Paul Baffico
Senior Advisor, Automotive and Retail
Mr. Baffico is a Senior Advisor to Chanin Capital Partners, where he specializes in the Automotive and Retail industries. Mr. Baffico has more than 34 years of experience in these industries, having held various leadership positions, most recently as President of Sears Automotive and Sears Tire Group.
While at Sears, he led the automotive business in the strategic planning and execution of operations; purchasing; marketing; mergers and acquisitions; brand launch and management; and, store conversion. Mr. Baffico was directly responsible for the transformation, growth and development of the automotive business, which generated approximately $4.5 billion in revenues, operated out of 2,500 locations (under multiple brand names), and employed approximately 50,000 associates.
As an industry leader, Mr. Baffico has been active on many professional and industry association boards, including: Advance Auto Parts Company, Automotive Parts and Aftermarket Association, and Western Auto Supply. In addition to his work at Chanin, Mr. Baffico is also a Senior Advisor to the Tax and Business Services division of American Express, and A.T. Kearney Consulting. Mr. Baffico is also currently serving board or advisory terms for BVerticals, Inc., The R.L. Polk Company, found.com, and Magtube, Inc.
Mr. Baffico actively participates in many community and civic interest organizations, including: Motor Racing Outreach; University of Illinois, Chicago; and Indiana University.
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Charles E. Bayless
Senior Advisor, Energy
Mr. Bayless is a Senior Energy Advisor of Chanin Capital Partners. He is one of the leading reorganization specialists in the Energy industry, having successfully shepherded four companies through financial, regulatory and operational crises.
As Chairman, President and CEO of Illinova Corporation and its subsidiary Illinois Power, Mr. Bayless led that company's turnaround, rapidly transforming Illinova's financial, operational and public image problems. Under Mr. Bayless, Illinova restarted the shuttered Clinton Nuclear plant, which was subsequently sold, reorganized its retail generation assets and then merged the Company with Dynegy.
While Chairman, President and CEO of Tucson Electric Power, Mr. Bayless restored the Company to profitability and operational efficiency after being on the brink of bankruptcy following a failed diversification program and operational turmoil. Under Mr. Bayless, Tucson Electric successfully fought an involuntary Chapter 11 petition, restructured its debt and achieved an operations rating in the top 10% of its peer group.
Prior to joining Tucson Electric Power, Mr. Bayless was Senior Vice President and CFO of the Public Service Company of New Hampshire ("PSNH"). While there, he raised over $2 billion of debt and equity for that non-investment grade company to complete the Seabrook Nuclear Station. After the bankruptcy of PSNH, Mr. Bayless was named CRO, leading in the development of the successful reorganization plan that culminated in a merger with Northeast Utilities.
Since resigning from Illinova, Mr. Bayless has served on the Board of Dynegy. In 2002, amidst financial and regulatory turmoil, Mr. Bayless was appointed Chairman of Dynegy's Audit Committee and asked to lead an investigation into the financial, trading and compliance programs of the Company. Mr. Bayless successfully led Dynegy's efforts to clean up and reorganize its trading and marketing and internal audit functions. He also led the Company's negotiations with various regulatory agencies regarding off-balance sheet financing and other trading and marketing matters.
Mr. Bayless earned a Juris Doctor and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University, and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the West Virginia Institute of Technology. Mr. Bayless is extensively involved in the Boy Scouts of America.
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Dr. Don Boulanger
Senior Advisor, Financial Institutions and Insurance
Dr. Boulanger is an Advisor for Chanin Capital Partners. His areas of expertise include insurance companies and other financial institutions. Prior to his association with Chanin, Dr. Boulanger served as a consultant to several major insurance companies. Earlier, he was CEO and Founder of National Deposit Financial Corporation and National Deposit Life Insurance Company in Los Angeles, California, whose business grew to approximately $2 billion in assets and which was sold to Protective Life Insurance Company (NYSE: PL) in 1992. Dr. Boulanger served as Chief Investment Officer for SunAmerica Corp. in Los Angeles, where he was responsible for portfolio structuring, supervising the managers of various asset classes, asset-liability management, and product pricing. At the conclusion of his tenure at SunAmerica in 1989, the company had $25 billion in assets. Additional corporate development roles include positions at TransAmerica Corp. and Kaufman Broad Corp. where Dr. Boulanger was responsible for strategic planning and merger, acquisition, and divestiture activities.
