Our intent is to hold companies indefinitely, which gives us the flexibility to make price a secondary consideration. Situations that require significant operational and transactional expertise are our priority.
We focus on people and operations. By making people our priority, we foster operational excellence through our partnerships with management teams and operating partners.
Jeremy Ozen started his career as an analyst with Goldman Sachs' Special Situations Group where he focused on distressed credit and growth equity investments. Following Goldman, Jeremy worked at the Eastbridge Group alongside founder, Yaron Bruckner. Jeremy led various initiatives including a major investment in Ageas, a publicly traded European insurance company, where Eastbridge took a board seat, and the take-private of EM&F where Eastbridge was the controlling shareholder. In 2012 Jeremy founded Vistar Media, a software provider for the Out-of-Home advertising industry, and grew enterprise value from zero to in excess of $100 million before exiting. Jeremy graduated from the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology at the University of Pennsylvania where he received a BAS in Materials Science Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and a BSE in Economics from the Wharton School.
Daniel Ozen started his career in investing at Atlas Holdings where he participated in the formation, financing, and oversight of several companies including the creation of Aludium from Alcoa (NYSE: AA) and Erickson Framing from Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS) in addition to the evaluation and acquisition of Banker Steel and Veritas Steel. Following Atlas Holdings, Daniel joined Black Diamond Capital Management's Private Equity division. At BDCM Daniel helped establish the firm's Private Equity M&A platform and successfully completed the acquisition and formation of Bayou Steel Group from ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) serving as Chief Financial Officer of Bayou Steel Group. Daniel received a BA in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania and founded Go Grub Go, a staffing company servicing restaurants local to the University of Pennsylvania.
Bryan Betts started his career on the advisory side at Venegas Capital in Los Angeles. During his time at Venegas, Bryan lead new client origination and retention as well as company valuation services. Following Venegas, Bryan joined Skyview Capital, a lower middle-market private equity firm with a focus on complex carve-outs and special situations. As a member of Skyview's Business Development team, Bryan expanded the firm's global outreach and divestiture origination program. Bryan received a BA in Business Economics from the University of California, Irvine.
Gregory de Haydu started his career at Rothschild, Inc. in the corporate restructuring group. He subsequently worked at Tennenbaum Capital Partners and York Capital Management focusing on originating loans and distressed public market credit investing, where he held position on the board of directors for several companies in the US, Europe and Asia. Gregory also has experience as COO of an education and consumer products company.
Mr. Blackburn has worked in the coal industry for over 50 years. Mr. Blackburn spent the first half of his career in management positions at the AT Massey Coal Company including developing the Elk Run Coal Company and other properties in West Virginia. He previously held the Senior Vice President Operations position at Mapco Coal and publicly traded Zeigler Coal Holding Company. He holds a Masters of Business Administration Degree from the University of West Virginia and a Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree from Harvard University.
Mr. Brandner has worked in the insurance industry for nearly 40 years. He served various roles during his 32 years career with Chruch Mutual Insurance Company. His leadership positions included Vice President of Underwriting, Vice President of Risk Management, Vice President of Product Management and Chief Risk Officer. Mr. Brandner holds an executive MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a degree in insurance services from North Central Technical College. Mr. Brandner is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys golf, baseball and curling during his spare time. He continues to be involved in leadership positions with several civic and non-profit organizations.
Mr. Critchfield has worked in environmental audit, risk transfer and due diligence for over 30 years. He is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of EMSOURCE, Inc., President of Compliance Systems Worldwide, Inc., and a board member with several Global Forest Partners, LP investment funds, having previously served as a senior environmental manager with International Paper Company and the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System.
Mr. Justice has over 30 years of experience in mining operations, management, strategy development, and implementation. Most recently, he was Vice President of the coal related assets of Lightfoot Capital Partners (LCP) until the successful acquisition of these assets by James River Coal Company. Mr. Justice has held President/General Manager positions at Alpha Natural Resources, Peabody Energy Corp and Shell Mining. Mr. Justice received an MBA from Vanderbilt University and a BS in Mining Engineering from the University of Kentucky.
Mr. Maier has worked in the steel products, mining and raw materials industries for over 50 years. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Metal Resources LLC from its formation in 2002 until it was sold in 2008. Previously, Mr. Maier was Chairman and CEO of Republic Engineered Steels and an Executive Officer of LTV Flat Rolled and LTV Bar. Mr. Maier negotiated the merger of Republic Engineered Steel with Bar Technologies to form Republic Technologies International, the leading Engineering Bar Quality producer in North America. Prior to this, Mr. Maier, as Chairman and CEO, led a successful employee purchase of the LTV Steel Bar Division, which became Republic Engineered Steels.
Mr. Meyers has held positions at General Electric Aircraft Engines and General Electric Corporate as Business Development Manager for Corporate M&A where he successfully oversaw the sale of $16 billion of General Electric businesses. After leaving General Electric, Mr. Meyers severed as CFO for private equity portfolio companies in multiple industries including manufacturing, trucking and pharmaceuticals. He has also consulted on numerous portfolio company carve-outs and acquisitions across an array of industries.
Mr. Nelson has over 35 years of experience in the Metals and Mining Industries. He has held Senior Sales and Marketing positions first at Nucor, and then as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at International Steel Group and Stelco. In addition, Mr. Nelson was President of Stelco USA and was responsible for all R&D at both International Steel Group and Stelco. Mr. Nelson has also advised a number of mining operations in the US. Mr. Nelson has a BS in Economics from Allegheny College, where he also serves as a Trustee.
Mr. Scheessele has over 40 years of experience in the steel industry. He served as Chairman and CEO of Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Company and was President and CEO of SKD Company, a supplier of metal stampings and welded assemblies for the automotive industry. Previously, Mr. Scheessele held the post of President and CEO of WCI Steel. Prior to that time, he had served as WCI Steel's COO and CFO.
Mr. Unfried has over 30 years of experience in the steel industry. He served in various financial, administrative, operational and executive positions with the steel division of Commercial Metals Company (NYSE: CMC), a Fortune 500 company. His experience includes acquisitions, consolidations, streamlining business processes and as Vice President and General Manager of the CMC Birmingham mill. Mr. Unfried also served as Chairman of the Board of a $300 million credit union, member of the executive committee of the Greater Alabama Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and various other not-for-profit organization boards. He is a veteran of the US Air Force.
Mr. Katz is the CEO and principal owner of Sherwood Equities, a privately held real estate development company. Over the past 30 years he has owned, developed, and managed properties valued in excess of $2 billion. He has been actively involved in reshaping the Times Square area for two decades. Mr. Katz received his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business and his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts. He is an active Board Member of the Times Square Alliance (formerly Times Square Business Improvement District).
Mr. Steinhafel is the COO and Owner of Steinhafels Furniture, a furniture retailer with 17 locations throughout Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. While accumulating nearly 30 years in the furniture industry Mr. Steinhafel has helped grow his business to #50 on the Furniture Today Top 100 list and currently ranks #11 on the Home Furnishings Power 50 list. Prior to joining Steinhafels, he was Director of Marketing in the long distance telecommunications industry. Mr. Steinhafel received his M.B.A and his Bachelor's degree from Creighton University.
