Advisory Board

Hawkins is a partner in the firm of Alliance Equity, in Seattle, Washington, specializing in mergers and acquisitions of small mid-cap businesses. His consulting and intermediary work with mid-cap businesses focuses on driving value for the benefit of the equity holders, and includes issues such as value building strategies, corporate litigation and turnaround support. His professional designations include Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA) and Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). Transactions of note include RAHCO International, Taco Time International, Omni Restaurants, Omni Management, TFC Inc., and Hospitality Associates.

Practice Areas: FlexTime Financial SM Services Business Transitions LEAD Niche Client Relationship Principal Certifications: Certified Public Accountant Certified Merger and Acquisition Advisor Memberships/Boards: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Oregon Society of Certified Public Accountants Association for Corporate Growth Alliance of M&A Advisors Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum

Mr. Marks is a Principal and Managing Partner of High Rock Partners, Inc. (formerly Marks & Company Inc.) providing strategic consulting, investment banking and interim leadership services. Marks' past positions included President of JPS Communications, Inc., a fast growth technology subsidiary of the Raytheon Company and President / CEO of an electronics manufacturer that he founded and grew to $22 million. He was a director for a RTP, NC area investment bank focused on raising capital for early stage and middle-market companies during the late 1990’s. He has been involved as management, advisor or board member with over a dozen and a half emerging growth and middle market companies ranging from a venture backed software startup, INC. 500 staffing firm, environmental construction company, safety products distributor….to a middle-market insurance services provider. He is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) alumni; the founding YPO Sponsor of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO formerly YEO) in the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina Chapter; a member of the Association for Corporate Growth; a member of the board of directors of the North Carolina Technology Association and chairman of the board of directors of the Partnership for Defense Innovation (the parent of the Defense & Security Technology Accelerator). Mr. Marks created and teaches a graduate level course at Boston College in connection with the Hult International Business School in Boston (formerly the Arthur D. Little School of Management) titled "Managing Emerging Growth Companies". In addition, he teaches a graduate level elective titled "Financing Early Stage & Middle-Market Companies" at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. In addition, Marks lectures at Loyola University in Chicago as part of the Merger & Acquisition certification program.

As an experienced corporate financial advisor with a proven track record as a transaction advisor for privately held companies, Mr. Nall is a published author and recognized speaker on the valuation, growth, and sale of middle market companies. He is the Founder of the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors. With the benefit of almost 30 years of experience in the industry, he lead the AM&AA in the development and launch of a “1st of its kind” professional training and credential designation for the independent corporate financial advisory community: “Certified in Mergers & Acquisitions” (CM&AA)

Mike is Managing Director of the Atlanta Hunter Wise office.  Mike has extensive experience in both domestic and international financial services industry including Insurance, Banking and Broker Dealers; having worked on projects in over 30 countries.

 

Mike is also the Chairman of MSB Global Business Alliance (MSB), an international business consulting firm with offices in the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

 

Before joining Hunter Wise  Mike served in several senior financial positions within the International Life Segment of ACE Limited, an international insurance company (ACE); first as Chief Financial Officer and then as SVP, Global Operational Initiatives.  Previous to his positions at ACE Mike was the owner of Snider Consultancy LLC, a CPA firm specializing in Litigation Support, Business Valuations and Merger and Acquisition Support.  Mike spent 22 years with Primerica, a group of wholly owned subsidiaries of Citigroup.  While at Primerica, Mike served at various times, in a number of capacities for most of the companies within the group; including:  Board Member, Executive Vice President, CFO, Controller, and Treasurer.  During his tenure with Primerica, Mike led the company’s international expansion effort- establishing a life insurance company in Ireland and insurance agencies in Spain and the UK; established the company’s Accounting Department; participated in a principal role on several mergers, sophisticated financing arrangements and corporate reorganization efforts; and, worked extensively with the attorneys of Primerica and Citigroup providing litigation support. 

 

Prior to joining Primerica Mike was the Controller of life insurance company and a member of the Audit Staff at two different national and international CPA firms.  Mike began his career with Shell Oil in Houston, Texas after graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a BBA in Accounting.

 

Mike is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Valuation Analyst and a Certified Merger and Acquisition Advisor and holds Series 63, Series 7 and Series 79 FINRA designations.  He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; a Practitioner Member of the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts; a member of the Alliance of Merger and Acquisition Advisors; a member of the Association for Corporate Growth. Additionally Mike is a Limited Partner in Seraph Group (a venture capital firm) and Seraph Management LLC (the management company of the venture capital firm noted above) and a Limited Partner in The Alliance for Corporate Wealth, LLC.

 

Graeme is the founder and President of Private Capital Research LLC, a consulting firm that sources, originates, and invests in buyout and recapitalization investment opportunities for middle-market private equity firms and corporate clients; and he is also a partner in GF Data Resources LLC, a searchable proprietary database of transaction data on private equity-sponsored M&A transactions with $10 to $250 million in total enterprise value.  Prior to PCR, Graeme was Director of Research for the Private Capital Group of Berwind Financial Group LP, (a subsidiary of the Berwind Corporation) where he was responsible for industry research and company research relating to the Private Capital activities at Berwind. Drawing from a broad base of operational and investment experience, Graeme also directed the process that provided both proprietary and opportunistic deal flow for the Leveraged Acquisitions Group. Graeme has a diverse background in the areas of finance, operations and marketing. Prior to joining Berwind Financial Group, L.P., he was:

• A founding shareholder of The Eastwind Group, Inc., an investment company specializing in acquiring underperforming middle market manufacturing companies and turnaround situations. At Eastwind, Graeme participated in the acquisition and financing of a number of transactions. He was also President of Princeton Academic Press, a book printing company, and was Marketing Director of Team Graphics, Inc., a printing industry holding company.
• Executive Vice President and General Manager, Murphy-Parker, Inc. At Murphy-Parker, Inc., a hundred year old bookbinding company, Graeme oversaw all aspects of the business for an absentee owner, and produced five years of record sales and profits.
• Previously, Graeme worked with Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities as a regional institutional account representative, and with MCI Telecommunications in sales.

Graeme has a B.A. in Economics from Trinity College in Hartford, CT, and an M.B.A. from Temple University (Executive Program), where he received the Dean’s Certificate of Excellence and was elected to the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society.

John R. Zayac founded IBG Business Services, Inc. in 1982 to provide the mid-market business seller with the same level of resources and sophisticated services traditionally reserved for firms valued over $100 million. Over the last fifteen years, Zayac has built IBG into the industry’s most comprehensive provider of valuation analysis, strategic planning, marketing, and transaction structuring services for mid-market business sellers. In addition to his responsibilities as founder and CEO of IBG, Zayac has owned and operated a variety of businesses, including a printing company, an automobile importing agency, and a chain of car washes. Zayac’s success as a business intermediary includes hundreds of completed transactions with a combined value exceeding $300 million.

David Cohn has over 30 years of experience as an investment banker and former owner and operator of industrial companies. Before co-founding Angeles Capital Group, he founded and managed the investment-banking firm of Berman Cohn LLC, with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Previously, he was an Executive Vice President with City National Bank, responsible for the investment banking activities for the middle market. Prior to his banking career David owned and served as CEO for two firms: The Dearborn Companies, a major manufacturer of plumbing products with whom he had started his business career, and later on, Humid-Aire Corporation, which he acquired from a bankruptcy. Both were manufacturing companies that he successfully grew, and subsequently sold to strategic buyers. David also had nine years with Beatrice Foods Co. as a group manager responsible for the company’s operations that manufactured plumbing and bath products.