I am the director partner at AGG Lawyers & Advisors. My practice is focused on corporate law, cross border transactions, restructuring and strategic advisory for both national and multinational companies.
I graduated in Law and I am Professor of Law at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and hold an AMP by IESE in business administration.

I am a partner at AGG Lawyers and Advisors, leading the M&A and Transactions team.
My main focus is on renewable energy projects, real estate, automotive and new technologies. I own an investment firm in renewable projects, currently working in projects in Spain, Andorra and Latin America in wind and solar developments.
I am very focused also in strategic advisory and commercial development to companies that need to grow with a multinational scope.
I graduated from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia as Computer Engineer and later specialized in business administration through the Open University of Catalonia.

I am a managing director of Pandion Partners Italia and a founding member of the Pandion Partners Group from November 2000. After receiving my BS degree in Business Administration from Perugia State University, I covered varying positions in M&A before co-founding Pandion Partners Italia in 1995, always with a focus on cross-border, mid-market deals. In this time I have participated in more than 30 M&A transactions, either as a buy-side or sell-side advisor, on domestic and international markets and across a wide range of industries, including health care, energy, chemicals, industrial goods and consumer goods.

Dr. Suresh Nanda holds a Master’s in Economics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and a Doctorate in Business Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. Suresh has also attended an Advanced Management Program at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, US. He has over 40 years’ experience in banking, mostly in leadership positions, where he managed large teams in the Project Finance, Corporate & Investment Banking, International Banking, Off shore Banking Retail Banking and Private Banking in units of ICICI, ICICI Bank, ING Bank in India and Middle East.

Yves Blais has acquired practical knowledge and direct relationships with various industries and sub-industries such as services, distribution, manufacturing, retail and export. Throughout his career, his skills have led him to serve on several regional economic development organizations and on various advisory committees of financial institutions and public and private companies on a national scale. He has more than 30 years of experience in managing and negotiating transactions and knows the needs and concerns of small and medium-sized business leaders, having also experienced them personally during his years as a business owner.
 
Yves holds a degree in finance and marketing from HEC Montreal. He is also a member of the Ordre des administrateurs agréés du Québec. Thanks to his additional studies in the United States and his export activities, he is fluent in French, English and Spanish.
 
Having visited more than 30 countries, 
Yves loves to travel the world.

Founding partner of Quatá Confidence Capital, Aleixo was a partner at Excelia Gestão de Negócios and Finenge Associados for four years, structuring and leading the M&A practice. He was also Vice President of M&A in Stratus Investments from 2006 to 2011; M&A consultant at Ernst & Young from 2004 to 2006 and financial planning trainee at Merrill Lynch in the US. Aleixo holds a master degree in Business Administration from Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV–EAESP) post-graduate degree in Finance from the University of California — Berkeley, and a degree in Electrical Engineering from Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP).

I joined Keystone in 2009. Prior to that I served as a Head of Research at
Gaon Investment House and a Senior Equity Analyst in Psagot, the Largest Israeli Investment Bank. I also acted as a Consultant for equity investments and M&As in Leumi Group, the Largest Financial Group in Israel. I have BA degree in Economics and Business administration from the Hebrew University and MBA from Tel Aviv University.

I established Maple Capital Advisors, a boutique investment bank focused on M&A, Private Equity, Structured Debt and Accelerator based in New Delhi, India in 2010.

I started my Career at BNP Paribas in Mumbai, where I had multiple roles spanning credit, corporate banking and strategy. In 1998, I was one of the founding members of Rabobank’s India operations in New Delhi and had leadership roles in Corporate Finance. In 2006, I established the investment banking business at Grant Thornton, India and was part of the Global Executive Committee on M&A at Grant Thornton. In 2010, I established Maple Capital Advisors in New Delhi. Maple has been recognised in the Government of India publication “Ordinary Indians Extraordinary Enterprise” as one of the 25 companies selected and profiled in India.

I have experience of over 100 closed transactions spanning, M&A, structured credit, Private Equity and Principal Investing. My expertise is in M&A and Structured Credit especially in Consumer and manufacturing sectors. I have spoken extensively in fórums and covered widely by media on various sectoral expositions. I did my MBA from McGill, University, Montreal, Canada and a Mechanical engineer from MIT, Manipal. I schooled at Mayo College, Ajmer, India.

