Doug Korn

Personal life and education

Doug Korn earned a bachelor's degree with honors from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and an MBA from Harvard Business School with high distinction as a George F. Baker Scholar.

Korn has been associated with numerous charitable organizations in recent years. He received a presidential appointment to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council in April 2008 and currently serves as Regional Co-Chair of the Museum's National Campaign Committee. He is currently a member of the Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education and Chair of UJA- Federation of NY's Private Equity Division. He also previously served as a Trustee of Greenwich Academy.

Career

Korn founded Victor Capital Partners, a private equity firm, in late 2015. Korn was an investment partner at Irving Place Capital (formerly Bear Stearns Merchant Banking) from 1999 through July 2015 and was a Senior Advisor to Irving Place Capital from July 2015 to July 2017. His former portfolio company boards at Irving Place Capital and Bear Stearns Merchant Banking include Aearo Technologies, Chromalox, CH4 Energy II, Ironshore Insurance, Playcore, Reddy Ice, Victor Technologies, and Vitamin Shoppe.

Irving Place Capital agreed in February 2014 to sell Victor Technologies to Colfax Corporation for $947.3 million including the assumption of debt. IPC owned Victor since 2010 when it took the company (then known as Thermadyne Holdings) private in a transaction that valued the company at about $417 million. During its holding period, Victor expanded its global manufacturing footprint, consolidated its brand portfolio, and accelerated new product development, among other initiatives. Its sale to Colfax is said to generate a more than 3x return and an IRR above 50% for IPC.

IPC announced its sale of PlayCore to another private equity firm in May 2014 for an undisclosed price. During IPC's ownership, PlayCore completed nine strategic acquisitions which enhanced its product offering and allowed it to reach a broader customer base.

IPC's investment in Vitamin Shoppe was named Middle Market Deal of the Year by Buyouts Magazine in 2011. The investment in Vitamin Shoppe was also recognized by the Private Equity Growth Capital Council for its success in adding over 400 stores (starting with 128) and over 2500 American jobs. Vitamin Shoppe was purchased by IPC's predecessor in 2002 for a value estimated by the Wall Street Journal at about $300 million.

IPC's predecessor sold Aearo Technologies for $765 million in February, 2006 after paying a reported $381 million for the company, then called Aearo Safety, two years earlier. The $80 million investment was reported by the Indianapolis Business Journal to have returned an estimated 4.1x on BSMB's investment.

In February 2015, Fosun International Ltd. completed the purchase of a 20% interest in Ironshore for a reported $463.8 million. In November, Fosun purchased the remaining 80% of Ironshore for a reported $1.84 billion.

On May 25, 2017, UK public company Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire Chromalox for $415 million. On July 3, 2017 Spirax-Sarco announced the completion of that transaction.

Previously, Korn was a co-founder of Eos Partners, LP, serving as a Managing Director from 1994 to 1998. He also served as a Vice President at Blackstone Group after beginning his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley & Co.

Political activities

Korn was a major backer of Rudy Giuliani during the primaries for the 2008 presidential elections, and Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential elections.