The KMG Team
Our team has broad healthcare experience gained from many years in senior executive positions and medical leadership, combined with diverse skillsets and experience within numerous segments of healthcare. More information »
Through board positions, we participate actively in our portfolio companies, assisting them in achieving long-term growth and success.
Mats L. Wahlström, Partner and Executive Chairman
KMG Capital Partners LLC
Mats Wahlström has 35 years of experience in the healthcare industry, having served as CEO and CFO of large international companies in the renal field. Mats currently serves as Executive Chairman of KMG Capital Partners LLC, and board member of PCI | HealthDev and Circuit Clinical. He also serves as a Lead Director and Chairman of the Audit/Finance Committee of Coherus Biosciences, a public biotech company. In addition, he currently serves on the board of Alteco Medical AB, a public company. Mats is chairman of the boards of Triomed AB and TriSalus Life Sciences.
From January 2004 through December 2009, Mats served as Co-CEO of Fresenius Medical Care North America, and from November 2002 through December 2009 as President and CEO of Fresenius Medical Services, which operated more than 1,700 dialysis clinics in the U.S. Prior to joining Fresenius Medical Care in 2002, he held various positions at Gambro AB, including President and CEO of Gambro North America, as well as CFO of the Gambro Group.
Mats has a BS in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Lund, Sweden.
Kerry R. Hicks, Partner, CEO and President
KMG Capital Partners LLC
Kerry R. Hicks served as Chairman (1998 – 2010) and Chief Executive Officer (1998 – 2012) of Healthgrades since the company’s inception, working to re-orient the healthcare industry and enable consumers to make informed decisions based on quality. As CEO and Chairman of the Board, Kerry led Healthgrades through eleven years of consistent growth as a publicly traded company, and then facilitated the sale of the business to Vestar Capital Partners for $295 million in 2010. Under his leadership, Healthgrades transformed into the premier destination for consumers seeking information on doctors and hospitals, growing to nearly one million daily visitors across its online properties. Kerry built Healthgrades from a predecessor company, Specialty Care Network, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer from 1995 to 1999. From 1985 to 1995 he served as Senior Vice President of LBA Healthcare Management (LBA).
Kerry received a Bachelor’s degree in Business and a Master’s degree in Information Systems from Colorado State University, where he also was the recipient of the 2001 College of Business Distinguished Alumni Award and was selected by the College of Business as the Spring 2001 Commencement speaker. In 2000, he was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Kerry currently serves as CEO and President of KMG Capital Partners LLC, Executive Chairman of Circuit Clinical, Co-Chairman of HW Investment Partners LLC, and serves on the boards of KMG Capital Partners LLC , Caduceus Medical Holdings, Inc. and TriSalus Life Sciences, as well as the Advisory Council of the Institute for Entrepreneurship at Colorado State University, and as a Senior Advisor to both Kitchen One-For-One and the SOX Place, which provide services to at-risk populations in the Denver area.
Gregg Sonnen, Partner and CFO
KMG Capital Partners LLC
Gregg brings a wealth of expertise to PCI Health | Dev and Caduceus Medical Holdings, Inc. with his experience in executive roles contributing to the management, operations, control and growth of financial services and healthcare-related companies. In particular, Gregg has an extensive background managing finance, accounting, and treasury organizations with responsibility for the associated financial planning and analyses, accounting and reporting, management and capital structure, information technology and control systems, as well as the identification and evaluation of strategic investment opportunities. Additionally, he has a significant background working with the SEC and in mergers and acquisitions.
Most recently, Gregg served as Senior VP/Chief Accounting Officer at First Data Corporation, a Fortune 250 Company, for five years. While at FDC, he served as an executive lead in the public spin out of The Western Union Company and the sale of FDC to KKR in one of the five biggest private equity LBO deals executed to that date. Prior to FDC, Gregg served as Senior VP/CFO of Gambro Healthcare (acquired by DaVita in 2004) where he spent more than 10 years, including time with affiliated companies. He began his career with 13 years at the public accounting firm Ernst & Young (and one of its predecessors, Arthur Young). Gregg currently serves on the boards of KMG Capital Partners LLC, Caduceus Medical Holdings, Inc., and PCI | HealthDev.
Mike Shanks, Partner and SVP/Treasurer
KMG Capital Partners LLC
Mike has 30 years of finance, accounting and operations experience in executive roles with Ernst & Young and Healthgrades. Most recently, Mike served as Senior Vice President of Finance for Healthgrades, where he was responsible for a variety of functional areas including corporate contracting, risk management, certain accounting functions and all tax related matters. During his 16 years with Healthgrades (and its predecessor, Specialty Care Network), Mike was actively involved in all corporate merger and acquisition related matters, including the 2010 sale of Healthgrades to Vestar Capital Partners. Prior to joining Healthgrades, Mike served as a Tax Consulting Senior Manager in the Denver office of Ernst & Young, LLP.
Mike received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Colorado State University and a Masters in Taxation from the University of Denver. He also is a Certified Public Accountant. Mike serves on the board of KMG Capital Partners LLC.
Kevin M. Smith, Partner and Strategic Advisor
KMG Capital Partners LLC
Kevin has extensive experience working with a wide range of businesses; from early stage, entrepreneurial ventures to multi-national Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining KMG in 2015, Kevin served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Colorado Institute for Drug, Device and Diagnostic Development, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, which he co-founded in 2008, to provide funding and management assistance to early stage, Colorado-based med-tech companies. Prior to CID4, Kevin was President of Gambro, Inc., the US holding company for the publicly-traded, Swedish-based Gambro Group, from 1998 until its acquisition by private equity investors in 2006. As a member of the Gambro AB Executive Committee, Kevin was actively involved in strategy matters and took lead roles in many projects including numerous acquisitions and the evaluation of new business opportunities. Before joining Gambro, he was a partner in the Denver and New York offices of Ernst & Young, specializing in entrepreneurial services and led the formation of E&Y’s Denver Life Sciences Practice. Kevin currently holds board positions with Donor Alliance, Green Sun Medical, JRF Ortho and Ossium Health. Previous life science company board positions include AlloSource, Flashback Technologies, LABS Inc., Sophono Inc. and Zynex. Kevin has also served as a member of the Audit and Corporate Responsibility Committee of Centura Health.
