Mr. Song has a diverse background with over 30 years in principal investments, investment banking and operational experience. Mr. Song is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Prodos Capital (“PC”), an investment firm focused on investments in the lower middle market. Prior to PC, Mr. Song was the head of investments and corporate finance for Verus International, a boutique merchant banking firm that was co-founded by Citigroup. At Verus, Mr. Song led investments in both private and public companies in the emerging growth and middle market. Prior to Verus, Mr. Song was SVP of Corporate Development at On2 Technologies. At On2, Mr. Song led all aspects of strategic planning, financial analysis, mergers & acquisitions, financings and the capital markets. Prior to joining On2, Song was a Managing Director at Bluestone Capital Partners, where he was a senior banker and a manager in that firm's Corporate Finance Department. At BlueStone, Mr. Song was responsible for the execution of public offerings and private placements as well as merger and acquisition transactions. Mr. Song was a member of BlueStone's Management Committee and Commitment Committee. Previously, he held positions as an investment banker at Smith Barney in the Global Energy and Power Group and Chase Manhattan Bank in the Workout and M&A Groups. During his career as an investment banker, Mr. Song has executed over a billion dollars in public offerings, private placements, cross border mergers and acquisitions, and restructurings transactions. Mr. Song received a B.S. Degree from the School of Management at Boston University
Evan R. Gallinson, Managing Director, joined Merit in 2005. Evan previously worked in Investment Banking with BMO Capital, William Blair & Company, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions advisor work for middle market companies in a variety of industries.
Evan received an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 2002 with a concentration in finance. In 1997, he received a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan with a concentration in finance and accounting.
Evan currently serves on the Board of Directors of Choice Slocum Holdings, LLC, Elgen Manufacturing Company, Glunt Industries Inc., Storage Solutions, Inc. and TGR Industrial Services.
He is a native of New Jersey, but has lived in the Chicago area for over twenty years, and is currently residing in Northbrook, IL with his wife and two daughters. Evan’s non-work activities involve coaching his daughters’ softball, basketball, soccer and any other sporting activity that involves a ball as well as playing platform tennis.
Christian Albert is the founder and managing partner of Bowside Capital, a private investment firm that specializes in the private equity, small buyout market. Bowside Capital manages private equity funds formed to make direct investments by co-investing with independent sponsors.
Mr. Albert manages the firm and its investment activities and serves on numerous investment-related committees. He earned a M.St. from the University of Oxford and an A.B. from Brown University.
John Huhn brings a 25-year track record of success in private equity, entrepreneurism and strategic consulting to his leadership of Compass Group. Over the course of his career, he has been involved in more than 50 transactions representing over $1 billion in revenue.
Prior to founding Compass Group, John launched and led HBM Holdings, a family office focused on diversifying its core holdings. Earlier in his career, he served as Senior Vice President of Strategy & Corporate Development for Aegion (NASDAQ: AEGN), where he was responsible for corporate strategy, mergers & acquisitions, joint-ventures and strategic alliances. His earlier experience also includes serving as Managing Principal of an international consulting firm, where he provided strategic and organizational consulting to Global 1000 customers.
John is a graduate of the University of Illinois, where he received degrees in Engineering and Business Administration.
Mark co-founded Clarendon in 1998. He has over 25 years’ experience as a principal investor, board member, C-level executive, and management consultant focused on the transportation and logistics market space. Mark has sourced five Clarendon investments, and those that have been divested have produced a combined IRR over 35%.
Mark conceived RoadLink, an intermodal logistics consolidation vehicle, as Clarendon’s first investment and worked with his Clarendon partners to organize and co-found the company in 2000. Following RoadLink’s formation, he guided the investment as a RoadLink board member and shareholder representative and served as CFO/SVP Finance & Acquisitions, Secretary/Treasurer and Chief Strategy Officer during his tenure. Following a successful sale to a leading private equity firm in 2006, Mark continued in senior finance, M&A and strategic development roles, helping grow RoadLink to over $400 million in revenue. Over the course of his decade of RoadLink involvement, Mark executed over 25 acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and debt/equity financings comprising over $350 million of transaction value.
