KidKraft Announces Appointment of Todd Whitbeck as Chief Financial Officer
28.10.2019 12:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
KidKraft, Inc. (“KidKraft”) announced today Todd Whitbeck, a seasoned executive with more than 30 years of experience in finance and corporate development, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer effective immediately.
Whitbeck has a proven track record of financial expertise and operational leadership across a diverse background of public and private companies, with previous success working with MidOcean Partners, the private equity firm that owns KidKraft. He will oversee global financial operations and work closely with KidKraft’s CEO on continued growth and international expansion as the company builds on a 50-year legacy in the toy and juvenile product industry. Whitbeck will report directly to Geoff Walker, Chief Executive Officer.
“Todd is a seasoned finance executive and his leadership will help drive KidKraft’s growth strategies,” said Geoff Walker, CEO, KidKraft. “I’m excited for his partnership and to welcome him as a key member of our executive team.”
“I look forward to working with Geoff and the team at KidKraft and to leveraging my prior experience to fuel the company’s growth,” said Todd Whitbeck. “Having worked across many industries throughout my career, it’s refreshing after all these years to work with a company that inspires the imaginations of children who will lead future generations.”
Whitbeck was most recently CFO and Head of Business Development, Sales, Marketing and Administrative Functions for CANarchy, a fast-growing collective of local, regional and national craft beer breweries. Previously he was Executive Vice President, CFO & Business Development for Water Pik, Inc. where he led and facilitated a very successful sale of the company, and subsequently led integration efforts for the combined companies. He was CFO for JP Energy, Sears Holdings Corporation (SHC) in the hard goods business units and off-mall retail selling formats, and CompUSA, where he elevated his oversight to CFO through various finance roles as the company grew and was acquired. He is a board member for Tufts Health Plan Board of Directors.
An industry leader in design and development of children’s toys and furniture, KidKraft is focused on inspiring imaginative play experiences through high quality products. The company's innovative portfolio includes dollhouses, play kitchens, outdoor playsets, children's furniture, wooden dolls and vehicles and more, offering a variety of different play experiences this holiday season. The company was acquired by MidOcean Partners (“MidOcean”), a premier middle market private equity firm focused on consumer and business services, in July 2015.
About KidKraft, Inc.
KidKraft is a global leader in award-winning products that are MADE FOR MAKE BELIEVE™. The company is committed to inspiring imaginative play creatively for children everywhere through dollhouses, kitchens, outdoor, vehicles, furniture, and toys. KidKraft’s high-quality products, designed for traditional play, are available at more than 2,800 retailers in more than 90 countries worldwide. KidKraft’s global headquarters are located in Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit www.kidkraft.com and follow @kidkrafttoys on Instagram.
About MidOcean Partners
MidOcean Partners is a premier New York-based alternative asset manager that specializes in middle market private equity and alternative credit investments. Since its inception in 2003, MidOcean Private Equity has managed approximately $4.8 billion of committed capital and has targeted investments in high-quality middle market companies in the consumer and business services sectors. MidOcean Credit Partners was launched in 2009 and manages approximately $8 billion across a series of alternative credit strategies, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), and customized separately managed accounts as of September 30, 2019.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191028005062/en/
Contact information
Litzky Public Relations on behalf of KidKraft
Kelsey Wheeler
Litzky Public Relations
201/222-9118
kidkraft@litzkypr.com
MidOcean Media Relations
Nathaniel Garnick/Amanda Klein
Gasthalter & Co.