I am based in New Delhi, married with 2 children, play golf, and have avid interest in nature, trekking and photography. I also have an interest in fine art.

I studied medicine and therefore specialise in the areas of medicine, med-tech problem-solving and analytics. I combine my scientific knowledge with general management skills and have worked in sales marketing projects as well as business modelling and strategy development. I now use this experience in the field of technology M&A.

My advisory experience goes beyond M&A, comprising also process and organizational questions, international post merger integration projects and in part, international strategic and pricing questions and re-organisational topics. Holding a diploma in Business Studies and a doctor’s degree in Economics and Political Science, I have also provided consulting to technology and telecommunication companies. Clients and colleagues especially appreciate my communicative style of working.

I founded The Sustainomics Group in 2004. We have since grown to a company with presence in China and Germany. Since joining Pandion Partners in 2008, we have broadened our scope to include other industries such as FMCG, pharma, automotive, aerospace, luxury goods and technology. I have sat on the boards of several Asian and European companies. I graduated from the European Business School (China, England, Germany, France) and have participated in executive classes at MIT (USA)

Before setting-up Sustainomics, I was working in consulting and industry on projects in the Americas, Asia and Europe. In particular, I negotiated, established and ran a joint-venture between a Chinese state-owned enterprise and a Western multinational. I was then in charge of international project financing and worked on and completed two large-scale power plants in China.

Sustainomics focused originally on fund-raising, project financing and M&A in renewable energy. Since joining Pandion Partners in 2008 we have broadened our scope to include other industries such as FMCG, pharma, automotive, aerospace, luxury goods and technology.

I sat on the boards of several Asian and European companies. Having graduated from the European Business School (China, England, Germany, France) and participated in executive classes at MIT (USA), I am able to work in English, German, Chinese and French.

In my free time I like reading and mountain and water sports.

Transforming technology into business is my core business and passion. Not all technology must be developed in-house; on the other hand in-house technology might be of high value in different business fields. I help innovative companies improve their strategic value with in-house and acquired technology. I gained my experience over many years working at different companies in leading positions. I can therefore easily identify challenges and offer practical and rational support and workshops.

I have extensive experience in the areas of sales, business development, building and maintaining customer relationships, supply chain and operational excellence. I am able to work effectively and efficiently even under permanent and considerable workload and structural changes. My commitment enables me to meet tight deadlines and ensure successful teamwork.

Nicolas began his carrier as an auditor at Deloitte in Paris. Then, he joined the Saint-Gobain Group for 14 years, working in the Glass Containers Division and in the Technical Ceramics Division. In 2000, he was hired in the Eramet group, in charge of Corporate Planning and Controlling. He participated in both groups in several M&A operations. He decided to create his current M&A activity in 2007. He is located with his 4-people team in Paris. The team has achieved more than 40 deals since that date.

I received a master’s degree in Engineering at the Technical University Prague and an MBA at Sheffield Hallam University. During my professional career I have held numerous managerial positions in different industries including construction, IT, prepress, advertising flexible packaging, aluminum rolling, sheet-metal production, beverage filling equipment production, municipal heating, cooling system production and public transport. In this time I have learnt that there are common patterns within all organizations and in the behaviour of managers. My objective is to share this experience with others.

I am one of the founding partners of NEWTON Business Development. I have received a Master degree in Engineering on the Technical University Prague and a MBA at the Sheffield Hallam University. During my professional career I went through many different managerial positions in different industries going from Construction, over IT, Prepress, Advertising, Flexible packaging, Aluminum Rolling, Sheet-metal production, Beverage filling equipment production, Municipal heating, Production of cooling systems, Public transport, shifting more and more from a managerial role to advisory. I always tried to gain an understanding of each specific industry environment I was working in. This became easier over time using experience

I collected within the others industries. My advisory activities spread later over several other areas such as the Chemical industry, Healthcare, Education, Sports, Public Affairs or even Ornamental fish distribution.

Over the years I realized that there are some common patterns within all organizations and behavior of managers. I tried to share this experience with others. This resulted in becoming a teacher of Strategic management at NEWTON College and occasionally at other Universities.