Before launching Clarendon, Mark was a senior manager in the Transportation Management Consulting Practice of A.T. Kearney, where he led engagements in strategic development, M&A and profit improvement for transportation and private equity clients. Prior to A.T. Kearney, Mark was part of the team that launched Princeton Transportation Consulting (later sold to Manhattan Associates), where he led engagements applying university research from Princeton and M.I.T. to improve the profitability of transportation clients.
Mark received an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was named an Arjay Miller Scholar. He received a BS in Operations Research and BA in Economics from Cornell University where he graduated with highest honors. Mark serves as Vice Chairman of the national board of the “I Have a Dream” Foundation, which empowers children of low-income communities across the U.S. to achieve a college education.
Rob Bauer is a Managing Member at Bassett Creek Capital, a Minnesota based private equity firm focused on making direct investments in private companies in partnership with management and operating executives. Partnership is a key word for Bassett Creek because we strive to create a culture where management teaches us their craft (e.g. the operations of the business) and we teach management our craft (e.g. the private equity business). This partnership approach creates a “win-win” scenario for all stakeholders including owners, management, employees, customers and suppliers.
Mr. Bauer has been involved in making direct investments for the past ten years and currently is Chairman of Bassett Creek Services, a national provider of property restoration and renovation services. Over the course of his career, Mr. Bauer has 20 years of private equity experience and has completed over 40 M&A transactions worth over $3.0 billion in transaction value. Prior to founding Bassett Creek Capital, Mr. Bauer was a member of the private equity teams at Goense & Co, New Stream Capital, Sterling Investment Partners and Piper Jaffray & Co.
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Claudine M. Cohen is a principal and leads CohnReznick’s Advisory Group’s Northeast Transactional Advisory Practice (TAS). With more than 25 years of business experience, Claudine has developed an expertise in providing transactional advisory services, serving as an adviser to public and private companies, both domestically and internationally. She works with private equity investors, family offices alternative investment funds, lenders, family offices and strategic investors.
Claudine’s specific advisory activities include: strategic advisory, quality of earnings analyses, identifying revenue sources and profitability drivers, examining operating cost structure and sustainability factors, investigating business models including cash flow and financial projections, reviewing quality and realization of assets and liabilities, identifying working capital requirements and negotiating positions, post-close working capital verification, and adjustment mechanisms. Claudine has advised on a number of different buy - and sell-side transactions, including standalone platforms; carve-out of business segments, product line, or facility; bankruptcy auction processes; mergers; and industry consolidations.
Claudine was named to Mergers and Acquisitions 2019 list of the most influential women in mid-market M&A, and Crains NY 2018 most notable women in consulting. She has authored several articles and Thought Leadership, The Deal and other publications focusing on buy and sell-side due diligence, working capital and purchase price allocation.
Michael is a member of Fox’s Corporate practice. For more than 35 years, he has represented clients ranging from sole proprietorships to publicly held corporations in a wide variety of industries pursuing transactions including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and commercial arrangements. With a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions, Michael has represented both buyers and sellers (strategic and financial) in many platform and add-on transactions. A former co-chair of the Firm’s Emerging Companies Practice Group, Michael also has advised a variety of early stage technology-oriented businesses on capital formation, where he has an extensive background handling private placements, venture capital transactions and public offerings.
He has acted as securities counsel for companies subject to the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Michael often fills the role of an “outside general counsel” for early stage and middle market companies, providing advice on business formation, shareholders, partnership and operating agreements, as well as employment agreements and a wide range of commercial agreements, including licensing, supply and distribution agreements. Beyond Fox Rothschild, Michael currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the New Jersey Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), is chair of ACG-New Jersey at Princeton, and serves on the Board of Trustees for Save Ellis Island.
Sylvie Gadant is a partner with Citrin Cooperman’s Private Equity and Capital Markets Practice and is the Transaction Advisory Services (TAS) practice leader. She leads buy-side and sell-side due diligence engagements for private equity firms, independent sponsors, family offices, and strategic buyers.
Prior to joining Citrin Cooperman, Sylvie was the principal-in-charge of the TAS practice at a top-20 national accounting firm, where she also spent more than 10 years with its audit and advisory practices. Previously, she served middle-market private companies across several industries for another public accounting firm.
Sylvie has advised clients on over 300 transactions valued between $5 million and $300 million, including platform investments, add-on acquisitions, leveraged recapitalizations, carve-outs, and minority investments. Her areas of expertise include analyzing an acquisition target’s quality of earnings, understanding key performance indicators, assessing working capital requirements, and identifying key deal issues and risk areas. She also provides her clients with guidance on accounting for mergers and acquisitions.
