PROMUS EQUITY
A More Flexible Investment Partner
Promus Equity is an investment firm dedicated to helping business owners and managers build successful companies. We represent a community of investors, including many entrepreneurs, and focus on lower-middle-market companies with up to $15 million in EBITDA — a level where our decades of experience indicate transformational growth can occur. As a family office with a flexible investment mandate, we think creatively and allow each opportunity to guide our investment structure and duration, absent the constraints imposed by a typical private equity fund. Our team has experience investing across many industries and sectors, including consumer products, industrial growth, education and business services. We partner with management teams to formulate flexible strategies, pursue strategic acquisitions and maintain appropriate capital structures.
Partnership
We rely heavily on the partnerships we form with management teams and business owners. We are not operators. We are value-added partners to managers seeking to accelerate growth and increase value. We work closely with such teams to formulate strategies, pursue strategic acquisitions and maintain appropriate capital structures.
Flexibility
As a family office, we have a more flexible model than a traditional private equity fund. We let each opportunity guide the investment structure and duration, and we’re eager to participate in both minority and majority ownership. Such flexibility also shows in our efforts to build companies. No two companies are the same; each growth plan must fit each situation.
Experience
The Promus Equity team has seasoned private equity professionals with decades of experience in the lower-middle market. Our team has experience in numerous economic cycles and a variety of industries. It’s rare that a partner company sees an opportunity or challenge that we haven’t already faced multiple times. Since Promus Equity’s founding in 2010, we have deployed capital into more than 20 companies — an investment pace built on the foundation of our partners’ careers in private equity.
Community
Our community of investors and extensive network of industry contacts is an important resource to management teams looking for fresh perspective or best practices. Our network’s collective experience is highly valuable to managers looking to overcome challenges or execute opportunities.
INVESTMENT CRITERIA
In partnership with top-caliber management teams, Promus Equity invests in profitable lower-middle-market businesses with sustainable market positions, where our extensive experience and unique network can help accelerate growth. Our flexible investment mandate enables us to invest across many different industries and transaction types. We focus on companies below $150 million in sales and investment opportunities where $5 million to $40 million of equity capital can be deployed.
$10M+
Revenue Size
$3M-$15M+
EBITDA Size
$5M-$50M
Investment Size
OUR TEAM
Our team has decades of experience over numerous economic cycles and industries.
OUR DIVERSIFIED PORTFOLIO
We help companies accelerate growth, execute value-adding initiatives and complete add-on acquisitions.
CONTACT US
156 N. Jefferson Street, Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60661
ph 312.784.3990
Taylor Teague
Taylor Teague joined Promus in 2021 and serves as a vice president – private equity. He is actively involved in evaluating venture capital and private equity investments for clients. Taylor also conducts diligence on clients’ existing investment portfolios to provide incremental valuation and strategic business updates.
Taylor previously worked for Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking division in New York and prior that that, he held various corporate finance roles at GATX Corporation in Chicago.
Taylor earned his B.S. in finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and holds an MBA from The University of Chicago. Taylor lives in Chicago with his wife Katie and their two sons.
Bridget Downes
Bridget Downes joined Promus in 2021 and serves as an associate – investor operations. She is part of the investor relations team, distributing communications on behalf of the Promus strategies and managing the investor process post-subscription through investment cycle. In addition, she actively maintains the investor portal and CRM database.
She previously worked in operations at a fund of biotechnology hedge funds in Chicago.
Bridget earned her B.S. in financial planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She lives in Chicago and enjoys baking, running, and exploring the city.
Mike Weaver
Mike Weaver joined Promus in 2015 and serves as a vice president – private equity & real estate. He is actively involved in evaluating and executing new investment opportunities for the firm’s private equity and real estate strategies, including sourcing, due diligence and deal execution.
Mike previously served as a research analyst for the family office where he developed many of the processes and customized reporting tools needed to help families track their investments in a meaningful way. Prior to Promus he worked in the asset management group at Ventas, a leading healthcare real estate investment trust.
He earned his B.B.A.’s in finance and economics from the University of Iowa, and is a CFA charterholder. Mike lives in Chicago and enjoys spending time with his nieces and nephews.
Anders Rosenquist
Anders Rosenquist joined Promus in 2010 and serves as a a principal. He is actively involved in all aspects of the investment process for Promus Equity, the firm’s private equity direct investing strategy. This includes sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing and monitoring portfolio companies. Anders also serves on the boards of several companies in the strategy’s portfolio.
Before his current role, Anders was actively involved in many aspects of Promus’ initiatives and operations, including IT and reporting. Prior to Promus Anders worked for KeHE Distributors, where he held roles in finance, marketing, corporate development and merger integration.
He earned his B.S. in economics and information technology from North Park University. Anders lives in Chicago with his wife Emily and their two children.