212/257-4170
midocean@gasthalter.com
MidOcean Investor Relations
Allison Donohue
Investorrelations@midoceanpartners.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Vertex Energy Announces 6,000 bpd Group III Base Oil Expansion Project24.6.2026 17:00:00 EEST | Press release
Vertex Energy, Inc. (“Vertex” or the “Company”) today announced it is advancing a project at its Mobile, Alabama refinery to produce crude-derived conventional Group III base oils through the Company’s existing hydrocracker and related processing infrastructure, providing lubricant manufacturers and blenders with an additional domestic source of high-quality Group III supply. The project is designed to add an incremental 6,000 barrels per day of conventional Group III production capacity and support production of 4 cSt, 6 cSt, and 8 cSt Group III base oils using an existing crude-derived hydrocracked vacuum gas oil stream produced at the Company’s Mobile, Alabama refinery. Combined with the Company’s existing re-refined Group III base oil production, this additional capacity is expected to make Vertex the leading Group III producer in North America. Vertex has completed preliminary design work and has procured a high-pressure lubricants hydrotreating unit. The Company plans to start pr
Taktile Secures $110M in Goldman Sachs-led Series C to Power AI Transformation in Financial Institutions24.6.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
Taktile, the leader in AI transformation for financial institutions, today announced its $110 million Series C fundraise. Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives led the round, with participation from Balderton Capital, Index Ventures, Tiger Global, Y Combinator, and Dig Ventures. Taktile Fast Facts Taktile enables banks and insurers to transform into AI-native organizations that are increasingly powered by autonomous agents. Demand for Taktile accelerated in 2025, as AI models became capable of automating high-stakes decisions that previously required hours of manual work—from underwriting business loans and assessing claims to catching financial crime. Customers automate and optimize decisions with Taktile by combining its financial services expertise and product built for sector-specific AI use cases. One of the world’s largest insurers is running multiple use cases on Taktile, with projected cost efficiencies of over $90M in claims processing alone. Taktile’s team has a proven
New MetLife Study Reveals a 72% “Confidence Gap” in Ability to Recover from Life's Setbacks24.6.2026 16:25:00 EEST | Press release
A new multinational study from MetLife reveals a striking “confidence gap”: while most adults describe themselves as resilient, their confidence drops by 72% when faced with real-life setbacks. The Confident Pathways Report, conducted across the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Mexico, was designed to better understand how confidence is built and sustained throughout life. The findings underscore the role of opportunity, preparedness, and support in building confidence - factors that help people navigate uncertainty, recover from setbacks and pursue their goals. At a time when soccer is bringing people and communities together around the world, the findings also highlight how early childhood experiences such as sports, education, and mentorship can help foster resilience and gain confidence from a young age. Key findings across the four countries surveyed include: Confidence drops by 72% when adults consider their ability to recover from setbacks. Respondents were far more lik
StatLab Launches CytoPath Disc, Advancing Standardized Cell Block Preparation Worldwide24.6.2026 16:08:00 EEST | Press release
StatLab Medical Products, a leading global developer and manufacturer of pathology supplies and equipment, today announced the global launch of the CytoPath Disc, an innovative cell block preparation technology designed to standardize and simplify cell block preparation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260624368623/en/ Developed as an alternative to traditional cell block methods, which convert concentrated cells suspended in fluid into a paraffin-embedded format for slide-based evaluation, the patent‑pending CytoPath Disc offers a more streamlined and efficient approach. The CytoPath Disc absorbs concentrated cells within a simple, sponge-like matrix, which is then processed, embedded, stained, and sectioned using standard histology workflows. Traditional cell block preparation methods often present challenges in achieving consistent results due to complex procedures, as well as the need for additional equipm
TensorX Launches With €8M Seed Funding Round Led by Darius Cubed Ventures for Bet on European Sovereign AI Infrastructure With Plans to Deploy up to €100M in NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs24.6.2026 16:07:00 EEST | Press release
A team of Irish founders has committed €8 million to Nvidia Blackwell GPUs, including the latest B300 chips, to launch TensorX, a sovereign AI inference platform designed for Europe's AI builders, trusted by regulated industries and already generating revenue from paying customers. The company was founded by Shane Morton, is part of the NVIDIA Inception program and is partnering with Dell on sourcing GPU hardware. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260528791384/en/ (From left to right): Craig Donnelly, Shane Morton, Nicole Morton, Tim Grant At a time when enterprises are racing to adopt artificial intelligence but most remain unwilling to let their data leave European jurisdiction, TensorX offers high-performance inference with zero data retention, running entirely on dedicated hardware in Dublin and Helsinki. TensorX is also in advanced talks around a financing facility to further expand its European footprint,
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom