Focused on discussing active deals with a funding source, connect with the Independent Sponsors or Capital Providers specializing in investments in the industry sectors and markets you focus on. In advance of the event you will be provided with a full list of attendees, so you can choose to meet with the most relevant contacts and evaluate the potential for future business partnerships.
Join your peers for a series of lively and interactive discussions on the most pressing topics you are facing today. The small group format will enable you to make meaningful connections and come up with out-of-the-box solutions to shared challenges.
Moderator
Managing Director, Value Creation Practice Lead
ECA Partners
Michael is a Partner at Align Collaborate and a member of its Investment Committee. Prior to Align Collaborate, Michael co-founded NCK Capital (“NCK”), a boutique independent sponsor that acquired controlling interests in lower-middle market companies, with his business partner, Grant Kornman. NCK was a pioneer in the independent sponsor community, winning numerous awards, and built a successful portfolio of companies in many different industries including environmental services, post-secondary education, wholesale distribution, and building services.
Over the course of Michael’s entrepreneurial and investment career, he has founded, built and ran companies such as QuickfirE Restaurants and ASAP Air Services. Michael’s vision and leadership have guided these companies through many strategic milestones, including securing outside equity and debt financing, obtaining mission-critical regulatory approvals and company recapitalizations and sales.
Moderator
Partner and Private Equity /
Lippes Mathias
Mr. Koeppel is a Partner, serves as the Team Leader of the firm’s Private Equity and Independent Sponsor Practices, and as a member of the firm's Executive Committee. He is a corporate lawyer who has successfully structured, negotiated, and closed over 250 transactions in the past 25+ years, which typically involve mergers and acquisitions, fund formations and investments, and various private equity transactions (including co-investments, venture financings and cross-border deals). He also works with clients on reviewing/ structuring their Qualified Opportunity Zone and Qualified Small Business Stock investments.
Mr. Koeppel acts as counsel to a number of leading funds, independent sponsors, middle market companies, institutional investors, family offices, and high net worth investors focused on buy-out, growth, venture, real estate, intellectual property, energy, debt, fund-of-funds, co-investments, secondaries, and other strategies. He also often acts as US counsel to non-US clients on their US acquisition and private investment transactions. He also serves as a director for several private equity-backed companies.
On the M&A/ private equity transactions side, Mr. Koeppel has advised on deals from $5 million to $250 million+ in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, technology, consumer goods, food, distribution, business services, cleantech, and medical/ health care.
Moderator
Managing Partner
Ice Miller
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.
Moderator
Partner, Chair-Corporate Department
Herrick Feinstein LLP
Mr. Koeppel is a Partner, serves as the Team Leader of the firm’s Private Equity and Independent Sponsor Practices, and as a member of the firm's Executive Committee. He is a corporate lawyer who has successfully structured, negotiated, and closed over 250 transactions in the past 25+ years, which typically involve mergers and acquisitions, fund formations and investments, and various private equity transactions (including co-investments, venture financings and cross-border deals). He also works with clients on reviewing/ structuring their Qualified Opportunity Zone and Qualified Small Business Stock investments.
Mr. Koeppel acts as counsel to a number of leading funds, independent sponsors, middle market companies, institutional investors, family offices, and high net worth investors focused on buy-out, growth, venture, real estate, intellectual property, energy, debt, fund-of-funds, co-investments, secondaries, and other strategies. He also often acts as US counsel to non-US clients on their US acquisition and private investment transactions. He also serves as a director for several private equity-backed companies.
On the M&A/ private equity transactions side, Mr. Koeppel has advised on deals from $5 million to $250 million+ in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, technology, consumer goods, food, distribution, business services, cleantech, and medical/ health care.
Managing Principal, Value360 Practice
CohnReznick
Claudine 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.
Claudine serves as an adviser to public and private companies, both domestically and internationally. Her clients comprise the full gamut of financial sponsors including private equity investors, independent sponsors, family offices, alternative investment funds, lenders, and strategic investors. Her areas of knowledge 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 was named to Mergers and Acquisitions 2019 list of the most influential women in mid-market M&A, and Crain’s NY 2018 most notable women in consulting.
This session sets the stage for the day by examining the structural features that make the Texas capital and deal ecosystem distinct. Panelists will discuss how capital is formed and deployed in Texas, why decision-making often happens faster than in other markets, and how relationships, industry mix, and local credibility shape deal execution. The goal is to establish a shared understanding of the Texas operating environment before moving into practical, peer-led discussions.
Moderator
Partner
Haynes Boone
Cameron Scales is a partner in the Private Equity Practice Group in the Dallas office of Haynes Boone. His practice focuses on private equity and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, Cameron also represents public and private companies in a variety of corporate law and securities matters, including reporting obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, corporate governance best practices and regulations, private securities offerings and other securities transactions, and preparing registration statements for public offerings.