Sylvie is a frequent speaker, panelist, and moderator for various industry forums including the Kayo Private Equity Conference, the iGlobal Forum, the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), the Exit Planning Exchange (XPX), and Expert Webcasts. She has been featured in business and industry publications, including Inc. Magazine, Forbes, PE Hub, Buyouts Magazine, Crain’s New York Business, and Accounting Today.
Sylvie is the recipient of several prestigious industry awards, including the "2020 Crain's Notable Women in Accounting" (Crain's New York Business) and the "2019 USA Women Dealmakers" (Global M&A Network), which singularly honors and spotlights an A-List of the most accomplished and respected women dealmakers from the private equity, lending, restructuring, M&A financial advisory and legal transactional communities, especially from the middle-market segments. She is also a 2017 "Top 25 Leading Women Intrapreneur" (Leading Women Entrepreneurs) award recipient.
Brett Hickey is the Founder & CEO of Star Mountain Capital, LLC, a specialized U.S. lower middle-market investment firm with over $1.2 billion in assets under management. Star Mountain employs a data-driven approach to provide value-added debt and equity capital to established small and medium-sized private companies leveraging its scale-driven resources, and longstanding relationships. Star Mountain also has a secondary fund investment business providing early liquidity for investors in lower middle-market private credit and private equity funds. Brett has been investing in this end of the market for over 15 years and began his career as an investment banker at Citigroup / Salomon Smith Barney nearly 20 years ago.
Mr. Hickey graduated from McGill University with a finance and accounting degree. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School via its Owner/President Management executive leadership program.
He Chair’s Star Mountain’s Charitable Foundation which supports the career development of women, veterans and athletes as well as health & wellness initiatives including cancer research. He is a member of YPO and on the global boards of Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs and Help for Children. Additionally, Brett is a former Canadian national gold medalist speed skater. Mr. Hickey is the proud father of two children.
Learn more about private market investing and Mr. Hickey via: www.StarMountainCapital.com & www.YouTube.com/c/StarMountainCapital
Thomas Kesoglou is the Office Managing Partner of Ice Miller's New York office, where he leads the Firm’s Private Equity Practice. He is also a member of the Firm's Board of Directors. Mr. Kesoglou represents private equity funds, mezzanine funds, SBICs, BDCs, family offices and independent sponsors providing strategic and legal advice in their investment strategies, including leveraged buyouts, mezzanine financings, growth capital transactions, early and late stage private equity investments and secondary transactions. Mr. Kesoglou also advises these investors in connection with the management of their portfolio companies, including acquisitions, dispositions, follow-on debt or equity investments, bridge loans, restructurings, recapitalizations, employment matters, stock plans and other general corporate matters.
Mr. Kesoglou serves as outside general corporate counsel to a number of privately held and emerging growth companies in connection with growth capital transactions, acquisitions and other general corporate matters. Mr. Kesoglou represents privately held companies in connection with the sale of their business to strategic or financial investors. He also represents large U.S. and foreign corporations in connection with their investment and M&A activities in the United States.
In addition to advising his clients, Mr. Kesoglou actively seeks transaction opportunities to refer to financial investors in order to facilitate introductions and transaction opportunities.
Mr. Kesoglou is a frequent public speaker on corporate legal matters and has authored several articles published in leading magazines, including Buyouts, Financier Worldwide, and The Deal. He was named 2014 AM&AA Conference Chair of the Year and AM&AA Chapter Leader of the Year in January 2013 by the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors and was appointed as Chairman of its 2013 summer conference and 2014 winter conference.
Prior to joining Ice Miller, Mr. Kesoglou practiced in the private equity group at McCarter & English LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP in New York. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Kesoglou worked as an investment banker in the Real Estate Finance and Securitization Group of CIBC World Markets in New York.
