Clearspring Capital Partners Team

Larry joined Clearspring in 2006 as a Managing Director. Larry is involved in all aspects of Clearspring's business. In particular, Larry takes a leading role in facilitating the growth of Clearspring's portfolio companies. He is currently active with several of Clearspring's investee companies which are leaders in their business segments in Canada. Currently, he serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Demers Ambulances, Telecon, Traditours, Regal and Tecnic. Prior to joining Clearspring, Larry’s career has included founding and serving as CEO of Chapters Inc., one of Canada’s leading retail companies, supported by a private equity group. He has also been CEO of a multi-billion dollar U.S. publicly-traded company and the co-founder (with Joseph Shlesinger) in 1989 of Bain & Company in Canada which he led from inception until 1993. Prior to that, he was with Bain London from 1983 until 1989 and was the head of Bain’s European M&A practice. When he left Bain, Larry led the buyouts of SmithBooks in 1994 and Coles (Canada’s two largest book retailers) in 1995 and created Chapters Inc. Chapters revolutionized book retailing in Canada and was listed on the TSX. Larry was selected as Ontario’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 1997, and in 2000 Chapters was awarded the Innovative Retailer of the Year Award. Larry then led Pep Boys, a $2 billion NYSE-listed company in the automotive service and retail industry as CEO from 2003 until 2006. Pep Boys was a turnaround situation with a massive short-term debt load. Larry strengthened the balance sheet and helped drive the stock price up 63% during his time as CEO. Larry attended the Royal Military College and served as a Captain in the Canadian Airborne Regiment. Larry served four years and then received his MBA from the Harvard Business School and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal Military College in 2010. He was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 1995. He has served on the Boards of Directors of some of Canada's largest and most successful companies over the past 20 years including CAE, Oshawa Foods, Forzani and Sobeys. He served on the SNC Lavalin Board for 18 years and as Chairman of the Board for his final 3 years. Larry also served as the Chairman of the retail Council of Canada. He has also served on numerous not-for-profit boards in Canada, including the Stratford Festival, as well as served as the Honourary Colonel of the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada. He was honoured in November 2022 with the Founders Award from the Fraser Institute, Canada's leading conservative think-tank. His video and speech from the event are available in the news section of our website.