Chicago-based private equity firm Shore Capital Partners has named Aurelio Banda as an Executive Operating Partner, a role in which Shore said he will lead the firm’s platform strategy to build a “premier value-added industrial automation distributor”.

In this role, Banda will be responsible for sourcing and evaluating prospective acquisition partners, while developing a commercial and operating strategy focused on deep technical expertise, applications support, and manufacturer relationships across high technology product classes.

Banda has more than 35 years of experience across the full automation value chain, spanning distribution, manufacturing and private equity-backed operations. He most recently served as President and CEO of Turck USA — a provider of sensor, fieldbus and connectivity products for factory, process and logistics automation. Prior to Turck, Banda was Group Vice President of Automation at Motion Industries, where he led the company’s automation business unit with P&L responsibility across OEM, integrator and end user channels. Before that, he held CEO roles at PHD Inc. and Beckhoff Automation North America.

Earlier in his career, Banda founded Controls Plus Inc. — a wholesale distributor and software application engineering company serving process and industrial manufacturing customers across the U.S. and Mexico for 15 years.

Sicne 2024, Banda has served as a member of the Board of Directors of ONDEX Automation — Shore Capital’s industrial automation systems integrator platform.

“I’ve had the privilege of watching Aurelio’s capabilities as a Board member of ONDEX Automation over the past several years,” said John Sznewajs, Partner and Co-Head of Shore Capital’s Industrials Fund. “What sets Aurelio apart is a combination of deep technical fluency across the automation hardware stack, first-hand experience in building strong channel relationships at both the manufacturer and distributor level, and a track record of scaling businesses. We believe his partnership will be defining for this strategy.”

“Shore takes a differentiated approach to the industrial automation landscape and understands the strategic discipline required to operate as a true channel partner to manufacturers and end users,” Banda added. “I am excited to lead this effort backed by Shore’s operational infrastructure, board network and track record of building durable founder-led partnerships.”