Previously Jeffrey was a Managing Director of the Private Investments Group at Ramius, which he joined in 2005. Jeffrey has over eighteen years of private equity and direct lending experience at Ramius and prior to Ramius, Sandler Capital and LLJ Capital (an affiliate of DB Zwirn & Co.). Currently Jeffrey serves as Co-Vice Chairman of Linkem SpA and as a director of Calder Group Holdings Limited. Previously, Jeffrey was an investment banker (both corporate finance and M&A) at Salomon Brothers and Lazard Freres. Jeffrey has a BS in Engineering from Cornell (with honors) and an MBA from Wharton. Throughout his career Jeffrey has served on a number of corporate and non-profit boards of directors.
Scott Johnson is the founder and CEO of middle-market private equity group SJ Partners, LLC (“SJP”). Scott was named the 2015 M&A Atlas Award Dealmaker of the Year and had been named a “40 under 40” East Region M&A Advisor Recognition Awards. He is also the Chairman of portfolio companies Osmotics LLC and Best Made Toys LLC.
SJP uses an operating partner focus to grow middle market consumer and services companies. SJP has also been successful at growth by acquisition strategies. Its portfolio company Spectrio grew more than twelvefold under SJP’s ownership, driven by fourteen add-on acquisitions, before being successfully exited to the Riverside Company. This transaction won North American Deal of the Year at the 2015 M&A Atlas Awards.
Scott previously was a securities analyst at Salomon Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch (Merrill team rated #2 on Wall Street, according to Institutional Investor). Scott complements his financial orientation with operating experience, having served as CFO of an in-store advertising company.
Scott regularly speaks at industry conferences and wrote “Leverage Buyouts: What, Why, When and How” for financial encyclopedia Q-Finance: The Ultimate Financial Resource.
Scott has taught as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School. He also received his BA, MBA, and MIA (Masters of International Affairs) from Columbia. He teaches business to non-business groups and has designed a course he calls “One Day MBA” for such groups.
SJ Partners, SJ Partners transactions, and Scott personally have garnered multiple awards which include: winner of the 2015 M&A Atlas Dealmaker of the Year, winner of a 2015 ACG NY Champions firm of the year award, winner of the 2012 40 Under 40 East Region M&A Advisor Recognition Awards, winner (for SJP) of a 2012 Finance Monthly Global Award, finalist for the 2015 SmartCEO MoneyManager of the year, and a finalist for multiple ACG NY Champions Award (2011 deal of the year, 2015 deal of the year, and 2015 dealmaker of the year in addition to winning 2015 firm of the year, 2017 deal of the year).
Scott is a board member of the Association for Corporate Growth’s New York chapter and previously chaired its education committee. Scott is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), Business Executives for National Security and the Wings Club.
He is an instrument, multiengine land, multi and single engine seaplane, and glider rated commercial pilot with over 1,250 flight hours who volunteers his time to fly youth interested in flight as part of the Experimental Airplane Association’s (EAA) Young Eagles Program.
He speaks fluent French and enjoys running.
Saquib has over 20 years of investment and corporate advisory experience including public and private equity investing, distressed debt investing and investment banking.
Prior to Beaconhouse, Saquib was an Executive at D.E. Shaw & Co. and Knighthead Capital, where he was responsible for sourcing private and distressed investment opportunities, performing due diligence, analyzing companies and industries and credit documentation. He invested in a variety of asset classes (equities, performing credit, distressed credit) and industries (Consumer, Education, Healthcare Services, Biotechnology, Food & Retail, Middle East and "off the run" situations).
Prior to D.E. Shaw & Co., Saquib was a Principal at Centerbridge Partners and JLL Partners where he was responsible for executing private equity transactions as well as making credit investments for the hedge fund. Earlier in his career, Saquib worked at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in the Los Angeles office where he was involved in private placements, high yield offerings, equity offerings, mergers & acquisitions and restructurings.
Saquib received his MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 and a BS in Economics within three years from The Wharton School in 1999.
Mr. Simmons is a seasoned private equity professional who has closed over 18 principal transactions exceeding $2.6B in aggregate transaction value over a 20-year private equity career. Omar ran ECP Planet Fitness as CEO from 2012-2015 and is currently executive chairman of the Company. Prior to co-founding Exaltare, Omar was a Director at Windjammer Capital Investors, a leading middle-market private investment firm with over $2B under management. Prior to Windjammer Capital Investors, he was a co-founder and Managing Director at Reliant Equity Investors, a $120mm private equity firm based in Chicago. Omar also worked at leading private equity firms such as Summit Partners and McCown DeLeeuw. He started his career helping Fortune 500 businesses as a management consultant at Marakon Associates. Omar graduated from Harvard Business School with honors, after graduating from Princeton University.