My hobby is watching how fast the World is changing. I try to understand how all Human systems, we have brought in place over the last generations, will face these changes.

Besides native Czech and German I communicate in English and if necessary also in Russian.

Since founding NEWTON Business Development in 2006, I have focused on infrastructure advisory, namely public private partnership (PPP) projects. Aside from my job at NEWTON Business Development, where I lead M&A and infrastructure advisory practice, I am a member of the supervisory board of NEWTON College (private university, Czech Republic) and PILE ELBUD (high voltage overhead lines and substations assembly, Poland).

I am since 2006 one of NEWTON Business Development founding partners. I have achieved Master degree at University of Economics in Prague.

I have started my career in 1996 at NEWTON Stock Investment, a brokerage house at Prague Stock Exchange. I moved to the advisory division of NEWTON Group in 1999 where I have been responsible for M&A projects in several CEE countries — Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia.

Once we founded NEWTON Business Development in 2006, I have started to focus also on Infrastructure advisory, namely Public Private Partnership (PPP) kind of projects.

Besides my job at NEWTON Business Development where I lead M&A and Infrastructure advisory practice, I am member of supervisory board of NEWTON College (private university, Czech Republic) and PILE ELBUD (high voltage overhead lines and substations assembly, Poland).

My hobbies are music & theatre. Besides native Czech, I speak also English and partially Russian.

I have over ten years of professional experience in financial advisory, including M&As, valuation, IPOs, due diligence, and corporate advisory. I have advised clients from i.a. food industry, retail, transport, construction, real estate management. Previously, I worked at Polish branch of KBC Securities N.V. (Corporate Finance Department) and KPMG.
I graduated from Warsaw School of Economics (Finance and Banking with specialization in Investment Banking) and Independent University of Business, Administration and Computer Science in Warsaw (Economics with specialization in Financial Engineering). I am a member of CFA Society Poland.

Mergers & Acquisitions Department Director at Navigator Capital Group. I have over ten years of professional experience in financial advisory, including M&As, valuation, IPOs, due diligence, and corporate advisory. I have advised clients from i.a. food industry, retail, transport, construction, real estate management. Previously, I worked at Polish branch of KBC Securities N.V. (Corporate Finance Department) and KPMG.

I graduated from Warsaw School of Economics (Finance and Banking with specialization in Investment Banking) and Independent University of Business, Administration and Computer Science in Warsaw (Economics with specialization in Financial Engineering).

I am a member of CFA Society Poland. My hobbies include sports and automotive. I speak Polish and English.

I have over 20 years’ professional experience in financial and strategic advisory, including IPOs, mergers and acquisitions of listed companies, transactions of purchase/sale of companies on the private market, privatizations, and complex restructuring programs in various market sectors. I received my PhD degree from Warsaw School of Economics in 2000. I currently give lectures on corporate finance, M&A and valuation methods. In 2014 I finalized my postdoctoral dissertation. I am also a supervisory board member of a number of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

I am an experienced multilingual, result-driven leader with a pragmatic approach built up through more than 30 years’ expertise in a multinational environment in the chemical industry. I have held a number of corporate positions including business & general management, business development, planning & analysis and M&A for the EMEA region. A particular expertise in the Russian market was acquired through local restructuring & integration projects as well as high-level business development projects. I hold a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Karel de Grote University College in Antwerp and a master’s degree in Industrial Business Administration from the EHSAL Management School in Brussels.

Professional background
I was most recently Director Business Development and Planning & Analysis EMEA at Ashland Inc., an 8+ billion USD global specialty chemical company. In this function, I coordinated acquisitions and divestitures in the EMEA region, post merger integration as well as special projects.

Prior to this I was the Integration Director Russia at Ashland Inc. with the objective to integrate the different Russian entities and to harmonize all support functions to prepare the Russian organization for accelerated growth as part of the strategic growth plan.

I also built up Business Development expertise in Turkey.
Special projects, like legal entity mergers and office consolidations were also under my responsibility.

I have managed restructuring & closure projects in France, which provided me with a profound experience in works council negotiations.

In 2008 and 2009, I have prepared and coordinated the 3-year strategic plan for Ashland EMEA.

