Independent Sponsors & Capital Providers Dealmakers Meeting

Azhar is a successful entrepreneur, operator and investor with over 20 years of experience investing and building businesses. Azhar has a track record of success in private equity and special situations investing and his experience spans the gamut from sourcing, transaction execution, value creation and exit. Prior to founding Queens Court, Azhar worked at firms such as Advent Capital, Perry Capital, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley. Throughout his career Azhar has been a successful private markets investor across a variety of industries. Azhar served as Chairman of the HairCuttery Family of Brands, VCG Holdings, and is currently the Chairman of Pet Resort Hospitality Group. Azhar was also part of the founding team of Convene, an Inc 500 real estate services business.

Azhar is a graduate of Columbia University where he received a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics as well as Columbia Business School where he received his M.B.A.

Jonathan Barnes has more than 20 years of private equity investing and investment banking experience, including at Morgan Stanley.

Mr. Barnes was a Partner at Halyard Capital, a U.S. lower middle-market private equity fund manager where he spent 15 years. Mr. Barnes helped lead Halyard’s successful investment of over $600 million in the technology, business services, media and communications industries, backed by sophisticated institutional investors such as Goldman Sachs, Abbott Capital and the Bank of Montreal.

Mr. Barnes has a broad spectrum of private equity investing experience across technology-enabled services industries including Human Capital Management, Digital and Direct Marketing and IT/Cybersecurity Services. He has represented Halyard on the board of directors of numerous portfolio companies and has also actively worked with Halyard portfolio companies on negotiating and structuring finance solutions, advising on management changes and restructurings as well as helping find and integrate add-on acquisitions.

Prior to Halyard, Mr. Barnes was an Analyst at Aragon Global Management, a long/short public equities hedge fund affiliated with Tiger Management. Mr. Barnes began his career in Morgan Stanley’s Media Corporate Finance Group and subsequently worked at Consolidated Press Holdings, a Sydney, Australia based private investment company.

Mr. Barnes received an MBA with honors from Columbia Business School and an AB (cum laude) from Harvard University where he played JV lacrosse, among other activities.

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.

Peter Weinbach has over three decades of experience in senior roles across private equity and investment banking. Before joining Bentley in early 2017, he served as Managing Director and Co-Founder of Yankee Hill Capital Management and as Vice Chairman of Great Western Products, a leading snack food manufacturer.

Earlier in his career, he was Managing Director, General Partner, and Investment Committee Member at AIG Horizon Partners, a $340 million private equity fund, and Vice President at Apax Partners, a global private equity firm with more than $70 billion in AUM. Throughout his private equity career, he has served on multiple Boards of Directors across the software, services, media, and consumer sectors.

Peter also held senior investment banking roles, including Director in the Investment Banking Group at ING Barings Furman Selz and Vice President in Mergers & Acquisitions at Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney. In addition to his professional work, he was an Adjunct Professor at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

He earned his B.S. (with academic honors) and M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

eddy Ellison focuses his practice on emerging growth opportunities, with a proven track record of providing strategic legal counsel to private companies, venture capital firms, and angel investors.

From guiding enterprises through critical stages of development to advising venture capital firms and angel investors on financing, due diligence, and optimizing portfolio performance, Teddy’s helps clients achieve their business objectives. He has significant experience providing counsel on corporate finance and transactions, mergers and acquisitions, securities law compliance, licensing arrangements, and general corporate matters, across a broad range of industries that includes life sciences, healthcare, software/information technology, e-commerce, consumer and retail products, digital media, financial services, and manufacturing.

A trusted advisor in the fast-paced world of startups and investment, prior to joining the firm Teddy founded Serotonin Legal Services to bring his dynamic blend of legal excellence and entrepreneurial vision to market.

Teddy previously served as an Emerging Companies and Venture Capital associate at Latham & Watkins LLP where he gained extensive experience working for some of the top private companies and investors navigating the complexities of the bull market. His work encompassed a broad spectrum of high-stakes transactions, including venture capital financings and mergers and acquisitions, as well as corporate governance and regulatory compliance matters.

Beyond his technical knowledge, Teddy is known for his proactive and creative approach to problem-solving.  His experience, integrity, and skills, coupled with his passion for fostering innovation, make him an invaluable partner for companies and investors seeking to thrive in today’s dynamic business landscape.

Mr. Matt London is a Managing Director, Co-Head of Equity Group of Monroe Capital. He is responsible for executing new equity investments, working with existing portfolio company management teams on value creation initiatives and arranging for the disposition of investments.  Mr. London has over 20 years of experience in private equity investing and investment banking.  Prior to Monroe, he was a Principal at Waud Capital Partners, where he focused on partnering with leadership teams and growing companies primarily in the healthcare services market.  Previously, Mr. London was an Analyst within the investment banking groups at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Keegan.  Mr. London earned his B.S.B.A. in Finance and International Business from Washington University in St. Louis.

Sarah is a Director of Business Development at Trivest.  Trivest is a private equity firm focused on the support and growth of founder-led & family-owned businesses in the middle market.  Sarah is responsible for business development initiatives at the firm, including the origination and evaluation of investment opportunities. Prior to Trivest, Sarah was at The Riverside Company for ten years.  Sarah currently serves on ACG’s Women of Leadership and Private Equity / Investment Banking committees. 

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.