Dr. Boulanger has served as Director for the following insurance companies: Sun Life Insurance Company of America, Coastal States Life Insurance, Universal Guarantee Life Insurance, Anchor National Life Insurance, Capitol Life Insurance, and National Deposit Life.
Dr. Boulanger earned his Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) from Harvard College, his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University and has served as a member of the Harvard University Committee on University Resources and the Harvard Library Trustees Committee. After completing his degrees, Dr. Boulanger briefly served in the White House and at the Federal Reserve.
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Anjan Chatterjee
Senior Advisor, Automotive
Mr. Chatterjee is a Senior Advisor at Chanin Capital Partners specializing in the automotive and manufacturing sectors. Mr. Chatterjee has over 25 years of management consulting, strategic planning and financial management experience in the automotive, electronics and distribution industries. He has served automotive OEMs and Tier 1 companies in the areas of strategy, information systems, global restructuring, sales force effectiveness and global sourcing. Most recently he was interim CFO and Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning for Visteon Corp. He was responsible for all financial activities for Visteon as well as for developing and putting in place a restructuring plan for this $18 Billion Tier 1 automotive company.
Prior to Visteon, Mr. Chatterjee was a Senior Director at McKinsey & Company. He opened McKinsey’s Detroit office and was head of their North American Automotive practice. He grew the Detroit office from an initial base of 6 professionals to about 50 in 3 years. Mr. Chatterjee was also a partner at ATKearney and has broad international experience.
He spent 3 years in the Middle East helping a large distributor of construction equipment install critical IT systems including financial, parts inventory control and product order processing systems. He has also worked with large companies in Europe and Asia.
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Michael J. Conway
Senior Advisor, Aviation
Mr. Conway is a Senior Advisor at Chanin Capital Partners specializing in the Aviation industry. Mr. Conway has more than 36 years of experience in managing and advising airline companies. He is the co-founder of America West and National Airlines. At America West he became the youngest CEO of a major US airline in 1991 and successfully restructured the carrier both financially and strategically to record profitability in 1993. He has also raised over two billion dollars in public and private debt and equity financings, including the IPO of America West.
Mr. Conway recently provided support to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the ATA Chapter 11 reorganization. Specific matters addressed included evaluation of business plans, fleet rationalization and procurement, asset dispositions, CEO search, identifying sources of new financing, and coordination with ATSB.
From its inception in 1995 to 2003, Mr. Conway served as Chairman and CEO of National Airlines. He developed the airline's concept and strategy, raised its initial capital and recruited an experienced management team, the majority of which elected to join him from America West. National was able to achieve profitability after 10 months of operations and carried more than 7 million passengers.
From 1981 to 1993, Mr. Conway held several management positions at America West, initially as EVP and CFO, then as President and COO, and ultimately as CEO during the carrier's restructuring. As co-founder, he raised the airline's initial startup and operating capital through an IPO. He was responsible for developing the airline's employee programs which created a unique and non-contentious labor culture. During his tenure at America West, the airline carried more than 40 million passengers, and as was the case at National, compiled a safety record second to none in the industry.
Mr. Conway has served as a financial and aviation consultant for investors and foreign airlines and was an airline specialist at Price Waterhouse from 1969 to 1980. He was also a VP and Controller at Continental Airlines from 1980 to 1981 prior to co-founding American West.
Mr. Conway received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York and served in the US Marine Corps Reserves. He is also a member of the AICPA and the New York State Society of CPAs.
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John A. Emrich
Senior Advisor, Textiles
Mr. Emrich has more than 30 years of experience in the textile manufacturing industry. He is a seasoned executive with a track record of success in leading organizations through complex business situations. Most recently, Mr. Emrich served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Guilford Mills, Inc., a $1 billion global manufacturer of specialty fabrics.
As President and CEO of Guilford Mills from 2000 to 2005, Mr. Emrich implemented a successful restructuring plan that transformed the Company from an apparel fabric manufacturer to a value-added automotive supplier. While leading the Company through the bankruptcy process in just six months, he re-positioned Guilford Mills up the value chain in the Automotive segment of the industry, expanding gross profit margin to 56%. As part of this restructuring, creditors were paid 100% on the dollar, retirees’ unqualified benefits remained intact, and shareholders were given 10% of new ownership; in addition, 100% of the Company’s customer base was maintained in the process. Ultimately, Mr. Emrich positioned the Company for sale and executed a transaction at a premium with Cerberus, returning 90% of the equity, and 118% of the value to the original lenders and shareholders.