As of 2008 I was a member of the Ashland European Leadership Board.
I started my career more than 30 years ago at Ashland in sales for the water

treatment division and held later Director positions in Business Management for EMEA and was during 15 years General Manager of Ashland Belgium.

Since January 2012, I started my own consultancy company, InterPro Consulting, specialized in M&A, Strategy and Management Advisory Services.

Education and qualifications
I hold a Master degree in chemical engineering from the Karel de Grote University College in Antwerp and a Master degree in Industrial Business Administration from the EHSAL Management School in Brussels.

Personal
I have the Belgian nationality and live close to Antwerp in Belgium. I am fluent in Dutch, English, French, good knowledge of German and a basic knowledge of Russian.

Jazz music is my passion, and I was during more than 20 years mountain climbing instructor for the Belgian Mountaineering Federation.

My principle specialization lies in corporate finance and strategy. That means: assisting in the process of buying and selling of mid-size (family) companies as well as finding finance alternatives in the case that a financier is required. Closely related to this is my interest in creative business development, new ideas, strategic alternatives and visible improvements. For that purpose, I developed a comprehensive analytical advisory model, the Hollebloc Model, an extensive Excel spreadsheet which shows improvements. As a side activity I have extensive experience in teaching financial management courses for non-financials, primarily aimed at the middle management of larger (international) corporations.

During a long period of employment with internationally operating companies in retail, construction and manufacturing, I have served in various managerial and executive finance positions in the Netherlands, Asia, Africa, USA and the Caribbean. In 1999 I made a switch to become a partner in an M&A boutique. I joined CFS Corporate Finance & Strategy as partner and co-owner in 2002. A number of transactions, primarily in energy and manufacturing, have been successfully concluded over the years as advisor to acquiring as well as selling principals. Aside from M&A transactions, my focus lies on advising clients on a strategic corporate level, including restructuring and refinancing of the company. 

Since the incorporation of our boutique in 2001, I have executed numerous deals including sell-side, buy-side, MBO/MBI projects and capital raising projects. I am also frequently involved in arranging bank loans. In recent years I have experienced a change in the working relationship with clients from deal making to strategic advisory. Being mainly active in domestic markets, I am specialized in human resource services, printing, publishing, ICT, telecommunication and postal logistics. I also still prepare financial annual reports as a special service to clients.

With more than fifteen years experienced private stock market investor and portfolio manager, with significant banking experience in brokerage, asset management, FX trading, Tomislav also gained practical knowledge and direct relationships with various stakeholders such as PE funds, institutional investors, board members, regulators, owners, and other financial institutions active in CE and SE Europe.

Vestibule Partners LLC, is an M&A consulting company based in Zagreb, Croatia, and is defined by its integrity, approach, independent advice and on personal availability.

Tomislav is the founding member and Managing Partner. After graduating at VERN, University of Applied Sciences, he began his carrier in various Croatian companies in different industries including pharmaceuticals (PLIVA / TEVA Group), rail infrastructure and construction (Croatian Railways), brokerage house and asset management (TO ONE brokers), and bank institutions (Volksbank and SBERBANK).

Dr. Thomas Wally, CFA I have 20 years of experience in strategic- and financial-advisory — in fields such as M&A, corporate finance, and new business development. Before founding TWAdvisers in 2017, I worked for the international advisory companies Stern Stewart & Co., JP Morgan, Booz Allen Hamilton, and VCP Capital Partners. I led consulting-projects and cross-border M&A-transactions internationally and in Central and Eastern Europe, in various industries, including TMT, financial services, industrial goods, health care, and consumer goods. I received my master’s and doctorate degree at the WU Wien, and hold lectures at the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt.

Of Counsel

Mr. Rudolf Günther has joined the leadership team of Thiele & Associates. Mr. Günther holds a degree in mechanical engineering with a specialisation in factory management, cybernetics, control technology and robotics. Already during his studies, he focused on software development for digitization in mechanical engineering and founded his software company AIT Applied Information Technologies in Stuttgart to implement solutions in the field of mechanical engineering, automation and robotics.

