Mr. Kraus is a Principal at OpenGate Capital and provides acquisition analysis, transaction execution and portfolio management. Prior to OpenGate, Mr. Kraus was a Managing Principal at Krest Capital LLC, a Los Angeles based private investment firm. Prior to Krest, Mr. Kraus was the Executive Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions for RR Donnelley & Sons Company (Nasdaq: RRD) where he had responsibility for all acquisitions, divestitures, investments and financings. Mr. Kraus served on the pension committee at RR Donnelley and was responsible for managing over $2 billion of assets and also served in various operating roles for RR Donnelley, including responsibility for the company’s Asia and Europe operations which represented approximately $300 million in annual revenue.
Michael Kraus began his career with the New York based private equity firm, Chancery Lane Capital and Chancery’s principal investment, Big Flower Holdings. Between 1995 and 1999, he oversaw the acquisitions of more than twenty companies for Big Flower, culminating in a $2 billion go-private transaction in 1999. Following the sale of Big Flower, Mr. Kraus was a chief architect of Chancery’s PIPE investment in Moore Corporation in 2000 and subsequently joined Moore and engineered the sale of Moore’s successor, Moore Wallace, to RR Donnelley in 2004, creating what became approximately an $11 billion global printing services business.
Mr. Kraus graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Bucknell University and currently serves on the Alumni Board of Directors of Bucknell University.