O2 Investment Partners Taps Nick Lemire as Operating Partner

O2 Investment Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm managing over $2.8 billion across equipment rental, specialty distribution, and industrial services, has appointed Nick Lemire as Operating Partner — a move signaling the firm's intent to deepen operational firepower as competition for mid-market deals intensifies.

Lemire brings 25 years of experience scaling equipment-intensive businesses, most recently as Chief Operating Officer at Sunbelt Rentals, where he oversaw operations across a $7 billion rental equipment portfolio. Before that, he spent nearly two decades at United Rentals, rising to Senior Vice President of Operations and managing field teams across multiple U.S. regions.

The hire comes as O2 accelerates its buy-and-build strategy in fragmented industrial sectors. The firm's current portfolio includes companies like Neff Corporation (construction equipment rental), Parts Authority (automotive aftermarket distribution), and Warren CAT (Caterpillar dealer network) — businesses where operational improvement isn't just a value-add, it's the thesis.

"Nick's track record of driving efficiency and scale in asset-heavy businesses is exactly what our portfolio needs right now," said Matt Marzec, Managing Partner at O2, in the announcement. Translation: O2 isn't just buying companies and flipping them. It's embedding operators who've done the work before — and can do it faster the second time around.

The operating partner model has become table stakes in mid-market private equity, but not all OP hires are created equal. Some firms bring in former executives as advisors or board observers. Others — like O2 — embed them directly in portfolio operations, giving them budget authority and implementation mandates.

Lemire's role fits the latter category. According to the announcement, he'll work alongside O2's portfolio company management teams on procurement optimization, fleet utilization analytics, pricing strategy, and M&A integration — the blocking and tackling that separates 15% EBITDA margins from 22%.

This matters because the mid-market industrial sector is crowded. According to PitchBook data, over 180 private equity firms are actively pursuing equipment rental and distribution deals in North America, up from 142 in 2022. Purchase price multiples have climbed accordingly — median EBITDA multiples for industrial services deals hit 9.2x in Q4 2025, versus 7.8x three years prior.

When you're paying 9x-10x EBITDA, operational alpha isn't optional. It's the only way to generate returns that justify the entry price. Firms that can't demonstrably improve margins, working capital cycles, or asset turns will struggle to exit profitably when the next buyer is paying similar multiples.

Sunbelt Rentals is the second-largest equipment rental company in North America, operating over 900 locations and generating roughly $7 billion in annual revenue. Lemire joined in 2019 and spent the next several years overhauling field operations, standardizing pricing models, and integrating acquired businesses into a unified operating platform.

The results were quantifiable. Under Lemire's operational leadership, Sunbelt improved fleet utilization rates (the percentage of time equipment is rented vs. sitting idle) by over 400 basis points and reduced maintenance costs per unit by double digits through predictive analytics and centralized procurement. The company also accelerated integration timelines for bolt-on acquisitions, cutting the average integration period from 18 months to under 12.

Those capabilities map directly onto O2's portfolio. Neff Corporation, for example, operates in the same equipment rental category as Sunbelt, with similar fleet management challenges and regional fragmentation. Parts Authority faces margin pressure from online competitors and needs pricing sophistication. Warren CAT, as a Caterpillar dealer, sits at the intersection of equipment sales, parts distribution, and service — all asset-intensive, all operationally complex.

O2 isn't hiring Lemire to reinvent the wheel. It's hiring him because he's already solved these problems at scale — and can apply the playbook across multiple portfolio companies simultaneously.

Before Sunbelt, Lemire spent 18 years at United Rentals, the largest equipment rental company in the world. He started as a Regional Vice President and climbed to Senior Vice President of Operations, overseeing thousands of employees across multiple states. That tenure gave him experience managing distributed field teams — a critical skill when your portfolio companies operate dozens or hundreds of locations across fragmented geographies.

O2 Investment Partners has built its reputation on buy-and-build strategies in fragmented sectors. The firm typically acquires a platform company — often a regional leader with $50 million to $200 million in revenue — then rolls up smaller competitors to create scale and drive operational synergies.

But roll-ups are hard. Most fail to capture the synergies promised in the investment memo. According to Bain & Company research, fewer than 30% of private equity add-on acquisitions achieve their projected cost savings within the first 18 months. The failure mode is almost always operational: fragmented IT systems, incompatible pricing models, duplicative overhead that never gets eliminated.

This is where operators like Lemire earn their keep. His job isn't to make acquisitions — O2's deal team does that. His job is to make sure the acquisitions work. That means standardizing systems, consolidating vendor contracts, aligning comp structures, and training local managers on best practices. Unglamorous work. Also the work that determines whether the roll-up generates a 2.5x return or a 1.2x disappointment.

Matt Marzec, O2's Managing Partner, has been vocal about this philosophy. In a 2024 interview with Private Equity International, he argued that mid-market firms need to "out-operate, not out-bid" to win in competitive environments. Hiring Lemire is that philosophy in practice.

O2's portfolio reflects this focus. The firm has completed over 75 add-on acquisitions across its current fund, with an average integration timeline under 14 months — faster than the industry median of 18-20 months. That speed matters because it allows the firm to compound acquisitions more quickly, capturing market share and margin improvements sooner.