From 1995 to 2000 Mr. Emrich served as Chief Operating Officer and President of Guilford Mills, where he developed the Company’s technical textile business and product line. Earlier, Mr. Emrich held a number of senior operations and strategic planning roles, rising to Corporate Senior Vice President and President of the Automotive business unit of Guilford. In this role, he developed a strategic plan that reorganized the Company’s regional automotive businesses in the US, Europe and Japan into a single global platform. As a result, manufacturing, sales and product development were integrated, and the customer base expanded from reliance on two domestic OEMs to more than a dozen American and European automotive manufacturers. From 1971 to 1985, Mr. Emrich held several senior operations and management positions at BRW Textiles, serving as President, Executive Vice President and Director of Operations.
Mr. Emrich received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing from Pace University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Adelphia University. He is an active industry leader, serving as past President of KTA (merged with National Textile Association), Vice President of National Textile Association, and Member of 3-M Advisory Council, and has been featured in print, radio and broadcast media as a leading industry spokesman. Past and current Board affiliations include Guilford Mills, Inc.; Tybor (Spain); North Carolina State Port Authority; and Co-Chair, American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition.
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Joe Fiamingo
Senior Advisor, Industrials
Mr. Fiamingo is a leading turnaround executive in the general manufacturing and industrial sectors. He has extensive experience working with private equity groups to stabilize and turn around industrial operations, and has developed a reputation among both investors and industry players as a bold, results-driven executive with a proven track record in executing operational restructurings.
Mr. Fiamingo began his career with General Cable Corporation, a $1.1 billion wire and cable enterprise, where he advanced from Shift Supervisor to Executive Vice President of Operations. As Executive VP, Mr. Fiamingo maintained oversight for 23 production plants, 10 warehouses and a $750 million annual budget. At General Cable, he executed a plan closing six plants and two distribution centers without customer disruption, saving the company $25 million annually. He and his team resolved most of the systemic issues and delivered an additional $24 million in cost improvements.
Mr. Fiamingo was then recruited by private equity firm Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst to International Wire Group, Inc. as President of the Wire Technologies division. Following his turnaround of the poorly performing $190 million division, Mr. Fiamingo was promoted to President and COO of the company, and he and his team subsequently improved revenues from $350 million to $760 million.
Following International Wire Group’s success, Mr. Fiamingo was asked by Hicks Muse to become President and COO of Courtesy Corporation, a struggling manufacturer of precision injection molded plastic components, closures and dispensing systems. Mr. Fiamingo brought in a team of new managers and developed project plans addressing all aspects of the company, including manufacturing, quality, sales, marketing, engineering and finance. The refocused and revitalized company delivered annual average sales growth of 11% while reducing manufacturing costs 5% annually.
Following the sale of Courtesy, Mr. Fiamingo was asked to return to International Wire Group to turn around a flagging division. His successes led to a promotion to Chief Executive Officer and in this position, Mr. Fiamingo implemented plans to restructure the entire company. He reduced debt by $258 million and increased cash flow $31 million annually, providing a solid basis for future growth.
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Robert L. Friedman
Senior Advisor, Entertainment and Media
Mr. Friedman is a senior advisor at Chanin Capital Partners in the Entertainment & Media Group. Previously, Mr. Friedman served in an executive capacity as President of The AMC Entertainment Motion Picture Group in Century City, California. The primary responsibilities and goals of this division included the acquiring of appropriate motion picture film projects via independent production avenues for purposes of theatrical distribution and ancillary markets. The aforementioned would apply to both domestic and international geographies. Previously, Mr. Friedman was President of AMC Entertainment International. Prior to joining AMC, Mr. Friedman was President of Columbia Pictures Distribution at the Burbank studio in California and was also associated for twenty years in various executive positions, at United Artists Corporation in New York City, including Senior Vice President of Distribution and Marketing.
He was also Executive Producer of the motion picture "Ninja" - and has appeared in the motion pictures "Stardust Memories" (directed by Woody Allen) and "Ninja."
Mr. Friedman was born and educated in New York City. During his service in the United States Army, he was assigned to Armed Forces Radio Service (A.F.R.S.) overseas. He produced and was the radio announcer - Disc jockey for a daily show in Vienna, Austria, which also included his involvement as a News Commentator.