Since 2010, he became a business angel, investor, and advisor to start-ups.
By selling his own company to the Siemens IoT division, he gathered valuable experience in preparation and execution of M&A transactions. Having become partner of Thiele & Associates, clients in the technology and software sector may now benefit from his wealth of experience in M&A.

Of Counsel

Before joining Keystone as a Partner in 2011, I worked as Head of Corporate Finance at Lithuanian investment banking group Orion Securities for 6 years.

During the time in Orion Securities I led over 20 M&A and capital raising projects worth 150 million EUR. I also served as Chairman of the Supervisory Council at OMX Baltic Benchmark Fund. I have a B.Sc. in Finance and Business Administration from Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.

Before joining Keystone as a Partner in 2006, I worked as a member of supervisory and management boards of many commercial enterprises. I was one of the founders of Res Publica Party and the Secretary-General in 2001 – 2003. I have studied history at the University of Tartu.

I am a Chartered Business Valuator, Chartered Professional Accountant, and Chartered Accountant and have been involved exclusively in business valuations and mergers and acquisitions, and related matters since 1985. I have has acted on behalf of clients involved in a wide range of industries throughout Canada. I lead a firm of market driven transaction advisors focused exclusively on the purchase and sale of mid-market privately-held businesses and the raising of debt and equity capital. We are a boutique firm and as such our process is one that drives efficiency — in the use of client’s time and our results.

Mark R. Dukas formed Eagle Partners in 1995 to engage in the merger and acquisition advisory business.

Prior to forming Eagle, Mr. Dukas was Managing Director in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group of Bank of America Securities, Inc.. Mr. Dukas’ career at BofA spanned 14 years, the entire time as an investment banker in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department. In that period he developed extensive M&A deal experience in an array of industries and client companies. He was responsible for new business origination and as team leader for deal execution for transactions ranging in value from $10 million to over $100 million.

Prior to joining Bank of America Mr. Dukas spent five years with Wm. Sword & Co., Incorporated, as an international investment-banking boutique in Princeton, New Jersey. While at Wm. Sword, he advised on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and leveraged buy-out transactions.

Mr. Dukas received his BA in Political Economy from Princeton University. Mr. Dukas has served as an outside director of a public technology company, Proxim Inc., during its evolution from venture start-up, through financings, and the Initial Public Offering. He served as a Director for seven years and served as member of both the Compensation and Audit Committees of the Board.

Brooks Crankshaw has enjoyed over 30 years of investment banking, with extensive experience as an advisor to mid-sized and large corporate companies.

Prior to joining Balmoral, Brooks served as Managing Director and Partner of The Chicago Corporation where he advised individual, family, corporate, and private owners on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raises. Before his tenure at The Chicago Corporation, Brooks founded and led his own investment banking firm, Highland Ridge Capital. He began his career at J.P. Morgan Securities in Chicago and London. He earned an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. degree in economics from the University of Michigan.

Chris Cerimele founded Balmoral Advisors in 2014. He is an experienced investment banker with approximately 25 years in investment banking, finance and accounting.

Prior to forming Balmoral Advisors, Chris led the chemicals investment banking practices of mid-market investment banks Houlihan Lokey and Lincoln International. He was also a senior member of the chemicals team at Grace Matthews. In 2010, he received a 40 Under 40 Recognition Award from The M&A Advisor. Chris holds a B.S. in accounting from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).

Bob Dekker is a career capital markets professional and entrepreneur with extensive experience working with companies ranging from emerging growth to large, publicly traded enterprises.

Prior to joining Balmoral, Bob co-founded Insight Advisory Partners, a boutique investment banking firm based in Chicago focused on the food and beverage sector. Previously he was a senior banker with ABN AMRO, Inc. and its predecessor, The Chicago Corporation, where he managed the firm’s private placement activities in North America. Bob began his career with Prescott, Ball & Turben, Inc. (an affiliate of Kemper Insurance Company) in Cleveland, OH.

Bob holds a BA in Economics from Denison University.

