Adam Blumenthal, Blue Wolf Capital

Sep 13, 2018

Adam Blumenthal, founding partner of Blue Wolf Capital Partners and former NYC First Deputy Comptroller, dives deep into the world of private equity. He shares insights on how Blue Wolf focuses on transformative investments in healthcare services, energy, and building products—especially in America’s heartland. Adam recounts the revival of a closed sawmill, emphasizing the importance of stakeholder value creation beyond financial metrics. He also discusses adapting to e-commerce demands and the significance of ESG in their investment strategy.

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INSIGHT

Sector Depth Over Breadth

Blue Wolf concentrates on forest & building products, healthcare services, and energy/infrastructure to build deep industry knowledge.
That sector expertise lets them know 'what good looks like' and be value-added partners.

ANECDOTE

Restarting A Sawmill In Glenwood

Blue Wolf restarted a closed sawmill in Glenwood, Arkansas, investing ~$20M and re-hiring the local workforce.
The mill returned to profitability within a year and later merged with a Canadian public company.

INSIGHT

Human Capital As The Differentiator

The unique value came from assessing local human capital and engaging the community, not just fixing equipment.
That people-first approach accelerated restart and produced durable stakeholder value.

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Mr. Blumenthal was the founding partner of Blue Wolf Capital in 2005. Currently, he serves on the board of directors of four Blue Wolf portfolio companies: Finch Paper Holdings, Twin Rivers Paper Company, Elara Caring, and StateServ Holdings. Elara is the fourth largest home health and hospice company in the U.S., with over 60,000 patients in fifteen states, while StateServ is the leading provider of durable medical equipment to hospice patients in the US.

Blue Wolf is a middle market private equity firm with investments in health care, forest and building products, energy services, and infrastructure services. Leading by experience, and with a commitment to excellence, Blue Wolf transforms companies strategically, operationally and collaboratively. Blue Wolf manages challenging situations and complex relationships between business, customers, employees, unions, and regulators to build value for stakeholders. Blue Wolf has over $1.2 billion in assets under management and has substantial liquidity through its current $540 million investment fund, Blue Wolf Capital Fund IV, L.P.

From 1989 to 2002, Mr. Blumenthal built and managed American Capital Ltd., a publicly-traded buyout and mezzanine fund (NASDAQ: ACAS). Mr. Blumenthal played a central role in building it from a start-up into a publicly-traded buyout and mezzanine fund with a portfolio of over $1 billion invested in sixty-three middle market companies by the time he left in 2002.

Mr. Blumenthal served as First Deputy Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer for New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. from 2002 - 2005. In this capacity, he oversaw the capital markets activities of the Comptroller's office, including managing the assets of the New York City Retirement Systems.

Mr. Blumenthal received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College, and a M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management. From 2004 to 2007, he served on the Yale SOM's Board of Advisors, and is currently a member of the Advisory Board for Yale's International Center for Finance. In 2009, he was named a Donaldson Fellow at the Yale SOM. From 2011 through 2017, Mr. Blumenthal was a Trustee, and Chair of the Investment Committee, of the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, a $60 billion fund that pays retiree health benefits for over 700,000 UAW employees of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. He has also been a trustee of, and Chairman of the Investment Committee of, the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Community Service Society of New York.

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