Mr. Friedman is a member of the Executive Division of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Board of Directors - Center for Motion Picture Study), the Variety Club of Southern California, the Motion Picture Pioneers of America, the Will Rogers Hospital, the Motion Picture Associates Foundation and the Board of Directors of the Century City Chamber of Commerce - Chairman of the Entertainment Industry Committee. In addition, Mr. Friedman was named "Man Of The Year" - New York State - National Association Of Theatre Owners and "Man Of The Year" - Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. - National Association Of Theatre Owners.
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Howard Fullman, M.D.
Managing Director, Healthcare
Dr. Fullman is a Managing Director of Chanin Capital Partners' Healthcare practice. Dr. Fullman has many years of experience in the practice and management of one of the nation's leading medical groups. Trained in the fields of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Dr. Fullman is Board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology and is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Fullman managed the Medical Service at one of the nation's largest teaching hospitals and participated in some of the early groundwork of medical technology assessment at the University of California, San Francisco.
Currently, Dr. Fullman is the Medical Director and Chief of staff of Kaiser Permanente in West Los Angeles, and is on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. In that capacity he oversees operations for a large medical center and network of associated office buildings that treats over 200,000 patients and has over 2000 employees. Other management positions include President of the Executive Committee of the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in West Los Angeles and member of the Board of Directors of the Southern California Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
With more than ten years experience analyzing the healthcare marketplace, Dr. Fullman has consulted for numerous corporate and medical groups, including SmithKlineBeecham, LEK Partners, Mobile Technology, Inc., Nomura Securities, Myo Diagnostics, Inc., and various hospitals, medical and consumer groups. Dr. Fullman specializes in the healthcare delivery marketplace, medical technology assessment, and strategic planning in the industry. Dr. Fullman earned his Doctor of Medicine with Distinction at Northwestern University Medical School and is a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology.
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James J. Gaffney
Senior Advisor / Diversified Services
Mr. Gaffney is a Senior Advisor to Chanin Capital Partners. He has extensive experience leading companies through operational and financial restructurings, having served as Chief Executive Officer in several large corporate reorganizations. In addition, Mr. Gaffney has served on numerous public and private Boards, and worked as a consultant to several investment funds.
Currently, Mr. Gaffney serves on several public Boards, including: Imperial Sugar Company (Chairman of the Board); SCP Pool, Inc.; Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc.; and Carmike Cinema. He is also on the Board of several private companies, including Safelite Glass, Audio Visual Service Corporation, and ABD Precision Product, Inc. Previously, he has been a Board member of the following: CALFED Bank; Insilco Corp.; C.R. Anthony; Koll Real Estate Group; Barth & Dreyfuss; Gardenway Inc.; Phase Metrics Inc.; General Refractories Corp.; Purina Mills Inc.; Seabulk Marine Inc.; Advantica (nee Denny’s) Restaurant Group; and Cross Country Energy Corp.
For more than twenty years, Mr. Gaffney held senior management positions, where he successfully restored profitability to under-performing businesses by realigning management, shedding non-core assets, and improving the performance of manufacturing and supply chain management. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Quay West Co., one of the largest conglomerates in New Zealand, with global operations, and as a Consultant to Goldman Sachs & Co.
Previously, Mr. Gaffney was President and Chief Executive Officer of International Tropic-Cal, Inc. He also served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Ayers/Chairmakers, Inc., and Brown Jordan Company; and served as President/Chief Executive Officer of KDI Corporation and Washington Industries, Inc.
Early in his career, Mr. Gaffney held the position of Vice President/Chief Financial Officer of Creusot-Loire Steel Corporation and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of General Refractories Company.
Mr. Gaffney received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from St. Johns University in 1963 and his Master of Business Administration from New York University in 1967.
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John Vincent Genova
Senior Advisor / Energy
Mr. Genova is a Senior Advisor to Chanin Capital Partners, focusing on Energy and related industries. He has held a broad range of corporate planning and business development roles for global energy concerns, and served Exxon Mobil Corporation in a variety of positions for more than 25 years.
Currently, Mr. Genova serves as Vice President, Corporate Planning, for Tesoro Corporation. Prior to this role, he served as Executive Vice President, Refining and Marketing, for Holly Corporation, where he was responsible for all refining, marketing and crude supply activities, as well as managing executive communications to the financial/investor community.
