Bio

Mr. Richards is a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Investment-Operating Team in North America. Prior to joining Strategic Value Partners in 2023, Mr. Richards was with Advent International, where he was a senior member of the Portfolio Support Group for 14 years and head of the North American Operations Advisor program, a team of functional expert former CXOs that partnered with Advent’s portfolio companies. While at Advent, Mr. Richards worked with portfolio companies across many sectors and held responsibility for Advent’s investments in lululemon athletica, TransUnion, Orveon, Accentcare, and Bojangles. Prior to Advent, Mr. Richards spent time at Bain & Company, consulting for PE firms and their portfolio companies, and A.T. Kearney, advising companies on operational cost improvements. Mr. Richards began his career at Kraft Foods as an engineer in the R&D group driving new product launches and cost saving initiatives. Mr. Richards received an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.S. in Engineering from Purdue University’s College of Engineering.