Mr. Parro is an operationally focused professional with recognized expertise in optimizing and expanding company enterprise values throughout investment lifecycles and macroeconomic cycles. He has 27+ years of experience in C-level management, private equity, family office, and institutional investing and portfolio management. In addition, Mr. Parro has considerable expertise in the strategic development and integration of both start-ups and acquired companies both domestically and internationally.
For the past 8 years Mr. Parro has owned and operated an independent sponsor private equity investment group. In that 8 years has invested in 3 platform companies. He has develop an extensive network of investment bankers, brokers, lawyers, accountants and consultants that provide the opportunity to review over 700 investment opportunities a year in various industries and platforms.
Prior to MERK, Mr. Parro led the mergers & acquisitions effort at Globe Union Industrial Inc. (“Globe Union”). He was instrumental in growing Globe Union from a private label $125 million single product line company to a $750 million branded broad based product line company over a five year period with operations that included North America, Europe, Taiwan, and China. Mr. Parro also led the mergers & acquisitions effort for Field Container Co. (“Field Container”). He was instrumental in acquiring numerous companies that help grow Field Container from $350 million to $500 million over a five year period. His primary responsibilities were integration of the companies in all facets of the operations including, manufacturing, sales and marketing, administrative services, and IT. While at the financial services division of GE Capital for approximately eight years, Mr. Parro managed numerous strategies that led to the growth of various companies through both organic as well as acquisitions.
Nick Russell is a Managing Partner at Tuckerman Capital where he leads the firm’s efforts to execute buyout investments in partnership with Independent Sponsors and experienced executives. He has over twenty years of experience as an investor, advisor, strategist and operator. The entirety of his career has been focused on helping engineering-driven product and service businesses across a range of sectors succeed and generate value for stakeholders.
Nick joined Tuckerman in 2010. He is responsible for all facets of the firm’s efforts including business development and partnership origination, investment execution, portfolio management, investor facing activities, and internal firm operations. He has been a Board Director and has led several Tuckerman investments including Orthofeet, TRS Services, Freedom Communication Technologies, Dauntless Air, and Anser Advisory.
Nick began his career as a strategy consultant focused on growth strategy, corporate venture strategy, operational improvement, and private investment due diligence, and was a founding team member of a boutique private investment advisory firm. For the last fifteen years, Mr. Russell has focused on partnering with middle and lower-middle market companies to analyze and execute buyout investments, working closely with portfolio companies and their leaders to develop and execute growth and other value enhancement initiatives to deliver strong risk-adjusted investment outcomes.
Nick earned his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. As an active contributor to his community and has been a Trustee at the Upper Valley Land Trust, an investment committee member at the Montshire Museum of Science, a Board Advisor at the Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences, and serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Tuck School teaching MBA students about the practice of private investments. Nick is married and has three young children.
Mr. Yost joined Aperion in 2019. Prior to joining Aperion, Mr. Yost worked as a vice president in the New York office of Falcon Investment Advisors and was responsible for sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities and monitoring the firm’s investments. Before Falcon Investment Advisors, Mr. Yost was an analyst at JP Morgan in the Leverage Finance group. At JP Morgan, he focused on executing leverage loan and high yield bond financings in addition to merger and acquisition related activities. Previously, Mr. Yost worked as Analyst to the global CEO of SunGard Data Systems, a global enterprise software Company. Mr. Yost holds a B.S. in International Management with a concentration in Finance from the ESB Business School in Reutlingen, Germany.