Earlier, Mr. Genova served as Corporate Planning Manager for Exxon Mobil Corporation, reporting to the Management Committee on development of the corporate plan and managing a team of 17 executives, including engineers and economists. He also held the role of Executive Assistant to the Chairman, Lee R. Raymond, managing executive briefings as well as internal and external communications. Mr. Genova served as Director, International Gas Marketing for Exxon Mobil International, where he directed the commercial activity for all NGL, pipeline natural gas and gas processing in Europe and Asia Pacific.
Mr. Genova also served Exxon Mobil Corporation in the roles of Vice President, International Natural Gas; Natural Gas Marketing Manager; Crude Supply Economist; and, Supply Operations Manager.
Mr. Genova earned a Bachelor of Science, Chemical Engineering, from Colorado School of Mines. He is currently serving as a Director of Encore Acquisition Company.
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Sanjay Jindal
Advisor / Engineering and Manufacturing
Mr. Jindal is an Advisor to Chanin Capital Partners, based in Pune, India. Mr. Jindal combines his industry expertise as an entrepreneur, inventor and engineer with his investment banking experience in restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, financings, and valuations. Currently Mr. Jindal is a Managing Director and Sponsor in Western India Forgings Limited (WIFL), a Pune-based, global supplier of forged and engineered components. Mr. Jindal's current responsibilities include leading WIFL's initial public offering and growing the business organically and through acquisitions.
Mr. Jindal was formerly a Director of Chanin and the head of the Telecommunications, Media and Technology Group, based in Los Angeles, CA. Mr. Jindal's recent client engagements include Adelphia Communications, American Cellular, Covad Communications, Collins and Aikman, Delphi Corp., Dictaphone, FLAG Telecom, Focal Communications, Global Crossing, ITC^DeltaCom, Leap Wireless, McLeodUSA, Inc., Nextel International, Pegasus Communications, RCN Communications, Redback Networks, SATMEX, Tricom, and Weblink Wireless.
Prior to joining Chanin, Mr. Jindal managed the Communications Services Group at Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin. While at Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Jindal worked on a number of transactions including exclusive sales, new financings, restructurings and valuations.
Earlier, Mr. Jindal worked as an inventor and Director of Business Development for Walker Digital, a start-up marketing think-tank where he filed and was issued 15 patents with the United States Patent office. At Walker Digital, Mr. Jindal also worked as a start-up team member of PriceLine.Com. Prior to Walker Digital, Mr. Jindal worked as a strategic marketing manager for the telecommunications business of GE Capital's Vendor Finance Services Group, which owns Northern Telecom Financial Corp. (NTFC). Prior to GE Capital, Mr. Jindal worked as an entrepreneur in India, building a family-owned business from inception to a company that employed 150 people.
Mr. Jindal earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and an Master of Science in Materials Science with a minor in Microelectronics focusing on design, development and manufacturing of VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits) from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the International Institute of Management Development (IMEDE) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Norman Metcalfe
Senior Advisor / Financial Institutions and Real Estate
Mr. Metcalfe has more than 30 years of experience in corporate finance, investment management and real estate development. From 1993 to 1997, Mr. Metcalfe was Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of The Irvine Company, one of the nation's largest real estate and community development companies. At the same time, he served as a Director of The Irvine Company and Irvine Apartment Communities.
Prior to The Irvine Company, Mr. Metcalfe spent over 20 years in various senior management positions with the Kaufman and Broad/SunAmerica family of companies. Most recently, he served as President and Chief Investment Officer of Sun America Investments and, earlier, he was Chief Financial Officer of KB Home Corporation. Mr. Metcalfe was a Director of both firms.
Today Mr. Metcalfe runs his own investment and real estate business. He is also currently a Director of Building Materials Holding Corporation, The Ryland Group and The Tejon Ranch Company.
Mr. Metcalfe earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Washington. He joined the University of Washington Foundation's Board of Directors in 1993 and was its Chairman for four years; he is also on the School of Business Advisory Board.
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Alan B. Miller, Esq.
Senior Advisor / Legal and Strategic
Alan B. Miller is a Senior Advisor to Chanin Capital Partners, a Duff & Phelps company. He was a co-founder of the Business, Finance & Restructuring practice of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, retired as a Senior Partner of the firm in December 2005 and remains a Senior Counsel to the Firm.
