Walter Capital taps Dundee Sarea’s Sam Ramadori as managing partner

Walter Capital Partners has hired Sam Ramadori as a managing partner, according to a news release.

Ramadori joins Walter Capital from Dundee Sarea, a mid-market special-situations investor affiliated with Canadian holding company Dundee Corp. It launched in 2015 with the backing of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and a Renaud family vehicle.

Ramadori was one of Dundee Sarea’s managing partners.

Previously, Ramadori spent nearly eight years as a vice president in the private equity group of Brookfield Asset Management. Before then, he was a consultant with Bain & Co.

Montréal-based Walter Capital was established three years ago by its parent, family office Walter Group of Cos.

Last December, Walter Group doubled its commitment to the firm to $200 million.

Walter Capital invests in the growth strategies of small and midsized companies in a range of industries in Canada. To date, it has disclosed six deals, including Montréal orthopedic-tech maker Ergoresearch, which the firm helped take private earlier in 2018.

Other recent investments include Montréal fashion-eyewear retailer BonLook and Vancouver omnichannel grocery company Spud.ca.

Walter Capital partners with Watermill Group, a Lexington, Massachusetts, PE firm, in part to give Canadian portfolio companies access to U.S. growth opportunities.

Ramadori will oversee Walter Capital’s operations alongside Éric Phaneuf, a managing partner since 2015.

In June, Walter Group unveiled a new PE platform, Walter Global Asset Management, to invest in small and midsized players in North America’s asset-management sector.

Walter Group was founded in 1952 by Walter Somers. Its current chair and chief executive is Pierre Somers.

Update: This week, Walter Group sold a majority stake in Walter Surface Technologies, a Pointe-Claire, Québec-based provider of metal working solutions, to ONCAP.