Prior to co-founding o15, Kenneth Saffold was a Managing Director and a member of BlackRock's Global Credit Platform where he was responsible for originating and executing private credit investment opportunities across the United States. Kenneth also served as an Investment Committee Member for the BlackRock Impact Opportunities Fund, an asset class fund focused on making investments in underserved ethnic group businesses and communities. He was also on the Senior Leadership Team of the BlackRock Atlanta Office.
Prior to BlackRock, Kenneth held roles with GE Capital and Goldman Sachs. Kenneth received his MBA from The Wharton School and his BA from Morehouse College.
Logan Lowery is a seasoned Private Equity Investor at LP First Capital, where he focuses on identifying and executing investment opportunities, particularly in the lower middle-market sector. With a background in finance and business development, Logan has played a key role in sourcing deals, structuring transactions, and driving value creation for portfolio companies. His expertise lies in working closely with management teams to optimize operational performance and scale businesses across various industries. Prior to joining LP First Capital, Logan gained valuable experience in corporate finance and M&A, which has shaped his strategic approach to investments.
Claudine Cohen oversees an integrated team of transaction, valuation, restructuring, project finance, and dispute resolution professionals serving clients throughout the lifecycles of their businesses. With specific expertise in managing opportunities and roadblocks that can impact a business moving forward, Claudine and her team help clients achieve optimal outcomes in protecting and growing stakeholder value.
Franklin Staley joined the Patriot Capital Group in January 2020 to lead Exeter Street Capital Partners, Patriot’s micro-cap buyout strategy that makes control equity investments in promising lower middle market businesses with $2-$5 million of EBITDA within the industrial growth & technology, business, consumer and healthcare services sectors across North America. Mr. Staley brings more than 25 years of private equity, advisory and strategic operating expertise to Exeter Street Capital Partners.
Prior to Exeter Street, he spent over nine years with DC Advisory LLC (formerly Signal Hill), where he founded the firm’s sponsor coverage effort and was a Managing Director in the Business Services practice area. Prior to joining Signal Hill, Mr. Staley spent nine years as a Principal and founding member of Meriturn Partners, LLC, a private equity fund focused on buyouts of lower middle-market companies in basic industries. Among other duties, he was responsible for all aspects of sourcing, evaluating, conducting diligence, structuring and leading transactions, managing strategic capital events within the portfolio, as well as other portfolio monitoring activities and fund oversight duties. Previously, Mr. Staley was the CFO and Vice President of Strategy for Axcellis, Inc., an early-stage software developer in the security alarm and systems integration industries. He has prior investment banking experience with Cowen & Company, Lehman Brothers, and Chase.
Josh Welk founded Full Guard Capital and is responsible for developing investment theses, sourcing and evaluating opportunities, and managing the firm’s investment portfolio through strategic and executive support. Prior to founding Full Guard Capital, Josh spent several years as a C-level executive of a rapidly growing telecom and technology services company. Prior to his operating role, Josh spent over a decade in private equity and mergers and acquisitions of privately held and family owned businesses, primarily with Argosy Private Equity. During his career, Josh has been involved in and completed over 25 transactions. Josh holds a BA from Franklin & Marshall College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
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, Filterworks USA, NPL HomeCare, DeIorio Foods, ChemArt, and is a board observer on Pine Street portfolio company Alexis Russell. He has also been 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 revenue publicly traded investment banking and brokerage firm; and more than 10 years as a senior investment banker providing advisory 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.
Paul Marino is the head of the Corporate and Mergers & Acquisitions group, and co chair of the Financial Services group. Paul focuses his practice in matters concerning financial services, corporate law and corporate finance. Paul provides counsel in the areas of private equity funds and mergers and acquisitions for private equity firms and public and private companies and private equity fund and hedge fund formation.
Paul works on a variety of M&A transactions, including leveraged acquisitions, divestitures of business divisions, going-private transactions, and other strategic acquisitions and dispositions, in the following industries: manufacturing, telecommunications, consumer products, hospitality, healthcare, and technology, among others. His practice also includes joint ventures and general company representation matters.