Omar Diaz has approximately thirty years of investment banking, management consulting and project engineering experience. Prior to joining Balmoral, Omar was a Managing Director at Seaport Global, where he was Head of Chemicals. In previous roles he served as Head of Industrials at Dresner Partners, as a Managing Director focused on Industrials at Allegiance Capital, as well as Head of Chemicals at Houlihan Lokey. Early in his investment banking career Omar held positions at Acquest Advisors, J.P. Morgan, and Bank of America. Omar holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and a MBA in Finance from the E.W. Kelley Graduate School of Business at Indiana University. He resides in the Chicago, Illinois area.

BSc. Economics, Universidad de los Andes, with major in finance. He holds over 23 years of experience in investment banking. Since 2002, he has managed Genesis, leading all financing and M&A transactions carried out by the firm. His deep financial, legal and tax knowledge, along with his experience in strategic consulting, have been fundamental to the success of the transactions handled by the firm. He has experience in selling companies to strategic and institutional investors; bank financing, with multilateral, institutional investors and private investors; projects structuring and PPPs (public private partnerships); business restructuring and investment fund structuring.

BSc. Economics, Universidad de los Andes and MBA, Yale University. He holds the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) title. He worked for Banco Económico (Exel BBVA) of Brazil at its New York Office and for Andersen Consulting (currently Accenture) at its Madrid office. He worked for Banco Granahorrar, where jointly with Bear Stearns he developed mortgage securitization in Colombia. He was a Financial VP for Banco Agrario, Executive VP for Banco Granahorrar, leading the restructuring and sale process, and Executive VP of Mortgage Banking for Banco BBVA in Colombia. Until 2018 he was partner of Genesis, before being appointed President of the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI). Since 2020, he returned to Genesis as Senior Advisor, providing advice on financial structuring and M&A operations.

I have more than 20 years’ corporate finance and strategy consulting experience and 8 years’ industry experience working for MNCs. I am native Chinese, gaining my MBA in the US and have worked overseas in the US and Singapore for more than 10 years. I have broad experience in strategy consulting, corporate finance advisory and value-based management. I have advised on strategy and transactions in a wide range of industries, including fast moving consumer products, industrial products, energy, real estate, and private equity. I have also worked with government agencies in China in economic development planning and investment promotion.

I previously worked for A.T. Kearney, OC&C Strategy, Stern Stewart & Company, and Coco-Cola Company. Clients I have worked with include global Fortune 500 companies as well as leading companies in Asia. I obtained my MBA from Darden Business School, University of Virginia. In my free time I like running and reading. I am bilingual in Chinese and English.

MBA (1997) & Bachelor of Science (1994), Tsinghua University, Member of the AIA, Certified Public Valuer (CPV), specialized in the business valuation and pricing. Over 20 years of investment banking practice with 10+ years of experiences in cross-border M&A business committed to both the strategic/financial advisory services and the buy-out funds/assets management: 

Conducted the strategic investment in China for the European manufacturing/retail groups; Acted as the advisor for the Indian industrial giant’s special projects in China; Supported the Chinese energy/heavy machinery/textile companies in their outbound M&A; Assisted with the M&A activities among the peers of Chinese home appliances retailers; Participated in the private equity business of a large international Investment Bank ; Initiated the concept design and placement of a cross-border/bilateral Buy-Out fund; Took charge of billions of RMB dominated Assets Management; Served as the Financial/ Funds Management President for large corporation groups.

Amongst his over 20 years of Investment Banking experiences, Mr. CHEN has been committed to the cross-border M&A practices for 10+ years, taking the responsibility in both the strategic/financial advisory services and the related buy-out funds/assets management, with an industrial orientation on the advanced manufacturing, resources/energy & environmental protection, as well as the consumption upgrading & retail.

Mr. Chen has conducted the strategic investments of the European manufacturing/retail groups in China, acted as the advisor for TATA Group’s special projects in China, supported the M&A events among the peers of the Chinese home appliances retailers, assisted with the Chinese companies in the IPO in HK equity capital market, and facilitated the outbound M&A of the Chinese enterprises especially towards the European market; took charge of the portfolio investment of the medium-scale RMB dominated assets, involved in the private equity investment of the Goldman Sachs ASSG sector, initiated the concept design for China-Germany bilateral investment fund, and led the private placement & operations for several buy-out funds investing worldwide respectively in the advanced manufacturing and renewable energy sector.

