Private Equity Fast Pitch Michael Psaros - KPS Capital Partners
Dec 4, 2025
Michael Psaros, co-founder and co-managing partner of KPS Capital Partners, is a manufacturing and industrial turnaround specialist. He recounts formative deals like Weirton Steel and explains KPS’s carve-out playbook. He discusses managing unions and plant safety, scaling globally with local leadership, and the firm’s hands-on operations culture and philanthropic ethos.
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Carve-Outs Favor Credible Industrial Operators
- Approximately 70% of KPS's capital has been used to create new platform companies from non-core corporate divestitures because sellers prioritize the right owner over price.
- Carve-outs often require global execution, shared facilities allocation, and ongoing seller-supplier relationships, so sellers pick experienced industrial operators.
Engage Unions With Full Transparency
- When workers are unionized, KPS meets unions and works councils openly: present the business plan, required changes, and improvement plan for transparent negotiation.
- They only proceed after constructive dialogue and socialization of hard decisions to build trust and partnership.
Safety Metrics Drive Operational Oversight
- Safety is the primary operational KPI across KPS's 240 plants; they review plant-level safety monthly and use it as a proxy for management quality.
- Psaros contrasts this with peers who reportedly omit safety metrics from diligence, revealing depth of KPS's manufacturing knowledge.
