Ernest Waaser Joins Linden as Operating Partner
Chicago, Illinois (August 6, 2014) – Linden Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on healthcare, today announced the addition of Ernest Waaser as an Operating Partner. Mr. Waaser will partner with Linden’s Medical Products team in identifying, purchasing, and growing medical products companies. Mr. Waaser joins Linden from Systagenix, a sponsor-backed divestiture of Johnson & Johnson’s wound care unit, where he served as CEO and led the business turnaround and recent sale to KCI, a strategic acquirer.
Mr. Waaser is a veteran operator and medical products executive who spent the first 18 years of his career with DuPont rotating through roles in research & development, operations, marketing, strategic planning, and general management. In the nearly two decades following his career at DuPont, Mr. Waaser held top leadership positions at a number of healthcare businesses, including President of Teleflex Medical, CEO of Hill-Rom, and EVP & COO of Sterling Diagnostic Imaging, a leveraged buy-out of DuPont’s medical imaging assets. Mr. Waaser served on the board of AdvaMed and on the advisory board of Xavier University Department of Health Administration. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Mississippi State University and a Master of Engineering from University of South Carolina.
“Through my work with Linden evaluating several transactions, I have come to appreciate not only the rigor and depth of Linden’s diligence process, but also the model of leveraging operating partner expertise at all junctures of the investment cycle,” said Mr. Waaser. “I’m thrilled to team up with Linden’s Investment Professionals and Operating Partners as we select our next growth platform.”
“Linden is excited to partner with Ernest in further expanding our Medical Products sector effort,” said Brian Miller, a Managing Partner at Linden. “Ernest has a proven track record of growing and exiting private equity owned healthcare businesses. He is an operator at his core, and ideally complements our Medical Products team, which has been active in Medtech for the last decade.”