Mr. Miller has concentrated in business reorganizations since 1966, including Chapter 11 reorganizations, out-of-court debt restructures, secured financings and investments in troubled companies for 40 years. Matters in which Alan has played an important role include the purchase of TWA by American Airlines, Rockefeller Center Properties, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Texaco, MCorp, New World Pasta Company, Viasystems, Inc. International Wire Company, Thermadyne Corporation, Formica Corporation, Coram Healthcare Corporation, Crystal Brands, Kasper A.S.L. Ltd., Leslie Fay, Maidenform, The Charter Companies, Braniff Airways and Lionel.
Mr. Miller is a member of the Board of Directors of Meridian Automotive Systems, Inc., a leading supplier to the automotive industry. He is also the designated litigation Trustee of the Litigation Trust for Collins & Aikman Corporation and its affiliated debtors (“C&A”) pursuant to their chapter 11 plan in which capacity he will pursue all claims by C&A against third parties and resolve the disputed claims against it and prior to the consummation of such plan he is serving as special counsel to C&A to pursue all of its claims against third parties. Alan is also a member of the Senior Advisory Board of Chanin Capital Partners, Inc., an affiliate of Duff & Phelps, Inc. In August and September 2006, Alan served as the interim Chief Executive Officer and President of RNI Wind Down Corporation (formerly, Riverstone Networks, Inc.). He also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory and of ConRuhr, an organization representing three universities in the Ruhr region of Germany in the United States.
Mr. Miller is a member of the New York Bar and has practiced in New York State and Federal courts nationwide. He is or has been a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a member of the Committees on Bankruptcy and Reorganization of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, New York County Lawyers Association and the Federal Bar Council, and is named in Best Lawyers In America published by Woodward & White. He was named as one of the New York area’s best lawyers in the August 1, 2005 issue of New York magazine and a New York Super Lawyer in August 2006. He has served as a panelist and lecturer at numerous national, state and local seminars in the field of his specialty in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Albany and Buffalo.
In addition, Mr. Miller has authored articles and book chapters for the Practising Law Institute, Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich, Wiley Law Publications, Euromoney Publications, the New York Law Journal, the National Law Journal, ALI-BNA and other periodicals, and for the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and the New York County Lawyers Association. He has also served as a guest lecturer at New York University Law School on bankruptcy reorganization and creditors’ rights.
Mr. Miller is a graduate of Trinity College (Connecticut) and the Boston College Law School.
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William Pearson
Senior Advisor, Telecommunications
Mr. Pearson is a Senior Advisor to Chanin Capital Partners. His work focuses on the support of the rapidly growing Telecommunications, Media and Technology practice. Mr. Pearson has more than 20 years experience in international telecommunications and cable television companies. Most recently, he served as Chairman and CEO of Completel, a Paris-based alternative telecommunications service provider. Prior to Completel, Mr. Pearson launched cellular services for Qwest (formerly USWest) in the mid-1980s, and cable telephony services for Telewest in the early 1990s. He has also consulted on numerous telephony projects in Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
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Wesley Smith
Senior Advisor, Food & Beverage
Mr. Smith has more than 30 years of experience in the food industry serving as Chief Operating Officer, Director and senior positions in Operations, Supply Chain and Finance. Most recently, he partnered with another investor to purchase Del Monte Foods, obtained equity backing and successfully concluded the acquisition in April 1997.
Mr. Smith served as the Chief Operating Officer and a Director of Del Monte Foods. During his tenure, Mr. Smith oversaw internal growth initiatives which, combined with a series of strategic acquisitions, grew annual revenues from $1 billion to $3 billion. He also directed the restructuring of the manufacturing operations for the three major businesses (fruit, vegetable, tomato). Through this restructuring, combined with aggressive cost-cutting and strategic capital investment, costs were lowered over a five-year period, and a large portion of the capital investment was financed through inventory reduction. Mr. Smith built a national sales force and brokerage network to sell packaged fruits through the produce channel.
Prior to joining Del Monte, Mr. Smith worked at Dole Foods. There, he led a team that developed a manufacturing and distribution system for its start-up beverage and frozen novelty business using zero capital. He helped grow the beverage business to the number three spot in the chilled and frozen category (after Minute Maid and Tropicana). Previously, in Hawaii, Mr. Smith turned around an underperforming operation to one which had the highest agricultural yields and cannery recoveries in the world. He completely revised Dole Foods’ agricultural program to transform a seasonal operation into a year-round processing facility, thereby reducing the employment base from 6,500 to 2,500, and dramatically lowering the amount of capital required to perform needed facility upgrades.