Paul has represented national and multinational corporations, ranging from telecoms to tech companies, as well as real estate syndication and financial investors and investment advisors. He has also negotiated and structured a number of U.S. domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures.
Justin focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions, with an emphasis on representing private equity sponsors in connection with acquisitions, dispositions, and general corporate matters.
Justin has a diverse corporate practice with an emphasis on representing private equity sponsors in connection with a wide range of investment and liquidity strategies and general corporate matters. He also represents public and private companies (including the portfolio companies of private equity funds), credit funds, secondary funds, and family wealth offices.
Justin has extensive experience in leveraged buyouts and GP led single-asset secondaries, as well as various other equity and debt investments, including minority equity investments, growth equity investments, venture capital investments, and joint ventures. He also frequently advises clients on corporate governance and partnership matters, restructurings, recapitalizations, and other strategic matters.
Bill is the Founder and Managing Member of Hall Capital Holdings, LLC, since 2001. He is responsible for managing the firm’s investment portfolio.
Bill has over 38 years of operating experience, coupled with private equity, venture capital and real estate investments.
Mr. Simmons is a seasoned private equity professional who has closed over 20 principal transactions exceeding $3B in aggregate transaction value over a 20-plus year private equity career.
Omar also ran ECP Planet Fitness as CEO and Executive Chairman from 2012-2021 increasing ECP from 15 to over 100 units before successfully exiting the business.
Omar currently serves as a board member to ECP-PF (Planet Fitness), EVG (Urban Air), ECM-GF (The Good Feet Store), InXpress Global, and the International Franchise Association.
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 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, following his graduation from Princeton University.
Jay is a Principal at Tamarix Equity Partners, a middle-market fund based in NYC, where he leads deal execution, investment strategy, and portfolio management. Over ten years’ experience in private equity, growth capital, investment banking and as a consumer startup founder. Prior investment firms include Centre Partners, a middle-market private equity firm in NYC, Palisades Growth Capital, a growth-equity firm in Los Angeles, and Macquarie Capital, an investment bank. Bachelor of Arts degree from Middlebury College with a major in International Politics and Economics.
Bill specializes in mergers and acquisitions, general corporate and commercial transactions, private equity, and debt and equity finance.
Bill has been involved with the founding and growth of new ventures, has taken companies public, and has acquired, sold, financed and combined many others along the way. Bill’s transactions have also included cross border elements. His diverse industry experience includes advertising and digital media, wealth management and financial services, technology consulting, business services, cannabis industry, direct marketing, manufacturing, distribution, food, health care services, medical devices, retail and transportation.
Bill is a seasoned deal attorney, who for over thirty years has helped many clients successfully complete a variety of public and private transactions and successfully navigate a variety of business and legal challenges.
Bill regularly provides responsive, thoughtful and effective legal and business advice to the leaders of the Business enterprises in a wide range of sizes and industries, often acting as the client’s principal legal counsel.
Adam Connatser joined Platt Richmond in 2023.
Adam serves the firm’s clients by drawing on 22-
plus years of experience practicing business law,
including 13 as an associate and partner at the global firm Squire Patton Boggs, and 8 years as co-
founder and partner of boutique business firm
Wright Connatser. He serves a wide range of
clients, from those at the highest echelons of
business and finance to entrepreneurs, small and
medium-sized businesses, and non-profits. Adam’s
expertise includes business and transaction
structuring, private placements, M&A, fund
formation, finance, workouts and restructurings,
corporate and securities, and various related areas
of practice. He has written and spoken extensively
on topics such as M&A, finance, impact investing
and social entrepreneurship.
Adam has been named to the list of D Best Lawyers
in Dallas by D Magazine, as well as the Rising Stars
list by Thomson Reuters for many years.
