Skip to main content

Who We Are

Route 2 Capital Partners is a private investment firm providing flexible junior capital solutions to lower middle market companies. Grounded in intellectual honesty and institutional discipline, our team brings extensive investment, transactional and operational expertise to create strong partnerships with portfolio companies.

Route 2 Capital Partners works to understand each business and strives to be a patient financial partner with access to dependable, flexible and solutions-driven capital. The Partners have spent the bulk of their collective 100+ years working in and identifying opportunities across the southern United States, and they have a demonstrated track record of strengthening established, profitable and growing companies with strong management teams.

At Route 2 Capital Partners We:
  • Prioritize long-term relationships
  • Provide a unique blend of private equity, credit and operational expertise
  • Originate, structure and execute transactions in a thoughtful manner to satisfy all parties
  • Move quickly and efficiently during the transaction process
  • Bring tenured experience across a range of investment capital structures
  • Leverage existing industry networks to create value in each company

People

J. Scott Kester

Managing Partner

Managing Partner

Scott is a Founding Partner of Route 2 Capital Partners and brings almost three decades of operational, P&L, and investment experience to the firm. Prior to R2CP, Scott served as Controller/Treasurer of Sherman Financial Group, LLC where he was responsible for management of Sherman’s enterprise cash flow and credit facilities, as well as Financial Reporting, Treasury Operations and Benefits/Payroll. He joined the company at its founding in 1998 and was the #3 employee of a business line that grew to over 500 employees, serving as EVP Finance for that division, as well as running one of its major business lines. Prior to joining Sherman, Scott worked in Investment Banking for Insignia Financial Group and as a licensed CPA at Ernst & Young.

Scott graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Furman University, and he and his wife Shelley have two daughters and reside in Charleston. He has been involved in numerous charitable organizations in both Greenville and Charleston including the One80 Place, United Way, Triune Mercy Center, Greenville Area Interfaith Hospitality Network and Young Life.

R. Patrick Weston, CFA

Managing Partner

Managing Partner

Patrick is a Founding Partner of Route 2 Capital and has spent the bulk of his nearly three-decade career sourcing and managing lower middle market private equity investments across the South. He previously worked at Liberty Capital Advisors (an investment management subdivision of Liberty Corporation), Transamerica Mezzanine Financing, Inc, and most recently at Azalea Capital, where he was Managing Partner and helped raise four private equity funds focused on lower middle market investments. He has also participated on the boards of numerous portfolio companies.

Patrick received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Finance from the University of South Carolina, Cum Laude (where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma) and a Masters of Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Mr. Weston is also a Chartered Financial Analyst. He is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth, the Southern Capital Forum and the CFA Society South Carolina. Patrick and his wife Abbe reside in Greenville with their three children. He currently serves as an Advisory Board Member of the Carolina Motor Club, Inc. (AAA Carolinas) and is a member of the Boards of the Community Foundation of Greenville, the Business Development Corporation of South Carolina, and serves as the Vice Chair for the SBIC Council at the SBA.

Jay S. White

Managing Partner

Managing Partner

Jay is a Founding Partner of Route 2 Capital and brings significant investment experience across a wide range of capital structures, industries and regions of the country, but specifically nearly three decades in the Southeastern U.S. He previously served as a Director for Alternative Assets for Sherman Financial Group, LLC, a Senior Vice President at Prudential Financial where he originated, structured and managed private corporate investments across the Southeastern U.S. During his 11 years at Prudential, Jay invested approximately $4 billion in debt and equity investments ranging from senior fixed income to common equity and represented Prudential’s interest through various corporate board affiliations. In addition to his investing experience, Jay held various roles in structured, leveraged and syndicated finance at Suntrust Robinson Humphrey (now Truist) and Chase Manhattan Bank (now JPMorgan).

Jay received his Bachelor of Arts with honors in Modern Languages from The Citadel and his Masters of Business Administration from the Darden School at the University of Virginia. He is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth and serves on the Board of Directors of The Citadel Trust.  Jay and his wife live in Charleston with their three children.

W. Spalding White, Jr.

Managing Partner

Managing Partner

Spalding is a Founding Partner of Route 2 Capital Partners, and he possesses deep knowledge and experience in lower middle market mezzanine and equity investing, specifically spending the past two decades directly investing in this market. Prior to R2CP, Spalding served as Managing Partner/Founder of Salem Halifax Capital Partners, an SBIC mezzanine fund. While at Salem Halifax and its predecessor fund, Salem Capital Partners, Spalding actively participated in over 30 mezzanine investments through sourcing, underwriting, monitoring, and managing all aspects of the investments, as well as on numerous portfolio companies’ corporate boards. Spalding has also worked at SunTrust Equity Partners and SunTrust Bank in both Atlanta and New York, where he held various credit and relationship management positions.

Spalding received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The Citadel and his Masters of Business Administration from the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University. He is the Past President of the Southern Region Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA) and a member of the Association for Corporate Growth and the Southern Capital Forum. Spalding and his wife Brittany have five children and reside in Atlanta. Spalding currently serves as Board Member and Treasurer for the Atlanta Citadel Club, as well on the Board of the Southern region of the SBIA.

Aaron T. Katzman

Vice President

Vice President

Aaron joined Route 2 Capital Partners as a Vice President and is responsible with sourcing new investment opportunities, due diligence, deal execution and portfolio monitoring. Previously Aaron spent four years on the investment team at Patriot Capital, a Baltimore-based private debt and equity fund focused on growth and change of control investments. Before that, Aaron spent three years as an Analyst with Intyllus Advisors, a Maryland-based advisory firm specializing in financial and strategic advisory services. Aaron received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from George Mason University and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Ethan G. Wilson

Vice President

Vice President

Ethan joined Route 2 Capital as a Vice President and is responsible for sourcing new investment opportunities, due diligence, deal execution and portfolio monitoring. Previously, Ethan was on the investment team at Balance Point Capital, a Westport, CT private debt and equity fund. Prior to that, Ethan worked in investment banking at Lincoln International and Sparring Partners Capital in New York City. He began his career at Deloitte. Ethan received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Furman University and a Master’s of Science in Accounting from Wake Forest University. He resides in Greenville, SC.

Charles A. Hiller

Associate

Associate

Charles joined Route 2 Capital Partners in 2020 as a Senior Analyst after working as a Finance Analyst at Bank of America in Charlotte. He graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science in Financial Management and resides in Greenville.

Graham J. Pake

Associate

Senior Analyst

Graham joined Route 2 Capital Partners in 2023 after working at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. in Atlanta where he was an investment banking analyst for the Fintech and Financial Services team. Graham graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Minor in Music. He resides in Charleston, SC.