Whilst his career development, Mr. Chen anchored solid global business network with professional partners focusing on the mid-market, and established close relationship with the governmental agencies & regulators, commercial banks, private equity/mutual funds, investment banks as well as the professional intermediaries such as the law and accounting firms.

In addition to his systematic & structured intellectual strengths and communication skills, Mr. Chen also demonstrates impressive characteristics in terms of the leadership, self-discipline & perseverance, initiative & creative spirit, which renders himself an excellent practitioner for dealing with the dynamic environment and opportunities in the investment banking business.

Mr. Chen has been admitted as an Associate Member of the Association of International Accountants (AAIA) and the China Certified Public Valuer (CPV), specialized in the business valuation and pricing, which provides a substantial expertise of the investment banking, especially for the M&A/Investment business; his overall strategy of the M&A/Investment consists of the engineering of “Intrinsic value exploration and synergy creation”.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chen extends his professional interests into the Training area
by giving lectures on the topic of “Outbound M&A and Risk Prevention” to the senior leaders of SOEs in the SASAC training center/Central Party School, delivering speeches in the annually held Beijing International M&A Forum, supporting the Senior Executives Education Program of the Tsinghua University, instructing the deal-makers certificate training courses invited by the China M&A Association, as well as being appointed as the Mentor for Schwarzman Scholars, Tsinghua University.

In personal life, He stands for an attitude of “focus & balance”, enjoys both the Ancient Chinese Hexa-Arts and the Modern Pentathlon. He is the member of the Tsinghua alumni dancing troupe; has been persisting to the morning swimming since 1998. Meanwhile, Mr. James Chen is enthusiastic in the social activities; he was the chairman of the Faculty Student Union and the public relations Minster of the Graduate Student Union at Tsinghua University and was the honorary president of a regional commercial association.

Appendix: Professional Experiences

May 2013 — Nowadays
Company: CH.EN Capital Management Ltd.
Position: Managing Partner
Assignments:
1) Financial advisory services for overseas investment
and cross-border M&A
2) Buy-Out funds initiation & management
3) Financial strategy formulation & implementation; platform establishment & administration
4) Concurrent post: President,
TUNGHSU Financial Holding Co., Ltd. (- April 2017)
5) Concurrent post: Vice President, China VAST Group

January 2007 – April 2013
Company: SEIM Ltd. (China member of the M&A International Inc. /MAI)
Position: Managing Director/ Chief Representative Beijing Office
Assignments:
1) Cross-border M&A advisory services: Direct the
entire engagement cycle of deal origination, execution, and delivery to clients
2) Promote the Best Practices with the global members of MAI 3) Establish and maintain the relationship with strategic partners and clients
4) Manage and motivate the operational team;
and other administrative responsibilities

March 2004 – December 2006
Company: Kingsway Financial Group (a HK based Investment Bank)
Position: Managing Director, Shanghai Office
Assignments:
1) Exploring potential HK IPO candidates
2) International private placement and M&A
3) Office administration

June 2001 – February 2004
Company: Financial Company of CASIC (China Aero Science & Industry Corporation)
Position: General Manager, Investment Management Department
Assignments:
1) Proprietary investment and assets management
2) Planning and execution on the capital strategy of the CASIC

September 1995 – May 2001
Company: Beijing Securities Company of CADTIC (China Agricultural Development & Trust Investment Corporation)
Position: Deputy Director of the Investment Banking Department and Director of the Investment Research Department
Assignments:
1) Financial advisory services (international strategic investment) 2) Research for securities investment

I’m a globally experienced senior advisor and managing partner of Leap Advisors Oy, a boutique for strategic planning and M&A advisory in Helsinki, Finland. After my engineering degree in Finland I had multiple corporate positions including several international assignments, studied MBA in Henley business school, UK and gain strong ­— over 30 years chemical industry experience with excellent track record of leading and developing large organizations and international operations including several cross boarder M&A, divestment and integration projects. During the past 10 years I have acted in three boards of directors and various international and global company management boards Including Ashland Composites and Intermediates & solvents group and Ineos Composites.

