beyond investing, Mr. Poff has served for over a decade as a Lecturer at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, where he has taught a course on leveraged buyouts covering the full lifecycle of an LBO — deal sourcing, transaction structuring, financing, legal negotiation, and portfolio management — as well as fund structure and current issues in private equity.

As an SPC principal he has held numerous board seats. He has served as a Director of Captek Softgel International, Fine Choice Foods, J.R. Watkins, and Passport Food Group, and is a past Chairman of Bravo Sports, Fresh Food Concepts, Incase Designs, Kooba, and Wholesome Pet Care. He is also a past Director of Liberty Brand Products, Pineridge Bakery, Insight Pharmaceuticals, Raj Manufacturing, ReNew Life Formulas, Reef Holdings, and Totes Isotoner.

• Invests through Swander Pace Capital in consumer staples — Food & Beverage, Health & Wellness, and Personal Care & Household products — across the value chain from branded products to manufacturing and ingredients.
• Targets middle-market control buyouts, frequently as the "first institutional capital" partnering with founders and families; SPC emphasizes "trust and respect for legacy" and positions itself as an engaged operating partner rather than a passive financial investor.
• Brings a sector-specialist, operationally hands-on model — SPC cites "30 years of best practices and benchmarking" and a consumer-specific operating playbook and talent network to drive value creation.
• Says yes to businesses with scalable growth potential and strong brands/management teams where operational value-add can accelerate growth.
• On the J.R. Watkins carve-out, Poff framed the deal in terms of building on brand heritage: *"We are confident that the investment will put the company in the best possible position to expand upon its already-successful legacy."*