Acertitude Recruits CEO for PE-Backed Zep Inc.
May 19, 2026 – Acertitude has placed Tim Feast as the new CEO of Zep Inc., a Truelink Capital portfolio company. The search was led by partner, Geoff Votta and principal, Rod Vaughan with support from Matthew Marasco and Maryanne Santospirito. Mr. Feast steps into the role with a mandate to accelerate growth, sharpen execution, and lead Zep into its next phase of performance, building on the brand’s 89-year legacy as the go-to cleaning solution for professionals and consumers across a multitude of industries.
The appointment comes less than a year after Truelink Capital, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm focused on growth and long-term value creation, completed its acquisition of Zep in July 2025. That transition marked a pivotal new chapter for the company, bringing fresh resources, strategic ambition, and a commitment to accelerating growth through commercial initiatives, operational excellence, and strategic M&A.
“Tim is the right leader to take Zep forward,” said Todd Golditch, co-founder and managing partner of Truelink Capital. “Since closing our acquisition of Zep last year, we’ve seen the strength of this brand and the great opportunity in front of us. Tim’s track record of building high-performance teams and delivering results across complex, multi-channel businesses makes him uniquely suited to drive the next phase of Zep’s evolution. We’re confident in his ability to accelerate growth and unlock the full potential of what this company can become.”
Mr. Feast is a proven operator with nearly three decades of senior leadership experience across consumer packaged goods, specialty manufacturing, and private equity-backed businesses. He comes to Zep having most recently served in CEO roles across the consumer and industrial sectors, building a career defined by transformational performance improvement and successful outcomes for stakeholders.
His experience includes a role as president and chief operating officer of PurposeBuilt Brands, a private equity-owned portfolio of specialty consumer cleaning brands, where he led the operational transformation that supported a successful sponsor exit. Before that, Mr. Feast served as president of personal care at KIK Custom Products, where he engineered a significant performance turnaround of the contract manufacturer of personal care, household, and beauty products, culminating in a successful sale to a new private equity sponsor.
“Zep is an incredible brand with a foundation that is the envy of this industry, trusted by professionals for 85 years and increasingly by consumers who demand real performance,” said Mr. Feast. “I’m excited to join the Zep team and our partners at Truelink Capital to capture the significant opportunities ahead of us. We have a clear focus: prioritize what matters, invest in our people, execute with intensity, and win together.”
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Zep, Inc. is an innovator, producer, and distributor of maintenance, cleaning, and sanitation solutions for industrial and institutional, retail, and food & beverage customers.
Acertitude is a global executive search firm and leadership consultancy committed to unleashing human potential. The firm works alongside ambitious private equity and portfolio companies to build leadership teams that drive impact, strengthening businesses at every stage of the deal lifecycle. With deep expertise across business services, consumer, healthcare, industrials, infrastructure, private equity, and technology, the firm’s consultants operate in North America and EMEA. Acertitude delivers executive search, assessment, and pre-deal solutions that help investors and executives make critical leadership decisions.
Proven Search Consultants
Mr. Votta brings nearly 20 years of executive search experience to his role as partner, discovering, engaging, and placing private equity CEO, CFO, and executive leadership talent across industrial manufacturing and distribution, B2B services, and FMCG manufacturing and distribution. He is known for understanding the evolving PE landscape, tracking exit data, and moving executive talent through the deal lifecycle. He has a proven track record of more than 500 executive searches, hiring talent to lead the strategic vision and the deployment of strategy and change management associated with large scale transformation: turnaround, M&A integration, commercial transformation and excellence, digital transformation, and operational process improvement initiatives. He is an expert at identifying corporate culture and building leadership teams designed for PE pace and rigor.
Mr. Vaughan is a principal in Acertitude’s consumer & industrial practice, where he delivers end-to-end search execution for private equity-backed and publicly traded companies. Partnering closely with firm leaders, he drives every stage of the search process – from developing research strategy and crafting compelling go-to-market narratives, to managing client relationships, mentoring junior consultants, and delivering best-in-class candidates. His expertise spans an array of senior-level roles across renewables, manufacturing, clean technology, and broader industrial sectors.
Mr. Marasco is an analyst in the consumer and industrial practices at Acertitude, where he provides strategic insights to help leading investors and PE-backed companies build high-impact executive teams and boards. His role focuses on crafting tailored talent pools for active searches and conducting proactive market mapping to uncover top leadership talent.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