O2 competes for deals with firms like Audax Private Equity, CI Capital Partners, and Bain Capital Double Impact. All pursue similar buy-and-build strategies in industrial and business services sectors. The differentiator increasingly comes down to operational infrastructure — who has the deepest bench of operating partners, the most sophisticated value creation playbooks, and the fastest integration capabilities.

O2's team now includes four operating partners with sector-specific expertise: Lemire in equipment rental and industrial services, plus specialists in healthcare services, distribution, and business services. That compares favorably to most sub-$3 billion funds, which typically have two or fewer full-time operating partners.

The timing of Lemire's hire suggests O2 is gearing up for an active 12-18 months in equipment-intensive sectors. The firm is currently investing out of its third fund, a $1.25 billion vehicle raised in 2023. According to PitchBook, O2 has deployed roughly $800 million of that fund to date, leaving $400-$450 million in dry powder.

That capital will likely target new platforms or bolt-ons in sectors where Lemire's expertise applies: equipment rental adjacent to Neff, specialty distribution adjacent to Parts Authority, or industrial services businesses where fleet management and field operations are core competencies.

O2 is also likely preparing for exits in the next 12-24 months. The firm has held several portfolio companies for 4-5 years, nearing the typical hold period for mid-market buyouts. Bringing in Lemire now positions those companies for cleaner exits — stronger margins, better systems, more defensible market positions.

One question the announcement doesn't answer: How hands-on will Lemire actually be? Some operating partners spend 80% of their time in portfolio company offices, effectively functioning as interim COOs. Others work more strategically, advising management teams but leaving execution to existing leadership. The distinction matters because the former model generates faster results but requires more bandwidth from the operating partner.

There's a risk to hiring operators with deep expertise in one sector: they sometimes force-fit that playbook onto businesses where it doesn't apply. Lemire's experience is overwhelmingly in equipment rental, which is a specific operational model — high capital intensity, utilization-driven economics, regional fragmentation. That maps well onto Neff but less obviously onto Parts Authority or other distribution businesses.

The best operating partners adapt their frameworks to each business rather than applying them wholesale. Whether Lemire does that will determine how much value he creates across O2's portfolio versus just within the equipment rental vertical.

Lemire's hire reflects a shift in how mid-market PE firms compete. Ten years ago, the edge came from proprietary deal flow — knowing about a business before it hit the market. Today, most deals are broadly marketed through investment banks, and proprietary sourcing has become harder to sustain at scale.

The new edge is operational. Firms that can credibly demonstrate they'll improve a business — not just own it — win competitive auctions. That means bringing operators into the process early, having them meet with management teams during diligence, and showcasing specific improvement initiatives in the investment memo.

O2's hiring of Lemire fits squarely into this playbook. The firm isn't just announcing the hire to its portfolio companies — it's signaling to the market that it has operational depth, which makes it a more credible buyer when competing for the next platform acquisition.

This dynamic also explains why operating partner compensation has climbed sharply in recent years. According to Heidrick & Struggles, median total compensation for senior operating partners at $1-3 billion PE funds reached $850,000 in 2025, up from $620,000 in 2021. Firms are paying more because operators are harder to find and more critical to returns.

The success of this hire won't be evident for at least 18 months. By mid-2027, we'll have clearer signals: Did O2's portfolio companies improve margins faster than industry benchmarks? Did integration timelines shorten? Did the firm close more add-on acquisitions at lower multiples because sellers believed O2 could execute better post-close?

The harder question is whether Lemire's expertise transfers beyond equipment rental. If O2's thesis is that operational discipline matters across all asset-intensive businesses, then Lemire should add value to distribution, logistics, and services businesses too. If his impact clusters narrowly around Neff and similar companies, that's still valuable — but it's a narrower mandate than the announcement suggests.

One thing is certain: O2 is betting that operations matter more than deal flow in the next funding cycle. If that bet pays off, expect more mid-market firms to follow suit — hiring operators earlier, paying them more, and giving them broader mandates.

And if it doesn't? Well, there's always another deal to chase. But without the operators to make those deals work, the returns won't follow.

For Neff, Parts Authority, Warren CAT, and the rest of O2's portfolio, Lemire's arrival likely means faster implementation of operational improvements that have been discussed but not fully executed. Expect procurement consolidation initiatives, pricing model standardization, and fleet utilization dashboards to accelerate over the next 6-12 months.

It also means more rigorous M&A integration. Any add-on acquisitions O2 closes in 2026 will likely go through Lemire's integration framework — standardized IT systems, unified vendor contracts, aligned comp structures — within the first year. That's faster than most mid-market firms achieve, and it compounds the value of each incremental acquisition.

For O2's limited partners — the pension funds, endowments, and family offices that invest in the firm's funds — this hire is a signal that operational discipline remains central to the firm's strategy. In a fundraising environment where differentiation is hard, that story matters.

The real test? Whether O2's next fund raises on the strength of operational track record rather than just IRR history. If Lemire and the firm's other operating partners deliver measurable improvements across the portfolio, that becomes the pitch. And in 2026, that might be the pitch that wins.