Mr. Smith received an A.B. degree from Brown University, and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He has been an active industry leader, serving as Chairman, National Food Processors Association; President, National Juice Products Association; and President, Pineapple Growers Association of Hawaii. Mr. Smith is currently serving as a Director of privately-held Musco Family Olive Company, and sits on the Board of Directors, Western Region, Boy Scouts of America.
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Robert C. Taylor
Senior Advisor / Telecommunications
Mr. Taylor is a Senior Advisor at Chanin. Mr. Taylor has more than 20 years experience in the domestic and international telecommunications industry, as well as expertise in network operations, corporate development, operations support systems, sales management, and capital markets.
Most recently, Mr. Taylor founded TeleGuam Holdings, LLC, the acquisition vehicle used to acquire Guam Telephone Authority ("GTA"). As the company's President, CEO, and Chairman, Mr. Taylor led the privatization of the largest government owned telecom company in the US. Under his leadership, TeleGuam increased operating efficiency and margins threefold, integrated quadruple play products (cable tv, wireless, internet, and telephone), and significantly improved customer service and employment to the citizens of Guam.
Mr. Taylor sits on the Board of Directors for Madison River Communications, a rural incumbent telephone company based in Mebane, North Carolina. In addition, Mr. Taylor sits on the Board of IPLAN Networks, a CLEC based in Argentina.
Currently, Mr. Taylor is also the Executive Vice Chairman of the Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS), the nation's leading organization representing facilities-based local exchange carries (CLECs). Mr. Taylor was previously Chairman of the ALTS organization. He is also a member of the Board of the Information Technology Association (ITAA). This organization represents the broad spectrum of the US IT Industry. Mr. Taylor was recently name by the Chairman of the US Government's Federal Communications Commission Michael Powell to be on the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC). The role of the counsel is to develop recommendations for the FCC and the telecommunications industry to assure optimal reliability, security, interoperability and interconnectivity of and accessibility to public telecommunications networks and the internet. Mr. Taylor serves on the Entrepreneurial Studies Advisory Board of the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business.
Prior to MFS Communications, Mr. Taylor co-founded Focal, a national facilities-based CLEC headquartered in Chicago, IL, and providing service in 23 other markets. Mr. Taylor served as the company's President, CEO, Chairman and a Director since its founding in 1996. Mr. Taylor has testified in front of the US Congress on several occasions as an expert on competitive telecommunications. Mr. Taylor turned over the position of CEO in June 2002 to focus on other business ventures.
From 1994 to 1996 Mr. Taylor was a Vice President with MFS Communications (now a part of WorldCom). At MFS Mr. Taylor managed the Global Services organization with customers and staff in 7 countries. These customers represented 20% of the company's revenues. Initially at MFS, Mr. Taylor was responsible for the development and construction of the markets located in the SBC Communications and Ameritech Communications territories.
Mr. Taylor holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
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Sanjeev K. Varma
Senior Advisor, Automotive
Mr. Varma is a Senior Advisor at Chanin Capital Partners specializing in the automotive and manufacturing sectors. Mr. Varma has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing & quality, engineering, strategic planning, marketing, sales, and business development. He has professional relationships with a majority of the global automakers including DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, PSA, Renault, Saab, Fiat, Opel, Rover, Landrover, VW, BMW, Hyundai/Kia, Ssang Yong, TATA Motors, Mahindra, Maruti-Suzuki.
While serving as the Director of Marketing, Strategic Planning and Asian Sales for DaimlerChrysler’s subsidiary, New Venture Gear, Inc. (“NVG”), he managed all marketing, strategic planning, and business development activities in NAFTA, Asia and Europe. Mr. Varma led the introduction to all European OEMs and generated $250 million in new business inquiries within the first 18 months. In addition, he initiated Global Sourcing Activities and introduced NVG’s Supplier Management to over 25 Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers in Asia.
Mr. Varma also served as Senior Program Manager of Advanced Engineering where he supervised the design of Chrysler Composite Car Transmission project for DaimlerChrysler, created specifications for the next generation of manual transmissions, and developed an electronic shift-by-wire transmission (automated manual) for NVG.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Varma has developed trend lines for future products and technologies, developed new automotive driveline technologies and products, written white papers on the 10-year trends of automotive powertrains, and published various works on transmission design and computational modeling. Mr. Varma has developed and maintains ownership of six patents with two currently in production.
Mr. Varma received his Bachelor of Technology degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Syracuse University.
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