NYC Chapter: June Deal Connect Panel

Jim Davidson is managing director and founder of Avant Advisory Group, a management consulting and operationally focused financial advisory firm that specializes in middle-market M&A. Jim is both a Certified Merger & Acquisitions Advisor (CM&AA) and Certified Merger & Acquisitions Professional (CM&AP). He has obtained CPA and Chartered Global Management Accountant certifications with multiple financial forensics specialization credentials and is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Board Advisor (CBA) and Certified Director. Finally, he is both a Certified Turnaround Professional and Certified Insolvency & Restructuring Advisor.

Avant Advisory Group provides M&A transaction support and has performed hundreds of buy-side and sell-side diligence engagements that include financial / quality of earnings and operations for companies ranging from distressed to multi-billion firms. Further, his firm has been engaged by both counsel and buyers/investors to investigate and opine on post-acquisition issues and disputes.
Jim has served in executive positions at both public and private companies ranging from entrepreneurial to multi-billion-dollar firms. After 10 years of accounting, auditing, M&A transaction advisory and other consulting for Big Four Certified Public Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, Jim transitioned to private industry. He spent over 10 years as a member of several boards of directors and in various financial and executive positions, including president and CEO, COO, CFO, secretary-treasurer, chief accounting officer, and corporate controller.

Jim integrates experience from private industry, public accounting, auditing and consulting. His specialties include mergers and acquisitions, distressed and special situations that comprise insolvency, bankruptcy, financial restructurings, operational turnarounds, and profitability improvement. He uses his expertise to assist with issues of fraud, forensics, and dispute resolution, due diligence, strategic planning, and corporate governance. His combined experience and professional qualifications fulfill financial expert requirements defined by Sarbanes-Oxley, NYSE, and NASDAQ. He also served on the Financial Executives International (“FEI”) committee for Mid-Sized Public Companies. He has served on the Small Business Bankruptcy Task Force of the American Bankruptcy Institute and was past member of the board of directors of the Orange County Forensic Expert Witness Association, past 4-year president and current member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Chapter of Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

In over 30 years’ experience, Jim has obtained diversified experience across many industries, including the specialized areas of aerospace & defense; engineering & construction; contracting; industrial products manufacturing & assembly; trucking & transportation; route-based businesses; waste management & disposal; & services; energy – oil & gas, oil shale, ethanol, mining; consumer products & services; restaurants, franchising; retail & wholesale distribution; food processing & packaging; agri-business; healthcare; business & professional services; government & not-for-profit; telecom, media, & technology.

Currently, Jim primarily serves middle-market companies ranging from $25 million to multi-billion-dollar sales, private equity firms, family offices and their portfolio companies, banks, alternative lenders, & other capital providers, attorneys & law firms.
A university-certified facilitator and instructor, Jim has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in business and management. These have primarily related to business ethics, auditing, forensic accounting, finance, economics, management, strategic planning, and critical thinking. He has also extensive to numerous professional and business associations.

Jim and has been a designated expert in both federal and state courts, was 4-year president for the Los Angeles Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and remains on its board of directors. He has also served on the board of the Orange County chapter of the Forensic Expert Witness Association, the board of the Orange County Transaction Network, and the board of Opus Connect. Jim obtained a master’s degree in business in finance & managerial accounting and bachelor’s degrees in psychology and political science from the University of California, Irvine. He serves on the board of directors, finance & audit committee of the international, not-for-profit organization, Royal Family Kids

Mr Kieras is responsible for the sourcing, evaluation and execution of investments conducted by JZAI. His involvement includes financial valuation and analysis, industry research, due diligence, and portfolio company oversight. Prior to joining JZAI in 2008, Mr Kieras worked for P&M Corporate Finance, an investment bank focused on mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt financings, and strategic advisory for middle-market businesses across a variety of industries. His responsibilities included valuation, financial analysis, project management and operational and industry due diligence, primarily for the plastics and packaging industries. He received a BBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, with concentrations in Finance and Accounting.

Mr. Glasse joined Aegis Capital in 2011 and is Managing Director and Head of Debt Capital Markets, providing financing and transaction advisory services to public and private companies. Mr. Glasse has over 25 years of experience in the leveraged finance and debt markets, arranging growth and acquisition capital, restructuring and refinancing debt for middle market companies, managing large syndicated corporate loan financings, and building/managing loan trading businesses. Prior to Aegis, Mr. Glasse was Head of U.S. Loan Trading at Barclays Capital, TD Securities, and Fieldstone Capital Group. Collectively, Mr. Glasse’s teams have led over 400 loan financings raising over $200 billion for corporate clients and received numerous top-tier rankings. Mr. Glasse is active in the loan market community and has served as a Board of Directors Member of its primary trade association, the LSTA. Mr. Glasse has an MBA from Columbia University, and a BA in Economics from Hampshire College.

Joseph Adipietro is Managing Director and Co-Head of the Advisory Group at ASGARD Partners & Co. He leads the firm’s origination efforts with a focus on capital raising and strategic advisory. Mr. Adipietro is passionate about helping management teams achieve their strategic goals and developing long term relationships.

Joseph brings over 20 years of leveraged finance and capital markets experience to ASGARD’s team. Prior to joining ASGARD, he was a Managing Director at Carolina Financial Securities where he focused on originating and executing capital raising and strategic advisory assignments for lower middle market companies. Prior to this, Mr. Adipietro was a Managing Director in Credit Suisse’s Syndicated Loan Group where he structured and arranged senior debt financings for private equity firms and corporate clients. During this time, he founded the middle market lending group and grew the business to over $40 million of annual revenues.

Mr. Adipietro was previously a Vice President in the Senior Debt Group at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette prior to its acquisition by Credit Suisse in 2000. Mr. Adipietro began his career as an Associate in the Asset-Based Finance Group at Citicorp Securities.

Over his professional career, Mr. Adipietro has arranged over $35 billion of transactions for middle market companies across a broad array of industries. The transactions include leveraged buyouts, mergers, strategic acquisitions, recapitalizations, re-financings and debtor-in-possession financings.

Mr. Adipietro holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BS in Computer Science from the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science. Joseph resides in Westport, CT with his wife and two sons and spends his free time swimming, playing golf, collecting fine wines and enjoying quality time with his family.

Scott Porter is a Managing Director on the Investment Team with a focus on two core verticals — Transportation & Logistics and Franchising. Prior to joining Brightwood, Scott was a Partner at Uni-World Capital, a lower-middle market buyout fund, where he spent over five years sourcing, executing and managing private equity investments. Prior to Uni-World, Scott worked with Brightwood co-Founder Sengal Selassie as a Partner at CCP, where he spent nine years in a similar capacity to his role at Uni-World. While at Cowen, he was instrumental in assisting the company in a number of business development activities that included the company’s spin-out from Société Générale and subsequent IPO, the creation of a $500 million healthcare-focused private equity fund and the acquisition of an Asian boutique investment bank. Scott started his career working as part of Chase Securities High Yield Corporate Finance Group, where he executed over $3.5 billion in lead managed and $7.0 billion in co-managed transactions in the media, telecommunication, healthcare, chemical, consumer products, manufacturing and service industries. Scott holds a BA, magna cum laude from SUNY Binghamton University.