Prior to his arrival at Haynes Boone, Cameron served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Henry Hudson in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in the summer of 2012. Prior to his time as a judicial intern, Cameron worked on a variety of political campaigns, ranging from local races to federal and statewide elections.
President
StoneCreek Capital
Drew is the President of StoneCreek Capital LLC. Drew has been involved in direct equity investing and leveraged financings for over 35 years. Prior to StoneCreek, Drew was with Wells Fargo Bank in Los Angeles where he developed and managed a successful portfolio of highly leveraged loans. He has been responsible for over $1 billion in leveraged transactions as a senior lender and equity principal. Drew currently oversees the day-to-day operations and investment activity at StoneCreek. Drew has served on the board of directors of Outsourcing Services Group, FoodHandler Holdings, Delafoil Holdings, BarrierSafe Solutions International, Fire-Dex LLC, Brand & Oppenheimer, Kova International, SteelHorse Automotive, Pinnacle Exhibits, Access DMC, Mob Scene and Montana Silversmiths.
He received his BA in Marketing and his MBA in Real Estate and Finance from Texas Christian University.
Director
Genesis Park
Market Managing Partner, Practice Leader, Mergers & Acquisitions Tax
Citrin Cooperman
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.
Moderator
Partner
Ice Miller
CEO and Founder
Clear North Capital
As the CEO and Founder of Clear North Capital, Cody is extensively involved in creating value for lower mid-market Canadian private companies through overall investment strategies, deal-flow generation, facilitating key lending relationships and investment banking relationships. Always at the forefront of market trends, Cody leads by example with his entrepreneurial approach in delivering innovative solutions and strategic planning that has assisted companies and investors in surpassing their goals.
With a career spanning more than 25 years, Cody began his profession in 1993 as an Analyst for the Leveraged Finance Group of CS First Boston where he worked with financial buyers in areas of acquisition and divestiture, high-yield bonds, IPOs and re-financings. In 1995 Cody joined, New York-based private equity firm, EXOR America as an Associate. He was responsible for evaluating and analyzing market trends, currency forecasts and private equity investment opportunities. Having established a solid reputation for excellence in financing, structuring, and deal execution, Cody returned home to Calgary, Alberta and co- founded TriWest Capital Partners in 1997. As Senior Managing Director, he provided critical leadership for the overall development of the firm, served on over 20 portfolio company Boards and was instrumental in establishing the largest general buyout fund in Western Canada with five funds and over $1.25 billion in equity capital raised. Having assisted in growing TriWest into one of Canada’s leading private equity groups, Cody retired from the firm in 2018 to form Clear North Capital where he could directly focus his efforts on creating value through operational excellence for lower mid-market private Canadian companies. In addition, Cody has served on the following public Boards; Chairman of Edgefront REIT (now called Nexus REIT), Chairman of Source Energy Services and Chairman of Decibel Inc., as well as is the current Chairman of POI Business Solutions based in Markham, Ontario, Chairman of Korite LP based in Calgary, Alberta and Chairman of Rapid-Span Group based in Armstrong B.C. Cody is also an active Board member of PYURE Inc., Canary Biofuels and the Voran Group.
Texas deals move fast but speed without discipline creates risk. This session focuses on the practical steps that separate clean executions from costly ones, covering structure, governance, and the early warning signs that protect capital when things don't go to plan.
Moderator
Partner
Sadis
Managing Director
Crestline Investors
Most operators focus on revenue growth and headcount decisions — but some of the fastest EBITDA gains hide in plain sight across payroll taxes, workers' comp, benefits structure, and state programs. This session walks through real deal scenarios where money was left on the table, and gives attendees a practical framework to spot and act on these levers at any stage — from diligence through ongoing operations.
Key takeaways:
- Spot the cost leaks most operators and deal teams overlook
- Understand which structural decisions most directly impact EBITDA
- Apply a repeatable diligence-to-operations framework across your portfolio
Co-Founder, COO
Aspen HR
Jenny serves as the COO and is a Co-Founder of Aspen. Prior to joining Aspen, Jenny was Vice President at Ambrose, now known as TriNet Financial Services. Jenny co-led the Bay Area market development for TriNet’s PEO product that specifically focused on the alternative investment industry.
Jenny was previously in KPMG’s asset management group that provided audit, tax, and consulting services for numerous alternative investment firms.
Jenny earned her BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from San Francisco State University College of Business. She currently serves as Co-Chair for Help For Children’s West Coast Executive Committee, a global foundation, supported by the alternative asset management industry. Jenny also co-founded the Pacific Alternative Investment Group in February of 2016.
Designed to connect you with the right people to accelerate deal execution. These meetings are tailored to deal execution, including getting deals signed, financed, and closed. In advance of the event you will be provided with a full list of attendees, so you can choose to meet with the most relevant contacts and evaluate the potential for future business partnerships.
Wrap up the day with a relaxed cocktail reception, a great way to unwind and reflect on the day with fellow attendees.
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