FDH Aero Names Ian Walsh as Chief Executive Officer

COMMERCE, Calif., Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FDH Aero (“FDH”), a global provider of supply chain solutions for the aerospace and defense industry, announced today that Ian Walsh has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Walsh succeeds Scott Tucker, who will continue to support FDH in an advisory capacity as its non-executive chairman, focused on strategy and M&A efforts.

Walsh brings over 35 years of executive leadership across the U.S. Marine Corps, commercial and general aviation, defense, and industrial end markets to FDH. Most recently, Walsh served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kaman Aerospace Corporation, a provider of highly engineered components and subsystems to commercial aviation, aerospace, defense and medical end-markets. At Kaman, Walsh led the evolution of the global company into customer-centric operating segments. Prior to that, Walsh was COO at REV Group, Inc., a provider of specialty vehicles and related aftermarket parts, and spent more than 15 years in operational and P&L leadership at Textron, Inc. At both companies, Walsh drove new product development and process optimization. Earlier in his career, he served as an officer and naval aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps with combat tours in Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia. He is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt in operations and continuous improvement.

“On behalf of the Board, we want to thank Scott for his commitment and vision, founding FDH 17 years ago and building it into a global customer-first supply chain solutions partner for aerospace and defense customers,” said David Wong, Partner at Audax Private Equity. “Under Scott’s leadership, the company completed 13 acquisitions and expanded globally into Europe and Asia. We welcome Ian and are excited for FDH’s continued momentum under his leadership.”

“FDH has a reputation as a forward-thinking partner, able to solve complex supply chain challenges for global OEMs and MRO providers,” said Walsh. “I am honored to join the exceptional team at FDH that Scott built, and I look forward to advancing our mission as a value-added supply chain solutions partner to our customers and stakeholders.”

“Ian is an established leader, whose experience and achievements in the aerospace and defense industry are matched only by his aptitude for leadership, innovation, and operational excellence,” noted Tucker. “As we continue investing behind our capabilities in service of our customers, FDH is primed for its next stage of growth under Ian’s stewardship.”

About FDH Aero
FDH Aero is a trusted global supply chain solutions partner for aerospace and defense companies, helping to shape the industry by simplifying the supply chain. With over 60 years of experience, it specializes in hardware, electrical, consumables and expendables, licensed products, and value-added services for global OEM and aftermarket customers. FDH is headquartered in Commerce, California, and has operations across the Americas, EMEA and APAC. FDH Aero – named a Best Places to Work in Aviation in 2024 – has locations in 14 countries across the globe, with more than 1,500 best-in-industry employees and over 650,000 square feet of inventory space.

For more information, please visit the FDH Aero website.

About Audax Private Equity

Headquartered in Boston, with offices in San Francisco, New York, and London, Audax Private Equity manages three strategies: its Flagship and Origins private equity strategies, seeking control buyouts in the core middle and lower middle markets, respectively, and its Strategic Capital strategy that provides customized equity solutions to PE-backed portfolio companies to help drive continued growth.

With approximately $19 billion of assets under management as of June 2024, over 280 employees, and 100-plus investment professionals, Audax has invested in more than 170 platforms and 1,350 add-on acquisitions since its founding in 1999. Through our disciplined Buy & Build approach, across six core industry verticals, Audax seeks to help portfolio companies execute organic and inorganic growth initiatives with the aim of fueling revenue expansion, optimizing operations, and significantly increasing equity value. For more information, visit www.audaxprivateequity.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Contact
Heather Rosenow
Vice President, Global Marketing & Communications
mediarelations@fdhaero.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b07fe509-63f7-4a63-8658-b7665eacd5ab