David Code
David Code joined Promus in 2011 and serves as a principal. He is also an investment committee member for the firm’s real estate strategy, Promus Realty. David is actively involved in all aspects of the investment process for Promus Equity, the firm’s private equity direct investing strategy. This includes sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing and monitoring portfolio companies. He also serves on the boards of several companies in the strategy’s portfolio.
Prior to Promus he worked as an analyst at the investment bank Lincoln International.
David earned a B.A. in finance from University of Colorado. David lives in Chicago with his wife Mollie and their two children.
Adam Code
Adam Code joined Promus in 2018 and serves as a principal. Adam is actively involved in all aspects of the investment process for Promus Equity, the firm’s private equity direct investing strategy. This includes sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and managing and monitoring portfolio companies. He also serves on the boards of several companies in the strategy’s portfolio.
Adam brought 13 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions. Prior to Promus he worked for Creation Investments, an impact investment management company dedicated to private equity investments in the financial services industry. Before that he worked as an analyst in the investment banking department at William Blair & Company.
Adam earned his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He lives in Chicago with his wife Diana and their son.
Sarah Wuellner
Sarah Wuellner joined Promus as a partner in 2010. She serves as a senior leader of the firm’s private equity direct investing strategy, Promus Equity, and portfolio manager for the firm’s fund of private equity funds, Promus Access. In this dual capacity, Sarah is actively involved in all aspects of the firm’s private equity investment strategy, including sourcing, due diligence, portfolio construction, deal execution and overseeing active portfolio companies. In addition to her work at Promus, she is a board member for several of the Promus Equity portfolio companies.
Sarah brought 13 years of prior experience with mergers and acquisitions. Prior to Promus she was a principal at Wind Point Partners. She has also worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and General Motors.
Sarah holds a B.F.A. and an M.B.A., both from the University of Michigan. Sarah lives in Wilmette, Illinois with her husband Tom and their three children.
Steve Brown
Steve Brown joined Promus in 2012 and serves as a managing partner. He is focused on identifying, underwriting, closing and managing private equity investments. Additionally, Steve serves on the investment committees for Promus Access and Promus Realty. Steve is actively involved in the strategic and operational leadership of the firm. In addition to Steve’s work at Promus, he has served as a board member for numerous companies and nonprofits.
Steve brought over 21 years of experience to the firm. Prior to Promus he was a partner at CHS Capital, a middle-market private equity firm. While at CHS, he reviewed hundreds of investment opportunities while leading or participating in approximately 40 transactions across a variety of industries. Prior to that Steve worked at Heller Financial.
Steve holds a B.B.A. in business administration from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He lives in Golf, Illinois with his wife Carolyn and their three children.
Andy Code
Andy Code is a founder and partner of Promus. He is also the chairman. He is focused on identifying and managing private equity investments and serves on the investment committee for Promus Access. He is also very involved with business development for the firm.
Andy has over 30 years of experience investing and growing over 300 middle-market companies. During his career, Andy has served as a board member and advisor to numerous public and private companies. Prior to founding Promus, Andy was a founder and longtime partner of CHS Capital, a middle-market private equity firm. Before that he was vice president of Citicorp’s Leveraged Capital Group in Chicago.
Andy holds a B.A. in finance and an M.B.A. from the University of Iowa. He and his wife Susie live in Naples, Florida and enjoy spending time with their two children and grandchildren.
Amanda Curran
Amanda Curran joined Promus in 2012 and serves as a vice president. She participates in the funds-of-private equity funds strategy, Promus Access, which entails portfolio construction, due diligence, execution and managing portfolio investments. In addition to her current role, Amanda manages investor relations for all of Promus’ strategies.
Prior to her current role, Amanda served as a client service associate for the family office. Outside of Amanda’s work at Promus, she is a member of the Metropolitan & Legal Aid Associate Board.
Amanda holds a B.S. in brain, behavior, and cognitive science from the University of Michigan. She lives in Salt Lake City with her husband Tim and enjoys traveling and skiing.
Sam MacKenzie
Sam MacKenzie joined Promus in 2020 and serves as a senior associate. He is actively involved in evaluating and executing new investment opportunities for the firm’s private equity strategy, including sourcing, due diligence and deal execution.
Sam previously served as an investment banking analyst at Lincoln International where he executed sell-side and buy-side M&A transactions in the healthcare group.
Sam earned his B.A. in economics from Vanderbilt University. He lives in Chicago with his wife Chelsea and enjoys exercising, golfing, chess and playing fetch with his dog Willis.
Landon Pitt
Landon Pitt joined Promus in 2017 and serves as a vice president – strategic relationships. He manages the fundraising process for Promus’ strategies, ensures timely and accurate release of capital calls and distributions, and oversees all client-facing documentation and reporting related to these strategies. In addition to his role in IR, he also assists the private equity team with certain aspects of the investment process, including new fund sourcing and evaluation, due diligence, deal execution, and value creation analysis for underlying portfolio companies.
Landon graduated from the University of Missouri with a B.B.A. in finance and real estate. He currently resides in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago and enjoys mountain biking, fishing and exploring new restaurants.