Seth Eliot Wilson is a Founder and Managing Partner of Headhaul Capital Partners LLC. Prior to founding Headhaul Capital, Mr. Wilson was a Partner and Managing Director of Jefferies Capital Partners LLC where he worked for 20 years since its founding in 1994. Mr. Wilson headed the Transportation & Logistics investing practice for Jefferies Capital Partners and was a member of the Investment Committee. From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Wilson was employed in the Investment Banking Division of Furman Selz LLC. Mr. Wilson has previously served on the boards of directors of Arnold Transportation Services, Inc., Aurora Trailer Holdings LLC, Epic Gas Ltd. (including as Chairman of the Board), K-Sea Transportation LLC, IDB Carriers (BVI) Ltd. (the predecessor to Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd.), New Century Transportation, Inc. and R&R Trucking Holdings, LLC. Mr. Wilson also serves on the board of NYC Outward Bound, a charitable organization that operates a network of public schools in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. Mr. Wilson received an A.B. from Harvard University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Daniel Arnold joined Hilco Global in 2012 and currently serves as a Senior Vice President at Hilco Global where he is responsible for business development that leverages the entire platform of solutions across all asset classes and sectors. Additionally, Dan works collaboratively with key executives in several of the holding company operating units including Hilco Real Estate, Hilco Valuation Services, Hilco Receivables, Hilco Industrial, and Hilco Merchant Resources.
Prior to joining Hilco, Dan built a strong reputation as a highly regarding financial analyst in the commercial banking sector. He has served as an Associate Director in the Equity Research Department of Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P., a boutique investment bank in both New York and Chicago. His coverage focused on regional banks and thrifts. Dan has a deep understanding of how to properly structure and execute transactions to achieve the best possible outcome for his clients.
In 2010, the Financial Times/StarMine recognized Dan as the No. 1 analyst in the Commercial Bank sector. He has been frequently quoted in media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and American Banker.
Dan holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University. He currently lives in Highland Park, IL with his wife and two daughters.
Josh Susser brings years of education sector investment and operating experience to Cascadily.
Prior to founding Cascadily, Josh led education investments for ECMC Group where he developed and executed an investment strategy across the education sector in K-12 and Higher Education. Earlier in his career Josh was an investment banker with Piper Jaffray & Co. and Mercanti Group.
Josh received a BA with honors from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
A founder of Pine Street, Tim is involved with all activities at Pine Street, including deal sourcing, deal structuring, portfolio management and administration. Tim currently serves as a board member on Pine Street portfolio companies Express Medical Transporters, SST Conveyor Components, Merrill Industries, Filterworks USA, NPL HomeCare, and DeIorio Foods, and is a board observer on Pine Street portfolio companies SGI Matrix and Alexis Russell. He is also active as a board member of several other for profit and not for profit entities. Tim's career has included a variety of roles, including as Chief Operating Officer and board member of Colonial Data Technologies, a $75 million revenue publicly traded provider of telecommunications equipment; Chief Financial Officer of First Albany Companies Inc., a $250 million publicly traded investment banking and brokerage firm; and more than 10 years as a senior investment banker providing advice and capital raising services to small and middle market companies in various industries. Tim began his career as a corporate and securities attorney at Cahill Gordon & Reindel in New York City. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany and Albany Law School.
Bruce N. Lipian is a founding principal and Managing Director of StoneCreek Capital. Founded in 1992, StoneCreek is an independent private equity sponsor focused on investing directly in growth-oriented management buyouts and targets transactions ranging from $10 million to $100 million. StoneCreek’s most recent acquisitions include Kova International (www.kovaintl.com), Pinnacle Exhibits (www.pinnacle-exhibits.com), Mob Scene (www.mobscene.com), Rio Ranch Market (www.rioranchmarket.com), Montana Silversmiths (www.montanasilversmiths.com) and ACCESS DMC (www.accessdmc.com). Prior to StoneCreek, Bruce was a Vice President at Kelso & Co., one of the nation’s leading buyout investment firms. Bruce received his BA (Economics) from the University of Washington and his MBA (Finance) from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Bruce is an active member of ACG, a founding member of both the Orange County Private Equity Connection and the Orange County Transaction Network, and has served as an adjunct professor at the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics (California State University Fullerton) and as Vice Chairman of the Board of Kids Connected.
Thomas Kesoglou is the Office Managing Partner of Ice Miller's New York office, where he leads the Firm’s Private Equity Practice. He is also a member of the Firm's Board of Directors. Mr. Kesoglou represents private equity funds, mezzanine funds, SBICs, BDCs, family offices and independent sponsors providing strategic and legal advice in their investment strategies, including leveraged buyouts, mezzanine financings, growth capital transactions, early and late stage private equity investments and secondary transactions. Mr. Kesoglou also advises these investors in connection with the management of their portfolio companies, including acquisitions, dispositions, follow-on debt or equity investments, bridge loans, restructurings, recapitalizations, employment matters, stock plans and other general corporate matters.
