Terry Theodore

Terry Theodore is a Partner and co-founder of Center Rock Capital Partners, a private equity firm he helped establish in August 2017 alongside fellow Partner Ian Kirson. He has more than 30 years of private equity and finance experience, concentrated on investments in industrial businesses undergoing change to improve strategic or operational performance. Together, Center Rock's founding partners bring more than 50 years of combined private equity, transactional, and finance experience, and Terry is responsible—along with the other Partners—for all major aspects of the firm's management and investment process.

Before founding Center Rock, Terry was a Partner at Wynnchurch Capital from 2004 to 2016, where he served as a member of the firm's investment committee. Earlier in his career, he held positions with Questor Management Company, Kidd Kamm & Company, Bear Stearns, and Credit Suisse, building a background spanning private equity investing, distressed/turnaround situations, and finance.

Terry earned a B.A. in Business-Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is active on numerous portfolio and civic boards, currently serving as a director of American Piping Products, LINC Systems, The Merit Distribution Group, Signature Systems Group, TAG Manufacturing, Eastern Wholesale Fence, FLANDERS, and Mark Andy, Inc. He also sits on the Strategic Planning Committee for Beaumont Health Systems and the Investment Committee for The Cranbrook School Board of Trustees. Past board roles include Henniges Automotive, Humanetics ATD, JAC Products, Latham Pools, Northstar Aerospace, US Pipe, Wolverine Advanced Materials, and others.

• Invests in leading, middle-market industrial companies headquartered in North America that serve both domestic and global markets, providing equity capital to unlock value by making businesses stronger franchises through operational or strategic improvement.
• Firm targets three specific verticals: industrial manufacturing, industrial distribution, and industrial services.
• Financial screen: companies generally with $50–500M in revenue and up to ~$50M of EBITDA, with typical equity investments of $10–50 million.
• Emphasizes being a genuine, hands-on operating partner rather than a transactional investor — the firm describes itself as "committed to building stronger industrial businesses through real partnerships… Dependable. Thoughtful. Collaborative," empowering management teams with tools, support, and incentives.
• Comfortable with complexity and change (carve-outs, operational improvement, and businesses "undergoing change") given Terry's turnaround/distressed background from Questor and Wynnchurch.