In the community, Adam has served on numerous
non-profit boards, including as Board President of
Family Compass, a strong and long-standing child
abuse prevention agency. He coaches as many of
his son’s sports teams as he can, tries to keep up
with his dynamo dressage champion daughter, and
is also a proud member of the Leadership Dallas
class of 2014.
Josh Welk founded Full Guard Capital and is responsible for developing investment theses, sourcing and evaluating opportunities, and managing the firm’s investment portfolio through strategic and executive support. Prior to founding Full Guard Capital, Josh spent several years as a C-level executive of a rapidly growing telecom and technology services company. Prior to his operating role, Josh spent over a decade in private equity and mergers and acquisitions of privately held and family owned businesses, primarily with Argosy Private Equity. During his career, Josh has been involved in and completed over 25 transactions. Josh holds a BA from Franklin & Marshall College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Neil Schaefer is a Managing Partner of Auricle Capital and serves in both investing and operating roles. Neil has been advising or investing in middle market businesses for nearly his entire professional career, which includes direct involvement in over $2 billion of transaction value. Neil is currently the co-President and director of Banister Medical, as well as a director of Elastic Therapy, LLC, both Auricle-affiliated investments.
For nearly 20 years, Neil has been a professional investor focused on small- and medium-sized businesses. During this time, he has completed transactions in a variety of industries, primarily within the industrial and healthcare sectors. His advisory and investment experience includes transactions with Baxter International (medical products), Schramm (capital equipment), SiVance (specialty chemicals), and Engineered Medical Systems (medical contract manufacturing/precision machining).
Adam is an experienced investor and board member of privately owned companies with 17+ years’ experience in principal investing and lower middle market mergers and acquisitions.
Adam has participated in dozens of transactions as a principal investor or co-investor in the manufacturing, distribution, consumer products, and business services segments. He has significant expertise in sourcing and evaluating acquisition opportunities, facilitating due diligence, raising capital, and negotiating transaction documents.
As an active board member of portfolio companies, he has helped management teams with strategy development as well as growth opportunities both organically and through acquisition.
Born and raised in Michigan, Adam is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he earned BBA, MAcc and MBA degrees. Adam is the founder and Managing Partner of Credo Private Capital, an independent sponsor firm. Before Penstock and Credo, he spent 15 years at Strength Capital Partners, a lower middle market private equity and independent sponsor firm, and prior to that he spent 3 years as a CPA in the audit practice at KPMG. He enjoys world travel and competing in sporting clays tournaments across the United States.
Prior to co-founding Hullson Partners, Michael worked at a multi-manager asset management firm with assets under management in excess of $3 billion. His responsibilities included support for registered investment advisor, private funds, and private equity transactions, as well as hedge fund administration and compliance. Michael received his BBA in Marketing and Business Law from the Villanova School of Business. He received his Juris Doctor from the Widener University School of Law with a focus in Corporate Bankruptcy.
Kevin Christmas is a private equity attorney in Holland & Knight's Charlotte office, and is a co-head of both Holland & Knight's Search Funds and Independent Sponsors teams. Mr. Christmas has substantial experience representing domestic and international search funds, independent sponsors and private equity funds in connection with capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, leveraged buyouts, financing, equity structuring, general corporate advisory work and related matters.
Mr. Christmas has extensive experience advising clients on the full life cycle of business issues, from company formation and capital raising to exit strategies. He serves a portfolio of clients across various industry sectors, including healthcare, life sciences, financial services, distribution, software, retail, education and manufacturing. Mr. Christmas' practice includes representation of private equity funds, search funds, independent sponsors, family offices, entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses, and public and private companies.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Christmas was a corporate partner at international law firms based in Charlotte and Philadelphia.
Nichol Chiarella is a partner and Citrin Cooperman's Mergers and Acquisitions Tax Practice Leader, with over two decades of experience in public accounting. She provides high level tax planning and consulting services related to buy-side, sell-side, and restructuring transactions involving private equity firms, closely-held businesses, business owners, and high net worth individuals within the technology, manufacturing and distribution, wholesale, retail, cannabis, healthcare, real estate, staffing, and professional services industries.