Mr. Kesoglou serves as outside general corporate counsel to a number of privately held and emerging growth companies in connection with growth capital transactions, acquisitions and other general corporate matters. Mr. Kesoglou represents privately held companies in connection with the sale of their business to strategic or financial investors. He also represents large U.S. and foreign corporations in connection with their investment and M&A activities in the United States.
In addition to advising his clients, Mr. Kesoglou actively seeks transaction opportunities to refer to financial investors in order to facilitate introductions and transaction opportunities.
Mr. Kesoglou is a frequent public speaker on corporate legal matters and has authored several articles published in leading magazines, including Buyouts, Financier Worldwide, and The Deal. He was named 2014 AM&AA Conference Chair of the Year and AM&AA Chapter Leader of the Year in January 2013 by the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors and was appointed as Chairman of its 2013 summer conference and 2014 winter conference.
Prior to joining Ice Miller, Mr. Kesoglou practiced in the private equity group at McCarter & English LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP in New York. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Kesoglou worked as an investment banker in the Real Estate Finance and Securitization Group of CIBC World Markets in New York.
David is a 24+ year business professional with 16+ years in the private equity industry. Prior to founding Wherewithal in 2013, David built an investment and advisory career over the prior 15 years in New York and Toronto.
David worked in the Private Markets Group at OPTrust, one of Canada's largest pension funds, in the Financial Sponsor Group at Banc of America Securities (BAML) and in Business Consulting and Audit Advisory at Arthur Andersen.
A career investment professional, David served as President and CEO of Coreio Inc. for 5+ years leading the business from its initial acquisition through its transition into a stand-alone independent company. In addition, David has held prior business and corporate development roles with several internet-enabled service providers.
David holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a B.Comm from the University of Toronto, and a Chartered Accountant designation. David is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO).
R. Adam Smith is an experienced financier of, advisor to, tens of venture, startup, and private equity-backed companies. R. Adam has founded several companies, all in uninterrupted operation since inception
Seasoned principal investor (Caxton-Iseman Capital LLC, Castle Harlan, Inc., Columbus Advisors LLC) and veteran of Wall Street (Salomon Brothers Inc., J.P. Morgan, and Lehman Brothers Inc).
Founder, Circle Peak Capital LLC, a private investment merchant banking partnership
Founder, Big Sky Partners LLC, a global strategic & creative advisory partnership
Founder, Family Office Private Advisors LLC, a global private investment banking and alternative assets partnership
Founder, Leukemia Fighters, leading oncology philanthropy formed in 2009 in collaboration with New York-Presbyterian Hospital & Weill Cornell
Founder, Caring Capitalism, a non-profit launched in 2020
Board member, Musicians Treatment Foundation
Formerly advisor or board member to numerous non-profits, academic or mentorship entities: NY Fashion Tech Lab (a non-profit division of global women’s network, Springboard Enterprises); former member of founding Dean’s Advisory Board, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies of Boston UniversitY; former board member, VentureCapital.org, one of the longest standing venture mentorship communities in the world
MBA, Beta Gamma Sigma, Graduate School of Business at Columbia University. BA, cum laude, International Relations, and Economics, Boston University.
Father, husband, entrepreneur, deal-maker, mentor, philanthropist, collector.
Chase Stuart is a partner in Ice Miller's Business Group. He represents a variety of private equity funds, family offices, independent sponsors, mezzanine funds, and privately held businesses. He provides strategic and legal advice in their investment and general corporate strategies, including leveraged buyouts, mezzanine financings, growth capital transactions, early and late state private equity investments and secondary transactions. He represents family, founder, and entrepreneur-owned businesses as general corporate counsel and as a sell-side advisor. He has represented a variety of companies in sectors such as technology, manufacturing, health care aerospace and defense, gaming, and business services.
Thomas Kesoglou is the Office Managing Partner of Ice Miller's New York office, where he leads the Firm’s Private Equity Practice. He is also a member of the Firm's Board of Directors. Mr. Kesoglou represents private equity funds, mezzanine funds, SBICs, BDCs, family offices and independent sponsors providing strategic and legal advice in their investment strategies, including leveraged buyouts, mezzanine financings, growth capital transactions, early and late stage private equity investments and secondary transactions. Mr. Kesoglou also advises these investors in connection with the management of their portfolio companies, including acquisitions, dispositions, follow-on debt or equity investments, bridge loans, restructurings, recapitalizations, employment matters, stock plans and other general corporate matters.
