2021 Buffalo Private Equity Summit

Brandon Martindale

Managing Director at Graycliff Partners LP

Brandon is Managing Director at Graycliff Partners LP. Prior to Graycliff Partners, Brandon was an Associate at HSBC Private Equity and an Analyst at Wachovia Securities. He earned his BS in Finance & CPA Accounting from the Leonard N.Stern School of Business at New York University.

John Koeppel

Partner and Private Equity Leader at Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP

Mr. Koeppel is a Partner and the Team Leader of the firm’s Private Equity Practice. He is a corporate lawyer who has successfully structured, negotiated and closed over 250 transactions in the past two decades, which typically involve mergers and acquisitions, fund formations and investments, and various private equity transactions (including co-investments, venture financings and cross-border deals). He also works with clients on reviewing / structuring their Qualified Opportunity Zone and Qualified Small Business Stock investments. rnrnMr. Koeppel acts as counsel to a number of leading funds, independent sponsors, middle market companies, institutional investors, and high net worth investors focused on buy-out, growth, venture, real estate, intellectual property, fund-of-funds, co-investments, secondaries and other strategies. He also often acts as US counsel to non-US clients on their US private equity and investment fund transactions. He also serves as a director for several private equity-backed companies. rnrnOn the M&A / private equity transactions side, Mr. Koeppel has advised on deals from $5 million to $250 million+ in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, technology, consumer goods, food, distribution, business services, cleantech and medical / health care.rnrnHe is a frequent speaker at a number of leading private equity and M&A events. Mr. Koeppel and his team take a pro-active and practical approach to helping clients make connections and successfully navigating the various legal challenges in any private equity transaction. Prior to joining Lippes, he was a partner in the private equity and investment funds group of an AmLaw 100 firm.

Russell D’Alba

President & Managing Director of Paramax

Russ is the founder, president, and a managing director of Paramax. He has represented family businesses as well as Fortune 500 companies in strategic sale transactions in the United States and abroad, and holds expertise in business and transactional negotiations.rnrnPrior to establishing Paramax, Russ was the founder and former managing partner of a leading regional CPA firm. His transactional experience and credentials allow him to understand the dynamics involved in a “mutual gains” approach to the sale of a business.

Sean Moskal

Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking, KeyBank

Michael Lasch

Managing Director at Pine Street Capital Partners

Michael has been Managing Director at Pine Street Capital Partners for 17 years where he has made mezzanine debt and non-control equity investments of $3-12MM in privately held companies mostly in the Eastern US. He is also a board member of the Albany Academies and the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Michael earned his BA in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross in 1990 and his MBA from Emory University in 1997.

Kenneth Bryant

Managing Partner of Sidereal Capital Group

Ken Bryant is a Managing Partner of Sidereal Capital Group, a private equity firm pursuing control investments lower middle-market companies operating within well-defined niches within the manufacturing and business services sectors. Sidereal typically serves as the first institutional investor in resource-constrained, operator-owned businesses and supports management teams in the transformation of their businesses through strategic investments in workforce development, technology upgrades, and process improvements. www.siderealcapital.com.

Trevor Messerly

Managing Director, Direct Credit Investment at Hamilton Lane

Trevor is a Managing Director on Hamilton Lane’s Direct Credit Team, where he is responsible for leading the evaluation and due diligence of direct credit investment opportunities.rnrnPrior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2015, Trevor was a Principal with Ares Management, where he evaluated and executed private debt transactions in middle market companies. Previously, he was a Vice President with Allied Capital Corporation, a middle market investment firm headquartered in Washington, DC. He began his career at Harris Williams & Co., executing sell-side investment banking engagements.rnrnTrevor received an M.B.A. from Northwestern University and a B.B.A. in Finance from the College of William and Mary.

Tara Handforth

Market Executive at Wells Fargo

Frank Ewing

Chief Executive Officer of AML RightSource

Mr. Ewing serves as Chief Executive Officer of AML RightSource. He is a licensed attorney and an anti-money laundering expert with comprehensive professional experience in global consulting, banking, and law. Mr. Ewing has extensive hands-on experience in the areas of anti-money laundering compliance, regulatory enforcement actions, regulatory affairs, internal audit, commercial litigation, corporate investigations, fraud, and risk management. Mr. Ewing earned his undergraduate degree at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York and his juris doctor at the University of Buffalo Law School.

Bradley Skaf

Principal at Gridiron Capital LLC

– Joined Gridiron in 2016rn- Board Member of Jacent Strategic Merchandising, AML RightSource, and Cubiirn- Former Board roles with Foundation Wellness and QSI Facilitiesrn- Finance and investment background including identifying potential investments and performing in-depth analysis and due diligence for prospective acquisitionsrn- Research analyst at an equity fund where he identified new investment areas and performed detailed valuation analysisrn- Analyst with Lazard Freres and Co. in their Financial Institutions Group where he performed M&A advisory and due diligence work for client acquisitionsrn- M.B.A. – Stanford University; B.A. in Economics-Mathematics – Columbia University

David Mancuso

Director at Freed Maxick CPAs, P.C.

David is a Director at Freed Maxick and a member of the Assurance Practice, including Accounting, Auditing and Advisory services. He is responsible for the overall planning, supervision and completion of client engagements. He specializes in performing due diligence including quality of earnings engagements for both mergers and acquisitions and prospective financing. David’s industry focus is on private equity, venture capital, manufacturing, wholesale, oil and gas, retail, and general service industries. I have extensive experience with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory and accounting matters.

David Helgerson

Co-Head of Impact Investing at Hamilton Lane

David is Managing Director at Hamilton Lane Advisors where he manages, develops and oversees direct equity and credit investment activities including regional, state and small business focused investment programs as well as impact investment initiatives. He focused on investing in opportunities which deploy innovation and disruptive technologies to drive better outcomes and solve today’s challenges in environmental and social areas. Prior to Hamilton Lane, he was an Associate at Morgan Stanley. David has also served as a US Naval Officer in US Navy. He earned his BA in Political Science from Swarthmore College and his MBA From the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Frank McEvoy

A member of the New York State Common Retirement Fund’s private equity team since 2009, Frank oversees a portfolio of U.S. and New York State-focused private equity fund investments. Prior to joining the Common Retirement Fund, Frank spent ten years as a management consultant for a wide variety of commercial clients. Frank has also worked in technology marketing for the 3M Company and was Director of State Tax for the Motion Picture Association of America. An Albany native, Frank received a Master of Business Administration from the Katz School of Business, University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Arts from the State University of New York in Albany.