AEA Elevate Adds Experienced Operating Professionals to Further Accelerate Portfolio Value Creation

Preston Hayes Joins as Head of Portfolio M&A and Capital Markets; Kirk Goodman Joins as Head of Portfolio Go-To-Market

NEW YORK, Feb. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- AEA Elevate, AEA Investors' professional services-focused growth buyout investment strategy, today announced the continued expansion of its team with the additions of Preston Hayes as Head of Portfolio M&A and Capital Markets and Kirk Goodman as Head of Portfolio Go‑To‑Market. These appointments build out AEA Elevate's dedicated operating expertise, further strengthening the team's resources to support value creation across its portfolio of technology‑enabled business services, healthcare services, and software companies.

"The AEA Elevate platform is designed to help our partner companies accelerate growth and strengthen their competitive advantages," said Ravi Sarin, Partner at AEA Elevate. "We are excited to add Preston and Kirk to our team, expanding the support we can bring to our portfolio companies. They are both a strong cultural fit for AEA Elevate and how we partner with businesses."

"We have established a repeatable value creation playbook that supports growth and measurable results across our portfolio companies," said Jason Friedrichs, Partner, Portfolio Growth at AEA Elevate. "Preston and Kirk deepen this capability in areas that have become increasingly important as businesses mature, further strengthening our ability to partner with management teams to accelerate growth and scale leading businesses."

Mr. Hayes brings extensive experience supporting companies in a range of industries across financial strategy, capital markets, and transaction execution. He previously served in the Private Equity Group at Ares Management, where he worked alongside members of the AEA Elevate team on transactional and operational initiatives, and he more recently focused on tech-enabled services investments at Penn Hill Capital.

"AEA Elevate has built a strong reputation for its consistent and effective approach to partnering with management teams," said Mr. Hayes. "I am thrilled to join this best-in-class group and support portfolio companies on M&A execution and financial planning as they manage heightened financial and operational complexity."

Mr. Goodman joins AEA Elevate with significant experience leading commercial organizations at high‑growth, technology‑enabled healthcare and business services companies. His background includes leading sales and business development efforts across a range of companies, as well as advising businesses on growth strategy and sales operations at Boston Consulting Group.

"I am excited to join AEA Elevate and closely partner with its impressive team and portfolio companies," said Mr. Goodman. "As someone who has spent his career building and leading commercial organizations at growing businesses, I look forward to working alongside management teams to strengthen go‑to‑market execution as they scale and compete in increasingly demanding markets."

AEA Elevate partners with professional services companies to accelerate growth with technology and artificial intelligence. Offering control as well as non-control equity capital, the team takes a solutions-oriented approach to developing investments that are suited to companies' objectives and best position them to scale. Targeting innovative businesses across the healthcare services, tech-enabled business services, and software sectors, AEA Elevate's purpose-built team of investment and operating professionals works alongside leading management teams and entrepreneurs to drive long-term value creation. AEA Elevate leverages its SLATE Framework to help portfolio companies enhance unit economics and service delivery through digital transformation – turning ambition into technology-enabled results.

About AEA Investors

AEA Investors ("AEA") was founded in 1968 by the Rockefeller, Mellon, and Harriman family interests and S.G. Warburg & Co. as a private investment vehicle for a select group of industrial family offices with substantial assets. AEA has an extraordinary global network built over many years which includes leading industrial families, business executives, and leaders, many of whom invest with AEA as active individual investors, join its portfolio company boards, or act in other advisory roles. Today, AEA's over 110 investment professionals operate globally with offices in New York, Stamford, Jacksonville, San Francisco, London, Munich, and Shanghai. The firm manages funds that have approximately $18 billion of invested and committed capital including the leveraged buyouts of middle market and small business companies, growth capital, and private debt investments. For more information, visit www.aeainvestors.com. 

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SOURCE AEA Investors