Mr. Kesoglou serves as outside general corporate counsel to a number of privately held and emerging growth companies in connection with growth capital transactions, acquisitions and other general corporate matters. Mr. Kesoglou represents privately held companies in connection with the sale of their business to strategic or financial investors. He also represents large U.S. and foreign corporations in connection with their investment and M&A activities in the United States.
In addition to advising his clients, Mr. Kesoglou actively seeks transaction opportunities to refer to financial investors in order to facilitate introductions and transaction opportunities.
Mr. Kesoglou is a frequent public speaker on corporate legal matters and has authored several articles published in leading magazines, including Buyouts, Financier Worldwide, and The Deal. He was named 2014 AM&AA Conference Chair of the Year and AM&AA Chapter Leader of the Year in January 2013 by the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors and was appointed as Chairman of its 2013 summer conference and 2014 winter conference.
Prior to joining Ice Miller, Mr. Kesoglou practiced in the private equity group at McCarter & English LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP in New York. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Kesoglou worked as an investment banker in the Real Estate Finance and Securitization Group of CIBC World Markets in New York.
Evan R. Gallinson, Managing Director, joined Merit in 2005. Evan previously worked in Investment Banking with BMO Capital, William Blair & Company, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions advisor work for middle market companies in a variety of industries.
Evan received an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 2002 with a concentration in finance. In 1997, he received a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan with a concentration in finance and accounting.
Evan currently serves on the Board of Directors of Choice Slocum Holdings, LLC, Elgen Manufacturing Company, Glunt Industries Inc., Storage Solutions, Inc. and TGR Industrial Services.
He is a native of New Jersey, but has lived in the Chicago area for over twenty years, and is currently residing in Northbrook, IL with his wife and two daughters. Evan’s non-work activities involve coaching his daughters’ softball, basketball, soccer and any other sporting activity that involves a ball as well as playing platform tennis.
Michael has extensive operational and private equity expertise. He has sponsored transactions across many industries. During the financial crisis, Michael architected the rescue of Patriot National Bancorp and, subsequently, the relaunch of The Bank of Ireland’s U.S. ABL subsidiary, now known as Siena Lending Group.
Prior to founding Solaia, Michael was co-founder of Bard Capital Group, and previously worked at Mitchell Madison Group and Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Michael earned his MBA in Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University, his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and studied at The Juilliard School.
David Acharya is a Partner at AGI Partners LLC, an alternative investment management firm that deploys capital in private equity investments and special situation opportunities from our funds. Mr. Acharya is a Board Member of Impact XM, a leading provider of experiential marketing solutions for global clients and a portfolio company of AGI Partners LLC. Previously, Mr. Acharya was a Director of a NYC based private equity firm. Mr. Acharya was responsible for investment sourcing and execution. Among other accomplishments, he sourced and executed Revolution Dancewear for this NYC based private equity firm (co-sponsored with Incline Equity Partners), an investment that won the Consumer Products Deal of the Year from the Glo Click here to expand
With more than 30 years of professional experience, Brian Newman is a Partner in CohnReznick’s Hartford, CT office, and Practice Leader of the firm’s Federal Tax Services nationally. Brian concentrates on the formation, operation, and dissolution of partnerships, C-corporations, S-corporations, and limited liability companies. He also has extensive experience dealing with tax issues for family-owned and Fortune 500 businesses, serving clients across various industries including real estate, manufacturing and distribution, technology, and construction.
Brian is a frequent speaker and author on issues involving federal and state taxation and partnership taxation matters, and was appointed as an adjunct professor for the University of Hartford’s Master of Science in Taxation program.
As a past trustee of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants’ Educational Trust Fund, Brian is actively involved in the Greater Hartford community. He is past president and past chairman of the board of the Andrew J. & Joyce D. Mandell Jewish Community Center, a past member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Hartford Jewish Federation and a member of the tax and legal panel of the Jewish Community Foundation.
Brian is also past president and life member of the Board of Trustees of the Emanuel Synagogue, past director of the Connecticut Triathlon Series, and past race director for the Capital City Triathlon and Milford Triathlon.
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