$100M Exits with Jason Kirby · 2026-05-21 · 47 min
From buying a messy manufacturing business with 26 plants to building a $100M EBITDA powerhouse, here's how it really happened. For two decades, Eric Wiklendt has bought manufacturing businesses most PE firms avoid - and turned them into massively more valuable companies. Eric Wicklendt, Partner and Managing Director at Speyside Equity, has built a career around acquiring underloved, underperforming manufacturing businesses and transforming them into platforms worth exponentially more than what they paid. In this episode, Eric breaks down the real story behind Speyside's origin, their signature "fix and build" strategy, and the Opta deal that became a masterclass in manufacturing transformation. He shares why most PE firms rely on hope as a strategy, how free cash flow tells the truth EBITDA can hide, and what it actually takes to turn around a business with 26 manufacturing plants in 18 months. If you're a founder, operator, or investor in the manufacturing space, this episode is packed with hard-earned, battle-tested insight.
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