KKR announced that it is partnering with Andrew K. “Andy” Silvernail, the former Chairman and CEO of Madison Industries and IDEX Corporation, to pursue new acquisition opportunities. 

Silvernail will work alongside KKR as an Executive Advisor to evaluate Americas investment opportunities across multiple sectors, including industrials, health care, and consumer products. Once a company is acquired, Silvernail will collaborate with KKR to drive breakthrough operating performance and implement KKR’s broad-based employee ownership program. Mr. Silvernail will be spending a portion of his time advising on investments for KKR Ascendant, a new strategy within KKR’s Americas Private Equity platform that focuses on investing in middle market businesses across the same sectors and themes as the broader platform. 

Silvernail brings over two decades of experience leading and managing large global companies. Most recently, he served as Chairman and CEO of Madison Industries, one of the world’s largest privately held companies. Prior to that, he was Chairman and CEO of IDEX Corporation from 2011 to 2020, where he oversaw more than 500 percent growth in total shareholder return. Before joining IDEX Corporation, Silvernail held executive positions at Rexnord Industries, Newell Rubbermaid and Danaher Corporation. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Stryker Corporation. 

“We are thrilled to welcome Andy as an Executive Advisor to our firm,” said Pete Stavros and Nate Taylor, Co-Heads of the Americas Private Equity platform at KKR. “With his proven track record of leadership and value creation, we are confident that Andy will be a phenomenal partner to our team as we continue to execute on our investment approach of driving holistic operational transformations across a variety of industries.” 

“We have long admired Andy’s work in building IDEX into a best-in-class Industrials company and a benchmark for profitability and return on invested capital, as well as a proving ground for some of the most talented leaders in our industry. We cannot wait to have the opportunity to partner with Andy to create value on behalf of our investors,” added Josh Weisenbeck, Partner at KKR who leads KKR’s Industrials investment team. 

“I have followed KKR for many years and have consistently been impressed by the firm’s ability to source exceptional investment opportunities and create lasting value for all stakeholders, especially through their commitment to shared ownership and employee engagement,” said Silvernail.