Peter Restler

Peter G. Restler is a co-founder and founding partner of CAI Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on the Canadian lower middle market. He graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (bachelor's degree, class of 1968). His entire business career has centered on cross-border U.S.–Canadian business, first as an investment banker and later as a private equity investor.

Before founding CAI, Restler built a career on Wall Street with a Canadian focus. He worked at Wood Gundy — then one of Canada's leading brokerages — where he rose to vice-president and director, and subsequently joined Shearson Lehman Brothers as Senior Vice President responsible for the firm's Canadian operations. Around the same time, he served as a special advisor to Vancouver-based Inland Natural Gas on its acquisition of the roughly $741 million gas division of B.C. Hydro (now FortisBC).

In 1989 Restler left Shearson Lehman and, together with a small group from business and Wall Street — including Dick Schmeelk, David Culver, Peter Gottsegen, and Les Daniels — founded the boutique investment firm CAI (CAI Capital Management), which was established to invest in North America with a particular emphasis on Canada. Over the next ~32 years he helped grow the firm from its New York City founding to its Vancouver headquarters, serving as Chairman and Founding Partner before transitioning day-to-day leadership to CAI's current team, where he continues as a senior advisor/founding partner. He describes the foundation of CAI's approach this way: "The foundation for a successful relationship with our leaders has been in first establishing a strong bond of trust."

Outside of investing, Restler is a board member of the Stratford Festival and resides in Connecticut. He is the father of Lincoln Restler, a New York City Council member (33rd District, Brooklyn).

• Invests through control/buyout positions in established, cash-flow-positive businesses — companies with $3M+ of EBITDA — not seed or venture-stage startups.
• Targets founder-owned or founder-led businesses providing essential services and products, typically with no prior institutional equity, where owners are open to a control investor as a partner.
• Focus on the Canadian lower middle market, leveraging deep cross-border US–Canada networks; notable theme of "repatriating" Canadian companies (e.g., MDA, Corix) back under Canadian ownership.
• Value-creation playbook: partnering with founders to drive growth through talent acquisition, professionalizing processes, and infrastructure investment.
• Says yes when there is trust with the founder/management team — Restler emphasizes that a strong bond of trust with company leaders is the foundation of a successful investment relationship.