Ryan Fitch

Ryan Fitch is a Managing Director and the Head of Business Development at Peak Rock Capital, the Austin, Texas–based private investment firm. In his own firm bio, he "leads a team focused on identifying, sourcing and qualifying new opportunities and is responsible for helping develop and execute the new investment origination strategy for the firm," with a particular focus on the Industrial and Consumer sectors. He manages Peak Rock's strategic relationships with a broad set of investment banks, corporations, and other intermediaries, and has "deep experience across many industries and transaction types, including with family and founder sellers and corporate divestitures."

Fitch was hired to build out Peak Rock's business development function, joining as a Senior Vice President in June 2014 to lead the firm's business development group and develop relationships across the investment banking and financial advisory communities. He has since risen to Managing Director and now carries more than 15 years of private equity experience.

Before Peak Rock, Fitch spent roughly a decade at Platinum Equity (most recently as a Vice President), where he served on the business development team responsible for deal origination and managing strategic relationships with corporate sellers, investment banks, and other intermediaries — a background squarely in sourcing large corporate carve-outs and complex transactions.

He earned a bachelor's degree in History from the University of California, Berkeley.

• Stage: Control-oriented private equity, not venture/angel — Peak Rock acquires established, revenue-generating middle-market businesses rather than funding startups.
• Fitch's remit: Deal origination and relationship management. As Head of Business Development, he is typically the firm's front door for intermediaries bringing sale processes, carve-outs, and founder transitions to Peak Rock.
• Check / deal size: Debt and equity investments of ~$30M–$500M+, in companies with ~$50M–$1.5B in revenue and enterprise values up to ~$1.5B; no minimum for add-on acquisitions to existing platforms.
• Sectors: Consumer products, industrials and manufacturing, technology and software, healthcare, business services, distribution, and food & beverage.
• Transaction types they say yes to: "Family and founder" first-time institutional capital, corporate carve-outs and divestitures, leveraged buyouts, growth capital, recapitalizations, and restructurings/turnarounds.
• Stated philosophy: Peak Rock targets companies with a "strong competitive position within a defensible and sustainable niche" facing "strategic, operational and/or financial opportunities," and aims to "support senior management in driving rapid growth in revenue and profit improvement through operational and strategic initiatives."