17th Independent Sponsors Summit

Eric Taylor is the Founder, CEO and CIO of Trident, a private equity firm focused on acquiring US-based small businesses in industrial, consumer and healthcare sectors. Trident uses proprietary technology to systematically source and diligence small-cap opportunities, with an eye towards reducing the racial wealth gap by incorporating post-transaction elements of diversity, equity and inclusion to amplify commercial outcomes. Eric oversees day to day operations, the Investment Team and is actively involved in portfolio management. He also leads the firm’s Investment Committee and makes final decisions on all additions to the portfolio. Mr. Taylor began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he spent 4 years in the Special Situations Group, focused primarily on lower and middle market companies. After Goldman and prior to Trident, Eric was a Portfolio Manager at Brightwood Capital. Eric holds an AB from Harvard University with Honors and is a CFA Charterholder.

Vinay is a Founding Partner at Weave Growth. Weave is an investment firm that brings a tech-enabled growth playbook to middle market companies looking to embrace technology and M&A in order to build robust and durable franchises. Vinay has spent over a decade in investing and financial services at Q Investments, Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, and the Grassroots Business Fund, an impact investing fund from the IFC/World Bank. He has also served as an executive/operator at an HR outsourcing and insurance services business. Vinay received a BA in Political Science from Yale University and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School.

Darien K. Smith, Esq. is a private equity independent sponsor based in South Florida. He started his collegiate career playing college football for Eastern Illinois University and finished his undergrad degree in finance and mathematics at the University of Miami (FL). Subsequently, Darien received his J.D. from New York University School of Law. Upon graduation, he became a licensed corporate attorney at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in their private funds group in New York City. After practicing law at Stroock, Darien transitioned to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a Management Consultant in their Corporate Finance and Strategy Practice Area where he advised multi-billion dollar conglomerates and private equity firms, building and executing organic and inorganic growth strategies. Darien left BCG in 2019 to launch D.K. Smith & Co. where he focuses on acquiring, operating, and advising lower middle market businesses.

David Eshaghian serves as the Managing Partner of Panther Equity Group, a lower middle market private equity group primarily focused on tech-enabled and B2B service providers up to $100M in enterprise value. He was previously an investment banker at Guggenheim Securities and Operated a Managed IT Services Company via a Search Fund. David graduated from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.

Peter Shelton is a partner at Benesch Law. He focuses his practice on transactional and corporate work. Peter has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as private debt and equity financings. In addition, he counsels clients with respect to general contract drafting and negotiation matters, joint ventures, partnership agreements, shareholder agreements and other day-to-day corporate matters.

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.

Kevin Christmas is a private equity attorney in Holland & Knight's Charlotte office, and is a co-head of both Holland & Knight's Independent Sponsors and Search Funds teams. Mr. Christmas has substantial experience representing domestic and international independent sponsors, search funds 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, independent sponsors, search funds, family offices, entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses, and public and private companies.

Brinda Yohannan is a Managing Director at First Haven Capital, where she sources, evaluates and executes on non-control equity investments in leading lower middle market companies. Prior to First Haven, Mrs. Yohannan spent ten years as part of the investment teams at First Atlantic Capital and Permira, where she was responsible for sourcing and executing leveraged buyouts, as well as managing portfolio companies across diverse industries. She started her career as an analyst in the Financial Sponsors Group at Credit Suisse. Mrs. Yohannan holds a B.S. in Business with highest distinction from Indiana University, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

Steve has been a private equity investor since 1998, with an emphasis on lower middle-market manufacturing and industrial service companies. To date, he has invested in transactions totaling $350 million in enterprise value. He enjoys assisting management teams with strategic planning, add-on acquisitions, operational improvements, personnel development and recruiting, and financial analysis. He has also served as interim CEO and CFO for his companies. Prior to joining Cornerstone, Steve was a principal with Long Point Capital, a middle-market private equity fund. Before Long Point, Steve worked for Masco Corp. and affiliates for ten years in a variety of operational, financial, and business development roles, primarily focused on turning around troubled operating divisions. His last position was as president of an operating division.

Cliff Meijer has over 30 years of experience in the private equity sector. He is a Managing Director in Headway Capital’s U.S. subsidiary and joined Headway Capital in 2015. His responsibilities include portfolio management, deal sourcing and business development activities. Prior to joining Headway Capital, Cliff was Managing Partner of the private equity fund management practice at Thomas Weisel Partners and subsequently Stifel Financial Inc. Cliff also previously worked at BancBoston Capital and Abbott Capital Management. Cliff has a Bachelor’s degree in Entrepreneurship / Entrepreneurial Studies and a Master of Business Administration from Babson College.

As Managing Partner, Mike Lonergan works with Georgia Oak’s partner companies to help drive value creation through revenue growth and acquisition strategies, while also evaluating new investment opportunities. Mike started Georgia Oak with a philosophy built for the business owner who is deeply passionate about their legacy and the success of the organizational family that helped propel their business to new levels. Prior to founding Georgia Oak, Mike was Vice President of Private Equity for Strategic Value Partners (SVP), a global hedge fund. He was also with Sun European Partners in London and Sun Capital Partners in Boca Raton, Fla. Sun Capital is one of the world’s most active turnaround private equity investors. While at Sun Capital, he evaluated and facilitated control buyout investments.