Kevin Collins, Senior Advisor

Kevin Collins – Senior Advisor

Kevin Collins is a Senior Advisor at Sun Acquisitions, where he advises business owners on the confidential sale, acquisition, and valuation of privately held companies in the lower middle market. He focuses on transactions between $2.5 million and $15 million in enterprise value, with particular expertise in the food industry, manufacturing, and transportation sectors across the Midwest.

Career Background

Before joining Sun Acquisitions, Kevin spent over 15 years in senior leadership and C-suite roles across the food and beverage industry. He served as Chief Operating Officer of Restaurant Depot, one of the largest wholesale food distributors in the United States. Prior to that, he was Head of Revenue Growth Management at Beam Suntory, the global spirits company.

Kevin held multiple positions at Sysco, the largest foodservice distribution company in North America, over a four-year period from 2014 to 2017. He served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sysco Chicago, overseeing financial operations for one of the company’s major metropolitan divisions. Earlier roles at Sysco included Senior Director of Revenue Management for the Midwest Region and Director of Finance at the corporate level.

Kevin also served as Head of North America for REKKI, a technology platform connecting restaurants with food suppliers, from 2019 to 2021.

Published Work & Harvard Business School Case Study

While working at Elkay Manufacturing, Kevin was part of the team that designed and implemented an activity-based costing system for the company’s plumbing products division. The project was subsequently documented as a Harvard Business School case study by Professor Robert S. Kaplan (“Elkay Plumbing Products Division,” HBS Case 110-007, 2009). The case is used in MBA programs to teach time-driven activity-based costing methodology.

Kevin has also been published in Financial Executive Magazine, where his article “Total Profitability Management: Is Your Company Doing It?” appeared in the September 2012 issue.

Industry Expertise

Kevin’s transaction experience and career background give him particular depth in food distribution, food manufacturing, and food catering services. His closed transactions include the sale of Delicious Unlimited, a Northern Illinois early childhood catering company delivering over 20,000 meals daily to more than 200 locations, to Saturn Five, a private equity firm. The transaction closed at an enterprise value in the $10–15 million range at a multiple above 5x EBITDA, following a competitive process that generated more than five qualified offers.

Beyond the food sector, Kevin has advised on transactions in machine manufacturing, student transportation, asphalt and paving construction, and screen printing. He managed the sale of Converting Systems Inc., a Schaumburg, Illinois–based manufacturer of custom product line machinery, navigating the transaction through a period of newly imposed U.S. tariffs and a significant SBA lending rule change that threatened to derail the deal at closing.

Transaction Profile

Kevin handles sell-side advisory, buy-side advisory, business valuation, and due diligence coordination. He works primarily with private equity firms and family offices as acquirers. His geographic focus is Chicagoland, Illinois, and the broader Midwest region.

Education

Kevin holds an MBA from Northern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Community Involvement

Kevin serves on the Board of Directors of the Naperville Saints Football Organization and previously served on the Board of The Harbour, a nonprofit supporting homeless children. He is based in the western suburbs of Chicago.