Will brings over twenty-five years of deal facilitation and transactional experience as a commercial litigation lawyer, business intermediary, and serial entrepreneur. At Beacon, Will specializes in business valuations and sell-side engagements. Will started his career in operations at a pioneer Internet company in New York City focused on supply chain management and technology. Prior to founding Beacon in 2010, Will headed up Sunbelt Business Brokers in Toronto managing the three largest Sunbelt territories in Canada.

Will also has experience in hospitality real estate development and asset and property management.

• Former CEO of Sunbelt Business Brokers Toronto offices, managing the three largest Sunbelt territories in Canada
• Past Treasurer and Director of the International Business Brokers Association – Canada Chapter 2009 to 2012

Alex co-founded Beacon after spending a number of years in managerial roles for multinational real estate development and consulting firms across Europe and North America.
Alex is an expert in deal negotiations and transaction structuring, and is also responsible for Beacon’s hiring and training process for new associates. 

Alex completed his MBA from Emory University, and has an undergraduate degree from the American University of Paris. Alex is fluent in English, French, Russian, and Bulgarian, and proficient in Spanish. 

Derek has been working in the area of business valuations and mergers and acquisitions since 2004. Prior to joining Spence Valuation Group and SVG Capital Group, Mr. Sanders worked at international firms in valuations and transaction advisory roles, in London, Kelowna and Vancouver. He has advised numerous business owners through the marketing and sale of their businesses and has experience with businesses operating in a variety of industries including a broad range of manufacturing industries, services, construction, distribution, SAS, technology, and retail.

Sven brings over 20 years of professional experience to the team at Beacon. His forte is in Business Valuation, Business Planning, and Corporate Strategy, having executed numerous engagements for clients. He holds a BComm from the University of Windsor and an MBA with a Finance Specialization from the University of Calgary. He is a Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators member, holding the CBV designation. Sven can provide an unbiased assessment of a business that is fair to both the buyer and seller, considering the sellers’ requirement on exit.

I have 8 years of professional experience gained during the implementation of M&A projects and company valuation, investment project analyses, investor acquisition, intellectual property commercialization, technology transfer processes and litigation. I have advised clients from retail, HVAC, FMCG, hotel, automotive, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and industrial sectors. Previously, I worked for i.a. Ministry of Treasury of Poland in the Department of Supervision and Restructuring. Currently, I’m a part of Navigator Capital’s team, leading M&A and investment boutique based in Warsaw, Poland, where I act as a manager in M&A and Corporate Finance team. I also conduct training series for entrepreneurs on M&A and business valuation.

I graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics with a degree in Finance and Accounting, specialising in corporate finance and received a bachelor's degree at the Warsaw School of Economics, majoring in Quantitative Methods in Economics and Information Systems. 
 

Globally experienced and technology-affine M&A, Banking, and Corporate Governance professional with more than 10 years of board level leadership experience and 20+ years of experience and network building in Asia.  Successfully led and concluded numerous complex, multi-jurisdictional M&A/IPO/Equity and debt capital market as well as project finance transactions, several with deal values exceeding USD 1 billion. 

Gained experience in equal parts working for multinational companies (Shell, Deutsche Bank, ABN AMRO, IBM, Julius Baer) as well as an entrepreneur.  Founded cross border corporate finance firm in Shanghai in 2002 and led firm for 13 years navigating a rapidly changing business and operating environment particularly in China; build up firm with teams based in Asia, Europe and Latin America and joining Global M&A alliance Pandion Partners.  Pioneered cross border cooperation in the renewable energy sector between Asia and Europe. 

Together with Deutsche Boerse and other professional partners envisioned the potential for Chinese company listings in Germany; created a market for Chinese IPOs in Germany from the ground up through awareness raising and educating firms in China as well as providing the professional support to successfully execute the IPOs.    

Previous Supervisory and Advisory Board experience gained including on Boards of a public listed company.  More than 10 years experience serving on Executive Boards as CFO where I led companies through transformational changes such as IPOs and transformational M&A.

Extensive experience and senior level contacts within the financial sector (corporate, private and investment banking), renewables/cleantech; general industrials; automotive; digital transformation/ technology; infrastructure and logistics sectors.

Truly global outlook and intercultural competencies and highly adaptable having lived and worked in Germany, the UK, Hong Kong, China and Switzerland.