In 2025, Connor launched Virent Capital, a lower middle market private equity firm dedicated to transforming family- and founder-owned businesses into digitally enabled market leaders.

Connor joined L2 Capital in 2012 as an Associate and rose to Partner, contributing to every deal during his tenure. He led initiatives across the full investment lifecycle—from sourcing and execution to value creation—and continues to support L2’s legacy companies through their next phase of growth.

Prior to L2, Connor was an Associate at Boxwood Partners, a Richmond-based merchant bank, where he executed a range of transactions in the lower middle market. He earned his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Richmond, where he was also a member of the Spiders’ championship football team.

Richard Parry is an Independent Sponsor at AtlanticM&A, an M&A consulting firm that integrates and divests companies for PE clients. We also partner with investors and management teams to source, execute, and exit lower middle-market control investments in cash-flow-positive technology companies. With over 30 years in private equity and M&A, and deep experience across the entire M&A consulting lifecycle, he differentiates through deep operational expertise, having served as Chief Transformation Officer at Biosynth AG (a KKR/Ampersand portfolio company), where he integrated nine acquisitions across the US and EU, implemented SAP ERP/CRM, and led cloud transformations, AI pilots, and global IT networks.

Richard's track record includes spending two and a half years improving Nalco's performance prior to its $4.2bn sale by Suez—the second-largest leveraged buyout of 2003—advising on high-profile deals like Xerox's $6.5bn acquisition, GSK|Novartis' $35bn asset swap, and IBM|Apple's JV formation. As an interim executive and consultant, he has navigated complex integrations, divestitures, and TSA exits for leading corporate and PE clients. His sector specialization spans technology, healthcare, and industrials, emphasizing value creation and sustainable growth amid competitive markets.

A thought leader, Richard authored "A Better Way to Grow" and "A Better Way to Merge" in Business Strategy Review, and his Debenhams case study—which became a chapter in International Private Equity (Wiley, 2011) and was the first at London Business School to calculate value created from both financial and operational improvements—analyzed PE value creation. AtlanticM&A offers a whitepaper called "Ensuring Deal Value: Reliable Integration Delivered." He holds an MEng in Engineering Science, Economics, and Management from Oxford University, an MSc from London Business School, and six AWS cloud certifications. Based in New Hampshire.

As an experienced private equity operator, Ryan Paskin leads CohnReznick’s Value Creation practice. In this role, he helps alternative investment firms develop, execute, and accelerate value creation strategies to unlock the full growth potential of their portfolio companies.

Jonathan founded Ilion Capital Partners with the goal of providing capital and expertise to the companies that need it. It takes an investor with strong operating capabilities to partner with companies in the lower middle market, and that is exactly what Jonathan brings. Prior to founding Ilion, Jonathan spent nearly seven years at McKinsey & Company, where he focused on finance, investing, and operational transformations. In addition to strategy and investment decision-making, he has experience leading Lean operating transformations, training sales teams to accelerate growth, and digitizing back office processes. Jonathan grew up in Indiana and received his BA in Economics and History from Hillsdale College in Michigan. He now lives in New York City with his wife and two young daughters, where they are active members of their church. When not investing or supervising playground time, Jonathan likes to read fiction, philosophy, and biographies.

Paul joined Greyrock in 2015 and is responsible for sourcing and executing transactions as well as portfolio management.

Prior to Greyrock, Paul spent three years at Prostar Capital, an energy-focused private equity firm. He began his career as a member of GE Capital’s Energy Finance division.

Paul Valentine is an experienced corporate lawyer who advises venture funds, private investment firms, middle-market companies and privately held companies across a broad array of industries, including carwash, hospitality, health care and consumer products. He has extensive experience with acquisitions, dispositions, minority investments and joint ventures. Paul also counsels clients with respect to legal opportunities and challenges related to qualified opportunity zones, real estate funds and fund formation.

Paul is the co-leader of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions team. He works creatively and efficiently, partnering with his clients to understand their business operations and risk profile to tailor his legal advice to their business goals. Clients rely on Paul to neutralize obstacles, focus on practical solutions to business and legal problems, and navigate the changing legal landscape.

Kurt is a Principal at Align Collaborate. Prior to joining Align Collaborate, he spent 7 years on the investment team at Align Capital Partners (“ACP”), where he was responsible for sourcing, executing, and monitoring the firm’s investments. During Kurt’s tenure at ACP, he served on three company boards and received direct operating experience by serving as the Vice President of Finance at Action Elevator from March 2021 — December 2021.

Prior to joining ACP, Kurt was an investment banking professional at Wells Fargo Securities where he focused on mergers and acquisitions for healthcare services companies and at KPMG where he provided advisory services to lower-middle market technology companies.

Kurt received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics from The University of Iowa.

Mr. Saltzman is the Managing Partner of Torque Capital Group where he is responsible for all aspects of the firm and its investment process. Prior to co-founding Torque, Mr. Saltzman was a senior investment professional at The Cypress Group, a New York-based private equity firm. Prior to The Cypress Group, Mr. Saltzman sourced and led transactions at BG Strategic Advisors, a boutique investment bank focused on the supply chain sector. Previously, Mr. Saltzman also worked in corporate finance for Amsterdam-based transportation, logistics and shipping multinational firm TNT N.V., and started his career in investment banking at Salomon Brothers. Mr. Saltzman graduated with highest distinction from Emory University and received his MBA from The Anderson School at U.C.L.A.