Nichol handles transaction tax matters for private equity funds, independent sponsors, limited liability companies (LLCs), domestic partnerships, corporations, and S corporations. She specializes in buy-side and sell-side tax advisory, including tax due diligence, pre-transaction planning, tax structuring, and modeling, and post-transaction compliance support. She also handles mergers, divestitures, and restructuring matters, in addition to helping privately-held business owners transition to related parties.
Nichol also leads the firm’s global diversity, equity, and inclusion mission, branded as CC EDGE (Empowering Diversity and Gender Equality). In this role, she interfaces regularly with all CC EDGE leads in each of our metro geographies in the United States and in India.
Nichol's specialized tax knowledge and network of professional contacts allows her to act as a resource not only for her clients, but for other professionals seeking solutions for their clients and customers.
Chase Stuart is a partner in Ice Miller's Business Group and the Office Managing Partner in New York. He represents a variety of private equity funds, family offices, independent sponsors, privately-held businesses, private credit funds, and mezzanine funds. He provides strategic and legal advice in their investment and general corporate strategies, including on leveraged buyouts and other M&A, financings, minority investments, growth capital transactions, and early and late stage private equity investments. 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 aerospace and defense, technology, manufacturing, consumer products, business services, gaming, and health care.
Burt Francis is a Managing Director of Business Development at ECA. He works with clients to fill permanent and project based roles. Burt has wide-ranging experience in engineering, business leadership and management consulting in various industries including aerospace, software, financial services, and manufacturing. This includes notable tenure with Oliver Wyman, The Boeing Company, General Dynamics and Starbase Technologies Inc.
Serving as co-chair of Winston’s Transactions Department, Brad has extensive experience advising financial sponsors, alternative asset managers, family offices, and private companies in connection with a wide range of strategic transactions and corporate matters. He is an integral member of one of the broadest and most active middle-market private equity groups in the U.S.
Brad represents private investment funds, hedge funds, family offices, lending institutions, and other alternative asset managers on complex business transactions. He counsels clients in structuring, negotiating, documenting, and executing leveraged buyouts, take-private transactions, minority recapitalizations, growth equity investments, distressed and special situations, PIPE transactions, joint ventures, business combinations, and other commercial transactions. Brad also advises on the implementation and execution of exit strategies through divestitures, public offerings, and recapitalizations.
Brad also represents public and private companies and private equity investors in the management of their portfolio companies in connection with a variety of matters, including: mergers and acquisitions; senior secured and subordinated debt offerings and refinancings; mezzanine debt offerings; high-yield note offerings; public equity offerings; workouts; and corporate reorganizations.
In addition, he represents real estate funds in a variety of transactions, including fundraising and formation; acquisitions; financings; and dispositions of office buildings, multi-family, residential, and mixed-use developments.
Brad regularly represents founders, entrepreneurs, and emerging and established entities in growth-oriented capital raises as well as liquidating transactions and recapitalizations.
Thomas Kesoglou is the Chair of 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 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 AM&AA Conference Chair of the Year and AM&AA Chapter Leader of the Year by the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors and serves as the New York Chapter President.
Prior to founding Ice Miller's New York office in 2015, Mr. Kesoglou practiced in the private equity groups of Am Law 200 firms 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.
John joined New State Capital Partners in 2013. Prior to joining, John spent over 14 years in investment banking. Most recently, John was an Executive Director in the Financial Sponsors & Leveraged Finance Group at UBS Investment Bank, where he was responsible for originating and executing leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and refinancings as well as co-covering middle market private equity firms. Prior to UBS, John was at Credit Suisse First Boston (previously Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette) in the Private Placements Group, where he helped raise over $2 billion for growth companies in a variety of industries. John began his career at Deutsche Bank in the Commercial Real Estate Finance Group.
John graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.
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