Team
At Ranch Creek Partners we strive to differentiate ourselves through the integrity, creativity and persistence of our people.
J.D. Kritser
Founder and Managing Partner
J.D. Kritser is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ranch Creek Partners. J.D. is a seasoned private equity and public market investor who brings to the table over 20 years of investment experience across a broad range of asset classes, industry sectors and global geographies.
Prior to founding Ranch Creek, Mr. Kritser was a partner at Steelhead Partners, LLC, a long-short equity hedge fund, where he worked for 10 years and had responsibility for portfolio management, investment analysis, structuring investments, hedging, and corporate restructurings for the Steelhead Navigator Fund. Before joining Steelhead, J.D. was an associate at Newbridge Capital, LLC, an Asia-focused private equity fund formed by Texas Pacific Group (TPG) and Blum Capital Partners. J.D. was responsible for the firm's entry into the Australian market, helping to build the business there from the ground up. J.D. was also an investment banking analyst for Lazard Freres & Co. in its mergers and acquisitions group in New York, where he advised global companies across a wide range of industries and geographies.
Mr. Kritser is President of Rainier Welding and Chairman of the Board of Patriot Erectors, OneCor Services, and Apposite Technologies. He is also a Board member of Trillium Agriculture.
Mr. Kritser earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Washington & Lee University, where he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He also received his M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. J.D. serves as Treasurer and an executive committee board member for YouthCare, the largest agency in the greater Seattle area providing the continuum of services to homeless youth (www.youthcare.org).
Tom McHugh
Partner
Tom joined Ranch Creek Partners in 2019 as a Vice President. He has responsibility for all aspects of deal sourcing, transaction execution and portfolio management.
Prior to joining Ranch Creek, Tom was a Senior Associate at Resilience Capital Partners, a special situations private equity firm based in Cleveland, OH. While there, he participated in the acquisition and management of the firm’s investments in a variety of industries, including aerospace and defense, heavy industry and business services.
Prior to Resilience, Tom was an Associate in the M&A Department at BNP Paribas, a Jr. Associate in the Equity Research Department at Morgan Stanley and an Analyst in the M&A Department at HT Capital Advisors, all in New York.
Tom graduated from Northeastern University in Boston with a B.S. in Finance & Accounting Management.