at
Greenspoon Marder LLP
1875 Century Park East
Los Angeles, CA, 90067
Late Registration: $220
This event is free for Chicago Private Equity Chapter, Los Angeles Private Equity Chapter, Los Angeles Real Estate Chapter, NYC Private Equity Chapter, National Chapter, Gold, Corporate, and Presidents Club members.
About
Topic: Realities and Consequences of Independent Sponsors Becoming Mainstream
Summary:
With more independent sponsors entering the lower middle market each year, it has proven to be a model that’s here to stay. So what are the implications in this increasingly competitive landscape? How are independent sponsors proving out as as deal partners by those writing the checks and as legitimate buyers by the sellers? What type of deals are realistic for independent sponsors to target and how does their capital structure differ from more “traditional” deals? What are some of the other nuances and differences to be aware of? Join our panel of seasoned independent sponsors and capital providers who partner with them to hear their thoughts on these questions and more!
Pricing:
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Opus Connect Members: No Charge
- Non-Members (On or before September 11th): $195
- Non-Members (On or after September 12th): $220
By Invitation Only
Opus Connect is a membership-based organization.
If you have any queries, please contact lena@opusconnect.com
*Opus Connect adheres to a strict no cancellations, no refunds, no application of registration fees to future events policy.
Qualified substitutions are accepted. To send a substitute, please notify lena@opusconnect.com
**Opus Connect reserves the right to refuse entry to prospective attendees
Moderator


Terry is responsible for leading Accord’s growth and expansion initiatives in the U.S., including organizational development. Prior to joining Accord in 2014, Terry spent over 30 years in the financial services industry. As a senior executive at LaSalle Bank, he established a business unit charged with providing credit and other bank products to the financial services sector, which included commercial finance, consumer finance, leasing and mortgage banking. This experience gives Terry unique insight and expertise into the operations of finance companies. Subsequent to leaving banking in 2005, Terry spent 10 years providing advisory services to finance companies. As Managing Director with Amherst Partners from 2009 until joining Accord in 2014, Terry provided strategic and financial advisory services on mergers and acquisitions and on turnaround and restructuring services to a wide range of companies with a focus on financial services. He holds a BA in economics from Valparaiso University and an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University.
Panelists





Mr. Isaacs joined RLJ Equity Partners from Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors in the firm's growth private equity group with $615 million of assets under management. Prior to joining Kayne Anderson, Mr. Isaacs served as Corporate Counsel at Macrovision Corporation. With a background in private practice as a corporate and securities lawyer, Mr. Isaacs previously worked at Foley & Lardner, LLP. Mr. Isaacs earned a B.A. in International Relations from the College of William and Mary, a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, an LL.M. in Securities and Financial Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center, and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Bar Associations of California, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

Jeffrey S. Serota serves as Vice Chairman and Chief Investment Officer to Corbel Capital Partners. Jeff has over 30 years of experience as a veteran principal investor, financial services professional and operating executive. At Corbel, Jeff currently serves as a board observer or member of Mikada Cabinets and certain entities related to Corbel’s Trucking Company investment. Prior to joining Corbel, Jeff served as a Senior Partner with Ares Management in Los Angeles, from 1997 to 2012 and as a Senior Advisor to Ares in 2013. While at Ares, Jeff was a member of the Investment Committee for all private equity related transactions. This represented over 70 completed transactions with an aggregate of equity capital deployed of over $7 billion. Jeff has led transactions (including sourcing, due diligence, financing, consummating, monitoring and exiting) of a variety of sizes and in numerous industries including industrials, energy, chemicals, manufacturing and business services. As part of his role as Senior Partner at Ares, Jeff has acted as an interim CEO for certain portfolio company investments of Ares, led fundraising efforts for private equity investment funds, participated in numerous private and public companies as a member of the boards of directors (including serving as chairman of two multi-billion dollar public companies), and assisted in the management of the private equity efforts at Ares. Prior to joining Ares, Jeff worked at Bear Stearns, Dabney/Resnick, Inc. and Salomon Brothers Inc. Jeff earned his B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, going on to earn his M.B.A. from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California at Los Angeles.

As the Founder and CEO of Sancus, Mr. Crane’s efforts are focused on deal sourcing, recruiting management teams and operating executives, investment analysis, due diligence, deal execution, and supporting the portfolio companies. As an independent sponsor, Mr. Crane plays an active role with the portfolio companies by supporting the management teams on their efforts to build exceptional businesses. Further to that, Mr. Crane has a proven track record of identifying and executing on operational improvements and strategic value creation initiatives post-acquisition. Mr. Crane has 12+ years of private equity experience with the past 8 years operating as an independent private equity sponsor with both Palomar Capital Management and The Palomar Group. Previously, Mr. Crane was an Investment Associate at Pomona Capital, which is a private equity affiliate of ING that has $6.9+ billion of AUM. Mr. Crane’s responsibilities included investment analysis, due diligence, structuring, transaction execution, and portfolio monitoring across a variety of industries and sectors. Prior to Pomona Capital, Mr. Crane was a Senior Associate in the Transaction Services group at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he advised private equity firms and corporations on accounting and valuation issues associated with a variety of complex transactions.
Mr. Crane graduated cum laude from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA, with a B.S. in Business Administration that included an Accounting major and Economics minor. Mr. Crane is a CPA (inactive license) and is originally from Allentown, Pennsylvania. In his free time, Mr. Crane enjoys spending quality time with his daughter and playing basketball.

Rich Bronstein has a passion for business. He’s spent the past 10 years growing businesses in various capacities, working internationally and domestically for startups, small, medium, and large businesses across a variety of roles including corporate finance, strategy, product management, marketing, and business development. His focus has been on executing strategic transactions (M&A, capital raises, divestitures, JVs and partnerships), but he views that as just one tactic to grow a business. He's a strong believer in evaluating all options to grow, including organic business development efforts.
Prior to starting Millennial Venturing, Rich was a member of the global corporate development team of GXS, a global technology company owned by Francisco Partners, Golden Gate Capital, and Cerberus, prior to its sale to OpenText in a $1.2B deal in January of 2014. The team executed in excess of $2B in transactions over a period of 5 years, growing the business to ~$500M in revenue at the time of sale.
Rich started his career with UBS Investment Bank with the client services team in the London and Stamford, Connecticut trading floors and also briefly spent time with Berkery Noyes, a boutique M&A advisory firm, executing education and education technology deals.
Rich earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Drexel University and an MBA from the University of Maryland. Rich lives in Marin County with his incredibly awesome two daughters.