Patrick Knise

Patrick D. Knise is a Managing Director at Sentinel Capital Partners, a New York–based private equity firm that buys and builds lower-middle-market companies in the U.S. and Canada. He joined Sentinel in 2014 as an Associate and rose through the ranks — serving as Vice President from August 2018 to December 2021, Principal from January 2022 to December 2024, and Managing Director since January 2025. His sector expertise centers on Business Services and Industrials.

Before Sentinel, Knise worked as an Analyst in Macquarie Capital's Investment Banking Analyst Program, gaining M&A and financing experience that maps directly to the control-buyout deals he now leads. He holds a BA, magna cum laude, from Middlebury College, where he was co-captain of the men's varsity tennis team — the 2010 NCAA Division III national champions, ranked first nationally.

At Sentinel, Knise sits on the boards of portfolio companies including CLS Management Services (a national provider of infrastructure land-management services to utilities and energy customers) and The Recreational Group (a synthetic-turf and recreational-surfaces platform). His role is that of a mid-market buyout investor and board director, driving platform acquisitions and add-on ("tuck-in") deals rather than writing early-stage angel checks.

Note on the stub data: the "Angel Investor / Seed Round" and "Vice President" labels appear outdated or mislabeled. Sentinel Capital Partners is an institutional PE firm making majority-control acquisitions of established companies; Knise is now a Managing Director there. The email domain (sentinelpartners.com) and NY phone number are consistent with the firm.

• Strategy: Friendly, majority-owned buyouts of profitable lower-middle-market businesses — management buyouts, corporate carveouts and divestitures, family-business transitions, going-private deals, and special situations.
• Company profile: "Solid business fundamentals" and "ambitious management teams" in industries where Sentinel has deep experience; targets typically generate ~$15M–$80M of EBITDA (up to ~$65M cited on the firm's site).
• Check size: ~$100M–$350M of equity per platform investment (firm-level figures).
• Sectors: Personally focused on Business Services and Industrials; Sentinel firm-wide covers Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare Services, and Industrials.
• Value-creation approach: Sentinel emphasizes buy-and-build — pairing platform acquisitions with "small tuck-in and transformational, like-sized add-on acquisitions" as a core part of the thesis.
• Geography: U.S. and Canada.